Project Management for Emergency Response &
Disaster Recovery – A Call to Arms!

By David Pells

Over the last few months, we have again seen natural disasters strike around the world, including earthquakes, fires and floods.  In addition to the human lives lost and affected, these events have also had significant impacts on local and regional economies and on the projects and project management profession in those places.  This month, as we pass the two year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in the United States, we find that thousands of Louisiana and Mississippi residents have not returned to their homes, cities and towns have not been rebuilt, and local and regional economies have not recovered.

In Darfur, Iraq, Somalia and other conflict zones around the world, rebuilding has gone slowly or not occurred at all.  Lack of security and continued conflict have hampered rebuilding efforts.  But according to news reports and governmental audits, corruption, bad contracting practices, poor project management and lack of oversight have also been major problems.  In my opinion, these last four issues are clearly within the realm of professional project management, suggesting that those in charge have either not been serious about PM or have not known enough about project management to take advantage of its power.  It is now time to take action!

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