The MEND Guide: Comprehensive Guide for Planning Mass Evacuations in Natural Disasters

The manner in which evacuations are carried out may significantly affect the ability of practitioners to manage assistance to populations in evacuation sites. Some national disaster management authorities in disaster-prone countries have extensive experience in mass evacuations. Other countries find the process challenging or they have limited access to comprehensive guidance to manage the necessary planning process.

This Comprehensive Guide for Planning Mass Evacuations in Natural Disasters – the MEND Guide – came to life at the request of several countries and national disaster management authorities to address this gap and provide a quick reference document containing practical guidance. It also attempts to bring together emergency planning needs and humanitarian considerations which are complementary in so many ways.

This pilot version of the MEND Guide is the result of a collective effort initiated by the Global Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster. It has been developted through consultation with a Steering Committee of representatives from government authorities together with experts from IOM, UNHCR, UN OCHA, IFRC, IDMC and academia. While it focuses on mass evacuations in the context of disasters related to natural hazard events, many of the actions suggested in this guide may also be applicable to other types of disasters and to planning for the evacuation of smaller groups of people.