Business Continuity Management (BCM) for better preparedness, response and recovery

A preliminary discussion was held on 19^th November 2018 to plan, outline and discuss a plan for rolling out the proposed series of training programmes on Business Continuity Management (BCM) that has been planned under Sri Lanka preparedness Partnership (SLPP)  to make Small  and Medium Enterprises in 03 districts in Sri Lanka better prepared for any business disruptions arising from natural and man-made hazards and for effective respond and recovery. The Sri Lanka Preparedness Partnership (SLPP) in collaboration with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and Janathakshan Gte Ltd organized the discussion. It was participated by representatives from Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, MAS Intimate, Dialog Axiata, Sabaragamuwa Chamber of Commerce and National Enterprise Development Authority, ADPC and Janathakshan Gte Ltd.

Asian Preparedness Partnership (APP) was launched in 2017 as a joint initiative of government,  private sector and civil society networks from six countries namely, Cambodia, Myanmar, Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, while ADPC serves as the secretariat. The APP supports the regional, national and local partnerships to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters by strengthening the leadership capacity of the governments, the private sector and civil society organizations while promoting south-south learning, knowledge exchange and partnerships across and beyond the regions. The Sri Lanka Preparedness Partnership (SLPP) has been formed under the purview of Asian Preparedness Partnership (APP) for preparedness for emergency response. The program will help in improving the inter-organizational coordination by engaging the Local Humanitarian Organizations and Institutions to have increased dialogue with the National Governments and Inter-Agency Networks through partnerships, exchange of information and knowledge resources, training, and networking opportunities.

The discussion was participated by  representatives from Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, MAS Intimate, Dialog Axiata, Sabaragamuwa Chamber of Commerce and National Enterprise Development Authority, ADPC and Janathakshan Gte Ltd.

Mr. A. M. Sanoon from Dialog Axiata explaining the factors to be considered in BCM

The specific objective of the discussion was to formulate a resource group to design, plan and conduct the proposed series of training programmes under the SLPP. The selected resource group cum trainers has been specifically trained to serve the purpose under the Training of Trainers (TOT) programme which was held in July 2018. The Sri Lanka Preparedness Partnership (SLPP) in collaboration with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and government of Sri Lanka (Ministry of Irrigation & Water Resource Management and Ministry of Disaster Management) with the support of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), organized this TOT on Business Continuity Management (BCM) in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The TOT was designed to promote awareness and knowledge of the benefits and key processes of BCM as part of overall efforts for building business resilience. The training aimed to equip the participants to deliver BCM training for micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) especially as part of enhancing their value chain and/or corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability programs.

After a successful discuss the team was able to draft the outline of the training programme, detailed out the content and identified the resource person to conduct the specific training sessions. The tentative timeline was agreed to conduct the training programme and hopefully the first training programme will be able to conduct by mid December 2018.

The Sri Lanka Preparedness Partnership (SLPP) believes that this series of training programmes will help MSMEs to better prepare for any business disruptions arising from natural and man-made hazards and for effective respond and recovery. The lessons and experiences generated through the series of BCM programme will be shared across Asia and the globe.

Voluntary People’s Review Released on the situation of SDGs in Sri Lanka

 

 

 

 

A Voluntary People’s Review to provide an realistic situation of the SDGs implementation status in Sri Lanka was released and presented to the Government of Sri Lanka, all stakeholders as well as the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF)  in July 2018.

 

On the 15th of September 2015, Sri Lanka became a signatory to the global agreement on ‘Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’. This agreement requires each of the signatory countries to assess their national realities regarding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), when presenting the Voluntary National Review (VNR). The VNR will be presented in July 2018 at the UN High-Level Political Forum.

 

The need for a Voluntary People’s Review in Sri Lanka was  due to the lack in inclusive intent  and  a  clear  rationale within the Voluntary National Review (VNR) process in Sri Lanka. Moreover, to continue the flagship initiative themed ‘A Sustainable Nation - An Inclusive Transformation’, the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Wildlife (MSDW) initiated the ‘National Sustainable Development Engagement Platform’ in early 2016. However, it was only successful for a year during which stakeholders were engaged in the ‘National SDG Action Plan (2017-2020)’ and ‘Provincial Sustainability Plans’ before it was abandoned by the MSDW officials. Since the stakeholder engagement platform was absent during the VNR process which was led by the government, it has received criticism regarding the absence of providing an honest situation for the current status of SDG implementation in Sri Lanka.

 

The Sri Lanka Stakeholder Sustainable Development Goals Platform (SLS SDG Platform) that was established in March 2018, initiated the Voluntary People’s Review (VPR). Janathakshan played a leading role in this process in collaboration with civil society organizations and private sectors.

 

The VPR process was created to provide a realistic situation of the SDGs implementation status in Sri Lanka with the input of experts from both governmental and non-governmental sectors. The SLS SDG Platform was created by the collaboration of Civil Society Organisations, private sector, academia, professional associations, trade unions and etc. The main aim of this review is to facilitate an inclusive transformation towards sustainable development in Sri Lanka. The first event addressing the VPR was held on the 26th of April 2018 at the Nagarodaya Centre and it was organised by the Centre for Environmental Justice.

 

The Process

Figure 1 - The process undertaken to formulate the Voluntary People’s Review.

 

 

On the 09 of April 2018, Janathakshan held the SDG stakeholder platform meeting where all the stakeholders who could contribute to the VPR were invited. This meeting identified and discussed the process that would be undertaken to complete the 17 SDG reviews. All the stakeholders present were appointed with the SDGs that are most relevant to their field, Uchita De Zoysa , the SLS SDG Platform initiator, provided a format for each SDG in order to achieve a successful review. This format was created for each of the goals and it included the indicators that define the goals. These indicators were assessed under their baseline values, proposed baseline values and a rationale to the indicator and a pre defined colour code to represent the current status of that respective indicator in Sri Lanka.

 

From the 18th of June, a series of meetings were held in the conference room at the Janathakshan Head Office, where stakeholders continued their research and reviewing of the SDG goals under the guidance of Uchita De Zoysa. The first drafts of the SDG reviews were presented at the SLS SDG Platform workshop which was held at World Vision Head Quarters. These drafts were reviewed again by experts who were invited for the workshop, which led to comprehensive final drafts for each of the Sustainable Development Goals.

 

The final report consisted of 5 chapters, which incorporated the SDG reviews accordingly. Chapter 1 presents a report card on the implementation of the SDGs. Chapter 2 addressed an assessment on the policy and enabling environment for the implementation of SDGs in Sri Lanka. Chapter 3 is regarding a commentary on the transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies in Sri Lanka. Chapter 4 addresses an independent monitoring, evaluation and reporting mechanism on the 17 SDGs in Sri Lanka. Chapter 5 is a summary of people’s voices on leaving no one behind. These chapters provided an overall review on the status of implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while keeping with inclusive transformation objectives that lead towards sustainable development.

 

The link to the final VPR report is available here:
Final VPR Report

 

By: Avishka Sendanayake