Countries throughout the world are increasingly experiencing alarming levels of loss of life, economic damage and social upheaval arising from natural and human-made disasters, including environmental emergencies and violent conflicts.

The purpose of disaster management is to reduce the negative impacts of these disasters and emergencies. As such, disaster management as a field encompasses all activities undertaken before, during and after disasters including disaster preparedness through disaster response (and humanitarian assistance) to rehabilitation and long-term risk reduction.

InterWorks recognizes a strong interrelationship among disasters, development and the need for capacity building of institutions that operate in these areas. While disasters and conflict can destroy the products of years of development work, they can also provide opportunities to initiate development programs, such as self-help housing programs to rebuild safe housing destroyed by a natural disaster. Similarly, development programs, if properly implemented, can decrease an area's susceptibility to disasters whereas improper implementation can increase an area's vulnerability.

InterWorks provides a variety of training and consulting services which enhance your capacity to manage disasters in all phases of the disaster continuum (before, during and after) and to provide effective humanitarian assistance. To learn more about these services, click on any of the links featured in the light shaded gray box found to the right and up from this text.