The first responders to any disaster are the neighbours in the community.
They should be at the heart of any disaster management initiative because
they are the first responders to any disaster.
over dependence on external resources is time consuming and even ineffective
local people have the maximum information about the disaster.
Aid agencies involve local people in their decision-making, in the assessment, development, implementation and monitoring of responses
Effective change responses ultimately depend on community capacities to reduce their medium and long-term risks as well as the ability to cope with the impacts