An effective, timely response to disasters – natural or human-caused – helps save lives and alleviate suffering. India is prone to natural disasters such as cyclones, earthquakes, droughts and floods that are extremely costly in terms of human loss and that often affect the country’s poorer citizens most acutely.

To respond effectively, disaster systems must be in place that allow for decisions to be made, communication to flow, technical expertise to be executed, resources to be allocated and actions synchronized. The Government of India realizes this need and is invigorating its disaster response systems at the national, state and local levels. USAID is helping India’s effort by supporting collaboration among U.S institutions such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Emergency Management Institute and Indian counterparts such as the National Center for Disaster Management and the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration for knowledge exchange and sharing of best practices in capacity building for improved disaster management.

Together, Indian and U.S. counterparts are embarking on an emergency preparedness program that:

• Creates national systems for effective, coordinated disaster responses
• Shares technical expertise and training for the proper design of emergency operations centers
• Supports the establishment of strong institutions for capacity building in disaster management.