Photo caption: Major Christopher Holmes of USAFRICOM interacts with Commandant DIOP of the Direction de la Protection Civile, Ministry of Interior, in Dakar, Senegal, March 2011.
The U.S. Africa Command Disaster Planning and Preparedness Program (DP3) is designed to enhance the capacity of African nations to mitigate, prepare for and respond to disasters and to develop sustainable long-term relationships on the continent that will enhance African capacity to support and respond regionally. In support of this effort, assessments of African national emergency management programs are needed to form baselines of capacity, to support the development of national work plans, and to evaluate the impact of the DP3 in the future. Metrics for DP3 are also needed to support long term efforts and to determine the efficacy of the program. The proposed end-state of the DP3 is that African partner nations have strengthened their capacity to respond to a disaster and have mitigated threats to stability and security.
Program activity includes:
- Support and/or conduct assessments of African national emergency management programs using a proven methodology (such as the Emergency Management Standards developed by the Emergency Management Accreditation Program) as part of the DP3 at U.S. Africa Command;
- Support the development and use of tools to assess African national disaster medical capabilities and the integration of national military assets into civil disaster preparedness and response efforts;
- Facilitate the provision of assessor training courses to train African assessors in the use of emergency management standards/assessment tools for use by countries in the enhancement of their nationwide program in support of capacity building and sustainment; and
- Support the development of metrics for DP3 as a whole, as well as the development of metrics for individual countries based on developed country work plans.
