Community based disaster preparedness: Need for a standardized training module

Disasters act as great levelers defying all existing social differences and stratifications, affecting all, and in a unique way, unifying the communities across boundaries. The  community is usually the first responder to any disaster. This social capital is a crucial strength on which the community balances its existence in a disaster scenario.
Realizing this need, varied models of communitybased disaster risk reduction are run globally. Training is an integral component of all such programmes. However, the implementation of training modules for community based disaster risk reduction face various challenges including a project mode approach, duplication of efforts, lack of standards for training, lack of sustainability, mainstreaming it with various development projects, integration of the local resources with components of the programme, and dearth of trained experts who are meant to interface with and support local communities. So, whereas there is a need to develop a standard module for Community Based Disaster Preparedness (CBDP) in a country, there is also no need to ‘reinvent the wheel’. Collation of existing strengths of the training modules would be a better strategy. There is a need to develop and evolve a standardized training module for streamlining CBDP practices carried out by various
organizations in a country to ensure that CBDP doesn’t become a one-off project based  activity but rather a continuous process of development.