Focusing on contingency planning, these guidelines examines the following issues:

Purpose: Popular misconceptions, relationship to early warning, operations planning and needs assessment, indicators to suggest initiation of planning process.

Process: Emphases importance of process to arrive at an effective plan, describes a participatory approach and suggests mechanisms established in-country to update the plan and maintain the preparedness process.

Partners: Identifies, and considers the role of, various agencies in the planning process and appropriate actors