The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is a part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The organization is responsible for protecting the population from natural disasters, preparing for them, and mitigating potential consequences. The agency also helps citizens to recover from the devastating impact of indent, including human-made. FEMA manages all types of incidents, including terrorist acts, through federal programs. The organization collaborates and interacts with many partners to limit the devastating impact of disasters on the population.
Emergency management involves a vast number of stakeholders, both private and public. In particular, for FEMA, stakeholders are various government agencies and divisions, non-profit organizations, private enterprises, community organizations, and local and federal emergency departments (Medicine National Academies of Sciences, 2020). Citizens are one of the main FEMA stakeholders, which is why the DHS Annual Financial Report provides information on the funds spent on various programs (U. S. Department of Performance of Homeland Security, 2020b). In particular, it lists nine areas of FEMA activities, including preparing the population for various incidents. It is also reported that compared to 2017-2018, the cost of the measures taken decreased to $ 18.8 billion (U. S. Department of Performance of Homeland Security, 2020a). Thus, the report informs the stakeholders about the implemented programs and financial approaches to the realization of measures. The organization also provides a detailed description of budget resources and costs for specific operations, as well as investments. The value of the report for the organization lies in the comprehensive information not only about the sources and purposes of financing but also about agencies’ interaction with other structures.
FEMA financial report is included in DHS’s annual report, which helps to understand the agency’s role in the department. Government agencies are accountable to the public for ensuring the completeness, comprehensiveness, and integrity of financial reports (OECD, 2017). The openness of information for the public is necessary since Congress funds the “federal government’s domestic general disaster relief programs” (Congressional Research Service, 2020). Therefore, FEMA is funded by citizens for their safety, which empowers them to understand how the budget is spent. It is the responsibility of government agencies to accurately and truthfully inform the public about resource allocation and its concrete results.
References
Congressional Research Service. (2020). The disaster relief fund: Overview and issue. Web.
Medicine National Academies of Sciences. (2020). Strengthening post-hurricane supply chain resilience: Observations from hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. National Academies Press.
OECD. (2017). Government at a glance 2017. OECD. Web.
U. S. Department of Performance of Homeland Security. (2020a). FY 2019 summary of performance and financial information (citizens’ report). Web.
U. S. Department of Performance of Homeland Security. (2020b). FY 2020 agency financial report. Web.