Overview
ISO 22392:2020 - Security and resilience - Community resilience - Guidelines for conducting peer reviews provides practical guidance for organisations to design, organise, conduct and learn from peer reviews of disaster risk reduction (DRR) policies and community resilience activities. Published in 2020 by ISO/TC 292, it supports mutual learning and improvement rather than formal compliance auditing. The standard is applicable to all types, structures and sizes of organisations (local, regional, national governments, NGOs, businesses, community groups) and can be used before or after incidents and exercises.
Key topics and technical requirements
ISO 22392 details a structured peer review process and includes requirements and recommendations for:
- Planning the peer review: defining scope, level of administration, objectives, timeline, cost/benefit, stakeholders, and whether to use a self-assessment.
- Selecting analysis areas: choosing subject matters to review (examples include governance, risk assessment, infrastructure, public health, recovery and climate adaptation).
- Roles and governance: appointing a coordinating organisation, host personnel and independent reviewers with relevant expertise.
- Conducting the review: preparing reviewers and host personnel, gathering and presenting information, using structured questions on strategy, intelligence, process management, coordination and operational delivery.
- Recording and analysing findings: documenting observations, forming opinions on each analysis area, and delivering consolidated feedback.
- Assessing impact: methods for evaluating short- and long-term benefits using quantitative and qualitative approaches.
- Continuous improvement: identifying improvements to both the host’s practices and the peer review process itself.
- Supporting materials: informative annexes with example tasks, evidence-recording templates, visit timetables and sample discussion points.
Practical applications
ISO 22392 is used to:
- Improve DRR policy, preparedness, response and recovery operations through independent peer feedback.
- Facilitate knowledge exchange and benchmarking across jurisdictions and organisations.
- Support post-incident and post-exercise learning and capability development.
- Strengthen community resilience initiatives and align them with international frameworks (e.g., Sendai Framework, SDG 11).
Who should use this standard
- Emergency management agencies, resilience officers and DRR practitioners
- Local, regional and national governments and statutory bodies
- NGOs, community groups and private-sector organisations involved in continuity and risk reduction
- Organisations seeking a non-audit, collaborative review to inform strategic and operational improvements
Related standards and references
- ISO 22300 (Security and resilience - Vocabulary) - referenced for terminology.
- Aligns with international DRR goals such as the Sendai Framework and UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 for resilient cities.
Keywords: ISO 22392:2020, peer review, community resilience, disaster risk reduction, DRR guidelines, resilience peer review, preparedness, recovery.
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