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MERCY Malaysia Annual Report 2010

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Malaysia
+ 13 more
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MERCY Malaysia
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Our Approach

Total Disaster Risk Management (TDRM)

Like many international organisations involved in the delivery of medical and humanitarian aid to vulnerable communities, MERCY Malaysia has been actively involved in providing emergency assistance to affected populations.

In January 2005, MERCY Malaysia began implementing its key domestic and international projects and programmes by utilising a holistic approach to manage natural disasters,
Total Disaster Risk Management (TDRM).

MERCY Malaysia takes a pro-active approach to natural disaster risk management. After many years of responding to natural disasters after they occur we came to the realisation that we needed to help communities to be prepared before a natural disaster strikes. Although traditionally more attention was paid to the post-disaster phase, we wanted to make sure that we gave equal attention, if not more to the pre-disaster activities.

Total Disaster Risk Management (TDRM) takes a holistic approach to natural disaster risk management. With a balance between the pre-disaster (prevention/mitigation and preparedness) efforts and post-disaster (response and recovery) activities, we can ensure that the root causes and underlying factors that lead to natural disasters are also addressed.

TDRM also puts emphasis on total stakeholder engagement, in line with our strategic commitments. We engage all our stakeholders, especially the beneficiaries to ensure our efforts meet their needs, and we adopt and disseminate local knowledge to improve community resilience.

As such, the work we do covers all four disaster risk management phases. While it is not always possible to label an activity as belonging to a particular phase, what is important is ensuring that our overall impact contributes towards building resilience in all the communities that we touch.