Dead letter or living document? Ten years of the Code of Conduct for disaster relief

This paper examines the present value of the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Disaster Relief, in view of discussions on neutrality and the Western bias of the humanitarian aid system, and assesses how it can retain its relevance in future. The Code of Conduct was launched just after the Rwanda genocide of April 1994. A decade later, the crises in Afghanistan and Iraq have sparked renewed interest in humanitarian principles and in whether the code can serve as an instrument to define humanitarianism and guide humanitarian decision-making and coordination. More than 300 organisations have now subscribed to it. This paper is based on the findings of a survey of code signatories and the outcomes of a conference on the value and future of the code, held in The Hague, Netherlands, in September 2004 to mark its tenth anniversary.     

Multiple visions of Indonesia's mud volcano: understanding representations of disaster across discursive settings

The Lapindo mudflow is one of the most controversial disasters in Indonesian history. Despite its unique biophysical features, most consider the mudflow a social disaster as scientific conflicts about its main trigger have evolved into legal disputes over accountability and rights. This paper examines this ‘trigger debate’, the stakes of scientific contention and the broader social and natural dynamics that shape the terms of this debate. A Latourian impulse drives this analysis, which aims to improve both understandings of—and responses to—complex disasters. This paper also notes that the stakes of representation extend to constructions of its stakeholders, especially to victims. As socionatural disasters become an increasingly common feature of the contemporary world, from mud volcanoes to extreme weather events caused by global warming, it is more important than ever to understand the dynamics of representing disasters and stakeholders.     

The Sphere Project: the implications of making humanitarian principles and codes work

In 1996, in recognition of concerns about humanitarian response efforts, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) launched the Sphere Project, the first collaborative initiative to produce globally applicable minimum standards for humanitarian response. The aims of the Sphere Project are to improve the effectiveness of humanitarian efforts and to enhance the accountability of the humanitarian system, primarily to those people who have a right to protection and assistance in disasters, as well as to agency members and donors. This paper discusses the purpose of the Sphere Project, the unique process that brought it about and the major concerns that have been raised about its practical application. Finally, the paper considers the implications of this for improving the impact of humanitarian response and for future initiatives given the process that Sphere has begun. It argues that improved accountability does not start and stop with NGOs. They are just one element of a wider humanitarian response effort and more needs to be done to improve the system as a whole.     

The Sphere Project: The Implications of Making Humanitarian Principles and Codes Work

In 1996, in recognition of concerns about humanitarian response efforts, non- governmental organisations (NGOs) launched the Sphere Project, the first collaborative initiative to produce globally applicable minimum standards for humanitarian response. The aims of the Sphere Project are to improve the effectiveness of humanitarian efforts and to enhance the accountability of the humanitarian system, primarily to those people who have a right to protection and assistance in disasters, as well as to agency members and donors.
This paper discusses the purpose of the Sphere Project, the unique process that brought it about and the major concerns that have been raised about its practical application. Finally, the paper considers the implications of this for improving the impact of humanitarian response and for future initiatives given the process that Sphere has begun. It argues that improved accountability does not start and stop with NGOs. They are just one element of a wider humanitarian response effort and more needs to be done to improve the system as a whole.     

Famine intensity and magnitude scales: a proposal for an instrumental definition of famine

Ambiguities in current usage of the term "famine" have had tragic implications for response and accountability in a number of recent food crises. This paper proposes a new approach to defining famine based on the use of intensity and magnitude scales, where "intensity" refers to the severity of the crisis at a given location and point in time, while "magnitude" describes the aggregate impact of a crisis. The scales perform three operations on "famine": first, moving from a binary conception of "famine/no famine" to a graduated, multi-level definition; second, disaggregating the dimensions of intensity and magnitude; and third, assigning harmonised "objective" criteria in place of subjective, case-by-case judgements. If adopted, the famine scales should contribute to more effective and proportionate responses, as well as greater accountability in future food crises.     

渤海海底表层软弱土特征及其对地震动的影响

以渤海PL19-3油田工程场地为研究对象,利用钻探和剪切波速实测资料,根据中国规范GB50011-2001、美国规范FEMA-NEHRP和欧洲规范EC8,进行场地类别研究;通过地震动效应分析,得到海底表层软弱土对峰值加速度和反应谱的影响。结果表明,现行规范中的场地土类型划分标准是针对陆地场地土特征的,不能反映覆盖较厚的海底淤泥层的特征;海底表层软弱土对地震动加速度的幅值和频谱的影响非常明显,其对峰值加速度的放大倍数较高,但受土的非线性变形影响,随着地震动输入的增大,其放大倍数呈非线性降低,软土场地使得加速度反应谱谱形变宽,特征周期变大。本文的结果为开展海洋工程抗震标准、海域地震区划研究积累了相关基础资料。     

Beyond performance and protocols: early responders' experiences of multiple accountability demands in the response to the 2015 Nepal earthquake

Critics have long questioned the push for professionalised and performance‐driven accountability in the humanitarian sector, yet the matter is largely treated as a ‘back office’ issue of standards, guidelines, and processes. Scant attention is paid to the accountability demands experienced by early responders to disasters. Set in the contested climate of the emergency response to the earthquake in Nepal on 25 April 2015, and drawing on interviews with 15 early responders, this paper reveals three forms of accountability demands: (i) accountability as compliance; (ii) accountability as the object of government regulation; and (iii) accountability as public opposition and interrogation. Beyond the performance‐centric, non‐governmental organisation‐driven understanding of accountability, early responders to the earthquake experienced multidirectional accountability demands, not only from donors and beneficiaries, but also from the national government and wider public. Engaging with public criticism is a significant feature of early responders' responsibility that warrants further consideration by the humanitarian community.     

汶川地震局部地形对地震动的影响

关于局部地形对地震动的影响,一直是地震工程学的研究热点。选取汶川地震中自贡地形台有强震记录的山脊地形和典型地震灾害的北川县城河谷地形进行了强震观测记录、规范方法和数值模拟下的地形放大效应分析,结果表明:(1)规范法基本上可满足一般工程场地的要求;(2)对人员密集居住的高度大于60 m的较陡地形,建议应进行二维(三维)数值模拟下的地形效应分析。这为规范的修订提供了一些基础资料。     

基于《电力设施抗震设计规范》的地震动随机模型参数研究

依据《电力设施抗震设计规范》(GB50260-96)中的设计反应谱,对随机地震动功率谱参数的取值进行了具体研究。首先,采用时间包络函数考虑地震的非平稳特性,给出了地震动持时的取值;然后,根据加速度峰值等效原则,迭代计算得到地面的加速度功率谱密度曲线;最后,选定Clough-Penzien修正过滤白噪声模型作为拟合函数,通过非线性拟合技术拟合了与《规范》中的地震烈度、场地类别相对应的谱参数。研究结果表明,Clough-Penzien修正过滤白噪声模型能较好地拟合其曲线形状。本文给出了相对于规范中的地面加速度功率谱参数值,可供这种模型作为地震地面运动输入时选用。     

Gender and international crisis response: do we have the data,and does it matter?

For more than a decade the humanitarian community has been mandated to mainstream gender in its response to crises. One element of this mandate is a repeated call for sex-disaggregated data to help guide the response. This study examines available analyses, assessments and academic literature to gain insights into whether sex-disaggregated data are generated, accessible and utilised, and appraised what can be learned from existing data. It finds that there is a gap between policy and practice. Evaluations of humanitarian responses rarely refer to data by sex, and there seems to be little accountability to do so. Yet existing data yield important information, pointing at practical, locally-specific measures to reduce the vulnerability of both males and females. This complements population-level studies noting the tendency for higher female mortality. The study discusses some possible obstacles for the generation of data and hopes to spur debate on how to overcome them.     

淮安市砂土地震液化势的综合评估

建立了BP神经网络模型LM算法的砂土地震液化判别方法,采用LVQ模式分类网络对数据进行分类,选取唐山地震时76个场地、320组现场液化勘察资料为研究对象,训练和检验网络模型的数据各160组,结果表明,该方法的砂土液化预测准确度为96.8%。根据淮安市典型场地土的钻孔资料,采用《建筑抗震设计规范法》液化判别法(规范法)、美国国家地震研究中心建议的液化判别简化方法(NCEER法)和谢君斐-陈国兴液化判别方法(谢-陈法)等3种液化判别方法及本文提出的BP神经网络模型液化判别方法对22个钻孔、120标贯点进行了液化判别,结果表明:14种地震液化判别方法的计算结果基本一致;2NCEER法比谢-陈法的计算结果要保守;3谢-陈法与规范法的计算结果很吻合,预测正确率相差不大;4规范法相对BP神经网络模型法的计算结果要保守;5BP神经网络模型法比其他3种方法的预测结果更符合实际的液化规律。最后,综合4种方法的液化判别结果给出了该地区地震液化势的评估结果,并给出了部分典型地质剖面土层地震液化势分布图。     

Establishing public accountability,speaking truth to power and inducing political will for disaster risk reduction: ‘Ocho Rios + 25’

The problem is that disaster risk reduction (DRR) is still more a zone of political darkness than of light. Therefore, the purpose of our contribution to this theme issue is to illuminate at least some of that zone of political darkness and to suggest a more proactive, but for many career professionals a personally problematic, way forward for DRR. The career problematic derives from the fact that the way forward would involve moving from applauding the emergence of elected and/or appointed champions (from mayors to cabinet ministers to presidents/prime ministers) for action to raising the political costs of inaction by leaders not otherwise disposed. The essential element of this way forward would be greatly enhanced public accountability. We will draw preliminary accountability lessons from the Haiti earthquake catastrophe and the Chile earthquake disaster 2010 events towards the conclusion of this paper as we outline a possible future paradigm.     

多棱插接式钢管塔风振阻尼技术研究

多棱插接式钢管塔具有制作安装方便、占地面积小等独特优势,正在得到越来越多的应用。但这种结构属于风敏感结构,风振特性是设计必须考虑的关键因素。钢管塔结构为空间薄壁壳体结构,其结构分析设计尤其是风振反应分析和风振控制与传统的杆系塔架结构有很大的不同。在静动力分析的基础上,提出利用钢球减振器对钢管塔进行风振控制,基于状态空间描述法模拟了钢管塔受控前后的位移时程反应,时域与频域分析结果表明该减振装置可以使结构的阻尼增加3~5倍,结构的风振反应可减小30%。本文的研究为钢管塔结构的合理设计提供了基础,有助于其在我国的推广应用,同时为行业规范和高耸结构设计规范的修订提供必要的理论基础。     

理性思考汶川地震中砌体结构的抗震能力

汶川地震建筑震害严重,应对此进行理性的思考。本文立足于按规范正常建造的砌体结构房屋的震害调查,对砌体结构震害严重的原因进行了分析,提出了减轻砌体结构震害的建议;同时,对预制板在地震区的应用进行了探讨,指出政府不宜限制预制板的应用;最后,建议采用经济性好、施工快捷、结构性能可靠的新型装配整体式房屋结构体系等技术。     

Flood management in Canada at the crossroads

Abstract

Although Canadian flood management efforts have gained worldwide recognition, flood damages continue to increase. The current practice for preventing, responding to and recovering from floods in Canada is described by focusing attention on the 1997 Red River and 1996 Saguenay River floods. A set of cultures is identified that contribute to the trend of increasing flood damages. These include a culture of conflict, a culture of land development, a culture that impeded native people from easily implementing flood management programs, a culture of institutional fragmentation and a culture of dependency. These foster an inevitable cycle of increasing flood damages. The potential of recent proposals made by Emergency Preparedness Canada and the Insurance Bureau of Canada to address these cultures is assessed. While these documents represent significant progress, they continue to adopt an intermittent project rather an ongoing program perspective, fail to identify the need to adopt specific initiatives tailored for aboriginal communities, and ignore the need to enhance the operational capacity of relevant public and private participants. Addressing these requirements will further reduce future losses and vulnerability.     

Relief workers and violations of humanitarian law: Some legal considerations

This paper examines the various legal constraints upon action by relief workers when faced with violations of human rights or of humanitarian law. The unique status of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and its delegates is explained and contrasted with the position of relief organizations and their personnel under the Geneva Conventions 1949 and their Additional Protocol I 1977. Proposals are made for the establishment of guidelines for action by relief workers when confronted with atrocities and for the training of relief workers in the relevant laws and procedures.     

Public involvement in the Red River Basin management decisions and preparedness for the next flood

Abstract

The focus of this study is public participation in the water resource and associated hazards management decision-making processes. It explores the importance, feasibility, and effectiveness of public participation in the flood management, decision-making process, with particular attention to the case of the Red River Basin of Manitoba, Canada. The nature and efficacy of public participation in the hearings conducted by the International Joint Commission (IJC) in the aftermath of the 1997 Red River flood are critically reviewed. The results of the analysis suggest that the IJC has been more sensitive to the views of the public and concerned stakeholders than the Red River Basin Task Force. The IJC incorporated a substantial portion of the opinions, suggestions, and concerns expressed by the public into the final recommendations produced by the commission for the Canadian and American federal governments. Public participation was an integral component of the IJC hearings, and was expected to contribute to flood preparedness in the future. The reasons for such accommodation of public and the stakeholders' views in decision-makingare primarily attributed to making the proposed projects and programs socio-economically and politically feasible. Because of their general characteristics, the lessons from the case of the Red River Basin could be used as an effective tool in other resource and environmental hazard management areas.     

Media coverage of the ‘UK flooding crisis’: a social panorama

A disaster referred to by the press as the ‘UK flooding crisis’ occurred between December 2015 and January 2016. This study employed three different levels of analysis to identify a multidimensional perspective adopted in the disaster reporting of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). These levels revealed details about the social actors and their interactions. The set of news exposed diverse viewpoints on the crisis, from loss and damage to distinct affected subgroups to the various social engagement actions of aid and the multiplicity of technical response measures. The conclusions highlight considerable social amplitude in the BBC's coverage; however, owing to the reductionist approach of this media communicator, the field of action involving different social actors was not very clear in the content of the news, particularly with regard to cohesion, conflict/obstruction, and concernthe concept of crisis in its essence. In addition, the paper suggests new questions for future reports. 1     

Does nutritional surveillance have a role to play in early warning of food crisis and in the management of relief operations?*

A major area of investment in data collection in developing countries has been that of nutritional surveillance and monitoring. From recent debate it is clear that there is currently no consensus on the potential role of nutritional status as an early warning indicator. The author presents a synthesis of the broad spectrum of views on the role nutritional surveillance could or should have in early warning. Conceptual problems and technical difficulties are reviewed in the light of recent experiences in Africa and Asia. The author raises a number of issues for future discussion in this ongoing debate.     

Ducking for cover in the ‘blame game’: news framing of the findings of two reports into the 2010–11 Queensland floods

After a disaster, the media typically focus on who is to blame. However, relatively little is known about how the narrative of blame plays out in media coverage of the release of official disaster reports. This paper examines coverage by two Australian newspapers (The Courier‐Mail and The Australian) of the release of the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry's Interim Report and its Final Report to identify whether and how the news frame of blame was used. Given the absence of blame in the Final Report, the newspapers resorted to the frame of ‘failure’ in news and feature articles, while continuing to raise questions in editorials and opinion pieces about who was to blame. This study argues that situating coverage of the report within the news frame of failure and questioning who was to blame for the disaster limited the media's ability to facilitate a discussion about the prevention of similar disasters in the future.