chapter 2: inaugural function j3 ii · chapter 6:climate change glof-glaciallake outburst floods...

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Acknowledgments

Foreword

Abbreviations and Definitions

Executive SummaryG. Padmanabhan, Emergency Analyst, UNDP India

Chapter 1: Field Visit

Field Visit to UNICEF CBDRR Project in West Bengal

Chapter 2: Inaugural FunctionReport of Welcome Address

Ms. LoriCalvo, State Representative, UNICEF West Bengal

Guest of Honour - Inaugural SpeechSreekumar Mukherjee, Honourable Minister, Civil Defence, Government of West Bengal

Guest of Honour

IndiraKulenovic, DRR Expert for South Asia, European Commission Humanitarian Aid"DG-ECHO ECHO/DIPECHO Policy inSouth Asia"

Guest of Honour

Pieter Bult, Deputy Director, Programme, UNDPIndia, "UN Policy Issues Related to DRR"

Keynote AddressAnn Hasselbalch, Deputy Director, Operations, UNICEF India

Chapter 3: Policy on DRR

CBDRM/DRM: A Joint Initiative of Government of India and UNDPG. Padmanabhan, Emergency Analyst, UNDP India

Response and Relief to Saptakoshi Floods in NepalDovan Lawoti, Field Office, UNICEF Nepal, Govind Chhetry, FieldOffice, UNICEF Nepaland Asim Shrestha, Country Office, UNICEF Nepal

How UNICEF India Promotes 'DRR with a Human Face'

Srdjan Stojanovic, Chief, Emergency, UNICEF India

Policy Issues of CBDRR

Vikrant Mahajan, Chief Operating Officer, Sphere India

Building Safer Communities in South Asia: Good Practice and Framework for DRREilia Jafar,South Asia Regional DRR Officer, DIPECHO, International Federation of RedCrossand RedCrescent Societies, India

Chapter 4: Lessons Learnt - Sharing Good PracticesEvaluationof UNICEF CBDP Project, West BengalChaman Pincha, Gender Consultant, Tsunami response programme, OxfamAmericain India

Child-Centred DRR

Chiranjeet Das, Technical Advisor DRR, PLAN International, India

Children-led DRR (CLDRR) in ThailandSophapan Ratanachena, Programme Officer, Save the Children Sweden,Regional Office for South East Asia and the Pacific, Thailand

Lessons Learnt of CBDRR Project ImplementationAnwarul Haq, Director, IbnSina Afghanistan

Concern's Approach to DRR

Sebastian TV, Emergency Programme Manager, Concern Worldwide, India

CBDRR Practices

Habibullah Bahar, Manav Mukti Sanstha, Bangladesh

Strengthening Community Disaster Coping MechanismV. J. George, Deputy Director, Disaster Management Institute, Bhopal

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II CBDRR Conference, Kolkata, India, November 2008

Community-based Flood Information SystemMoloy Chaki, Programme Coordinator, Bangladesh DisasterPreparednessCentre

Lessons Learnt from CBDRRKhammam District, Andhra PradeshRamesh Babu, Programme Manager, EFICOR India

Community-based Psycho-Social Support in DisasterMemoona Chaudry, Programme Officer, UNDP Pakistan

Mainstreaming of Disability in DRRBikram Mohapatro, Disability Coordinator, Handicap International, India

Grassroots Level Training in Jammu & KashmirMandar Vaidya, RedR India

CBDRR in Cyclone-Prone AreaMd. Tohidur Rahman, Community Development Centre, Bangladesh

Grain Bank and Food Forest: Preparedness for Post-disaster Food ScarcityMalay Mukherjee, Coordinator, Development Research Communication andServices Centre (DRCSC), Kolkata

CBDRR Project in Flood-Prone AreasJahangir Alam, ProjectCoordinator, Dhaka Ahsania Mission, Bangladesh

Multi-hazard EarlyWarning System - Tsunami and CycloneArup Kumar Patro, FOCUS Humanitarian Assistance/Aga Khan Foundation India

Embankment Situation and Vulnerability in the SunderbansJoachim Schmerbeck, Welthungerhilfe, India, Professor Hazra and his team from School of Oceanographic Studies,Jadhavpur University, Kolkata

CBDRR and Public Health

Dr. Bhanu Pratap Mall, Director, Poorvanchal Gramin Vikas Sansthan(PGVS)

Chapter 5: Urban CBDRR ^Building UrbanCommunity Capacity through Early WarningSystemfor FloodsHarkunti P. Rahayu, Project Coordinator, PROMISE Indonesia

EarthquakeSafetyInitiative- Himachal Pradesh, India- School to Community SafetyShivangi Chavda, SEEDS India

Urban Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction ProjectNandita Hazarika, State Project Officer, UNDP Assam, India

School SafetyRozina Rupani, FOCUS Humanitarian, India

Chapter 6: Climate ChangeGLOF-Glacial Lake Outburst Floods

Rajeevlssar, UNDP

Case Study of the SunderbansDr. Anurag Danda, World Wide Fund for Nature, India

Chapter 7: PartnershipUnified Response Strategy, Sphere IndiaVikas Gora, Focal Point - Unified Response Strategy, Sphere India

Partnership for SustainabilityDr. Anthony Gnanamuthu, German Red Cross, Orissa, India

Improve Quality of Lifeline Services to Achieve DRRSarbjit Singh Sahota, Director, RedR India

Institutional Learning of State Inter-Agency GroupFather LP. Sarto, Convener, Inter-Agency Group (IAG), West Bengal

Promoting Traditions, Reducing Risks - DIPECHO-supported CBDRR projectinWestBengalParnasri RayChaudhury, UNICEF West Bengal

Valedictory AddressProfessor N. Vinod Chandra Menon,Member, National Disaster ManagementAuthority (NDMA), Government of India

Final Statement & Vote of Thanks

Srdjan Stojanovic, Chief, Emergency, UNICEF India

Agenda Conference On Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR) andGood Practices

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Acknowledgments

UN

DPIndia

Sphere India

The conferenceon Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR) wasorganised by UNICEF Indiain collaborationwith the Government of West Bengal, UNDP India, RedR India, SPHERE India and the Asian Disaster PreparednessCentre (ADPC). UNICEF is grateful to its co-organisers whose support and encouragement was essential for thesuccess of the event.

UNICEF would liketo express its gratitude towards the 150 conference participants, including representatives fromthe government, UN agencies, Red Cross and Crescent Society, donor community and NGOs. It should be notedthat participants came from various parts of India as well as the seven South Asian and South-East Asian countries.A total of 84 organisations took part in the conference.

UNICEF is particularly grateful to the generous support provided by local NGO partners and beneficiaries of itsCBDRR project in West Bengal.

This book has been developed by UNICEF and RedR India with the purpose of sharing CBDRR practices among theconference participants as well as with CBDRR policy makers and practitioners in India and globally.

IV CBDRR Conference, Kolkata, India, November 2008

?^^7.

The global experience of the development community has demonstrated that Community-based Disaster RiskReduction (CBDRR) efforts approached from a socialand behaviour change perspective ensure that the poorest, mostvulnerable and marginalised communities understand the simple and practical actions required to protect lives andpersonal assets in case of natural disasters. Perhaps the major lesson learnt is that CBDRR can change the mindset ofboth communities and other stakeholders. Webelieve that communities cantakeon responsibility forprotecting theirown lives and livelihoods in the event of a disaster ifthey are equipped with the requisite knowledgeand skills.

UNICEF's global as well as regional experiences in such initiatives confirm that CBDRR interventions can makesignificant change in a community's resilience to natural disasters, especially among the most vulnerable womenand children. UNICEF argues that all of society is best served when policies and programmes are child and familyfocused, including risk reduction. That is what we call "risk reduction with a human face".

Inviewof recurring disasters inthe Asian continent, many mitigation interventions have been undertaken byvariousstakeholders in the recent past. This has already resulted in a significant reduction in casualties. However, due toa combination of environmental and socio-economic factors, the cumulative losses are multiplying and threatenthe achievement of wider development goals across many countries in South Asia and beyond. The poorest andmost marginalised communities bear the brunt of such tendencies. Among other global policy documents, theHyogo Protocol of 2005 and the UN Millennium Development Goalsenunciate the need for a CBDRR approach andintegration of disaster management in development programming.

UNICEF-supported CBDRR projects in India offer some outstanding examples of mainstreaming of practices whicheffectively lead toward empowering of communities and enhancing their capacities to deal with disasters, with dueattention on specific vulnerabilitiesand needs of women and children. In West Bengal, CBDRR has now emerged as asocial movement, with multiple players involved and a high degree of ownership and sustainability. This is the modelUNICEF showcased to other interested policy-makers and practitioners inthe region. It isan encouragingfact that thegovernments at the national as well as state level have definitive plans to advance the work on CBDRR in India.

In November 2008, UNICEF India, in partnership with the Government, UN and NGO agencies, hosted a CBDRRconference in Kolkata, convening 84 organisationsfrom India and South/South East Asia. Theconference provideda specialised forum to share experiences and good practices and underscored multiple mitigation interventionsthat resulted in reduction of deaths and losses. As part of the conference, a field visit to the UNICEF CBDRR projectsite in West Bengal was organised for all participants. The event was an opportunity for UNICEF and its partners toreaffirm their commitment to global disaster risk reduction initiatives.

This publication is an attempt to document various initiatives, lessons learnt and best practices in the field ofcommunity-based disaster risk reduction from India and the region, aiming at serving a growing number ofpolicy-makers, donors and practitioners, who believe that the risk can be reduced at the community level withthe active participation of the most vulnerable populations.

March 2009 Srdjan Stojanovic

Chief, EmergencyUNICEF India

TERM

ADPC

BDO

BDPC

CAP

CBADP

CBDM

CBDP

CBDRR

CBO

CLDRR

DMC

DMI

DMT

DRR

EWS

FEWS

FGD

Gram Panchayat

Gram Panchayats

Gram Sansad

IAG

IDP

IEC

IFRC

NDMA

NREGA

OECD

ORS

PLA

PoA

PRA

PRI

RedR

RR

SHG

Abbreviations and Definitions

Definition or Full Form

Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre

Block Development OfficerBangladesh Disaster Preparedness Centre

Community Action Process

Community-based Approaches to Disaster PreparednessCommunity-based Disaster Management

Community-based Disaster Preparedness

Community-based Disaster Risk ReductionCommunity-based Organisation

Child-led Disaster Risk Reduction

Disaster Management Committees

Disaster Management Institute

Disaster Management Teams

Disaster Risk Reduction

Early Warning System

Flood Early Warning System

Focus Group Discussion

Local village-level governance (the head or the Sarpanch is the most venerable memberof the village)These are local government bodies at the village level in India. As of 2002, there were about265,000 gram panchayats in India. The gram panchayat is the foundation of the PanchayatSystem. A gram panchayat can be set up in villages with a minimum population of 500.Sometimes two or more villages are clubbed together to form group-gram panchayat whenthe population of individual villages is less than 500.

Village-level meetingInter Agency Group

Internally Displaced PeopleInformation and Education Communication

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

National Disaster Management AuthorityNational Rural Employment Guarantee Act

Organisation of Economic Cooperation and DevelopmentOral Rehydration Salts

Participatory Learning & Action

Plan of Action

Participatory Rural AppraisalPanchayati Raj Institution

Register Engineers for Disaster ReliefRisk Reduction

Self Help Group

TF

UNDP

UNICEF

UNISDR

VCA

VCD

WASH

WATSAN

WWF

Zila Parishad

CBDRR Conference, Kolkata, India, November 2008

Task Force

Task Force Team

United Nations Development Programme

United Nations Children's Fund

United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction

Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment

Vulnerability and Capacity Development

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

Water and Sanitation

World Wide Fund for Nature

District Board

Disclaimer: The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply theexpression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the UNICEF concerning the legal status of any country, territory, cityorarea, orof itsauthorities, orconcerning thedelimitation of itsfrontiers orboundaries. Material in thispublication maybefreely quoted or reprinted, but acknowledgementis requested, together with a reference to the document. A copyofthe publicationcontaining the quotation or reprintshould be sent to UNICEF. Thephotos used along with the papers areas providedby the authors. UNICEF pictures have been duly credited.

VIII CBDRR Conference, Kolkata, India, November 2008

Disaster risk reduction (DRR) is a set of activities carried out to minimise

vulnerabilities and disaster risks in a society, and avoid (prevention) or to

limit (mitigation and preparedness) the adverse impact of hazards withinthe broad context of sustainable development. The change in perception

about the effectiveness and cost efficiency of disaster prevention has

become a socio-political priority as has been aptly demonstrated in

West Bengal. In recent times, international initiatives, like setting the

Millennium Development Goals (1995, 2002), have demonstrated

international concern for sustainable and inclusive development. Further,

international agreements, such as the Hyogo Framework for Action (2005),

have demonstrated international acceptance of disaster risk reduction

strategies. But, still a lot needs to be done.

The critical success factor for DRR work is to accept interdependence of

various disciplines and start a hierarchy of initiatives aimed at reducing thedisaster risk of men, women and children. Establishing community-based

management and governance systems to identify risks and find solutions

through a participatory exercise is one of the most preferred approaches to

creating an enabling environment for comprehensive disaster risk reduction

in rural as well as urban areas. CBDRR is a multi-disciplinary agenda for

community development; a different paradigm (long-term) that builds on

the intrinsic relationship between disasters and development. Experience

demonstrates that CBDRR efforts approached from a social and behaviour

change perspective ensure that children and families understand simple

and practical actions required to protect lives and properties from natural

hazard induced disasters.

UNICEF, along with the Government of West Bengal (GoWB), UNDP, ADPC,

RedR India, Sphere India and many other important regional actors came

together for three days in Kolkata to develop a shared vision of future

interventions, collaboration and to ensure sustainability of community-

based disaster risk reduction (CBDRR) initiatives. Some of the best practices,

challenges and recommendations that emerged from the deliberations can

be applied to shape the CBDRR practice in diverse contexts.

The primary domains that attracted keen participation were:

PolicyIn the field of disaster management, the policy focus of national and

state governments is shaped by the emerging need and learning from

innovative approaches and methods. Allocation of resources by the

.

"I urge all partners -

Governments, civil society,

international financial

institutions and the

private sector - to step

up implementation of the

Hyogo Framework. Disaster

risk reduction is everybody's

business. Only by investing

in tangible risk reduction

measures can we reduce

vulnerability and protect

development."

Ban Ki-moon,

Secretary-General,

United Nations

CBDRR is a multi-disciplinary

agenda for community

development; a different

paradigm (long-term) that

builds on the intrinsic

relationshipbetweendisasters

and development.

2 CBDRR Conference, Kolkata, India, November 2008

Establishing community-

based management and

governance systemsto identify

risk and find solutions through

a participatory exercise is

one of the most preferred

approaches to creating an

enabling environment for

comprehensive disaster risk

reduction in rural as well as

urban areas.

Government of West Bengal for enhancing preparedness and efforts to

clarify roles and responsibilities helped drive the excellent work done by

various development partners. An outcome of sustained joint action fordisaster risk reduction by Government of West Bengal and UNICEF was

the emergence of a civil defence department, which played a major role

in enhancing response preparedness and strengthening of institutions

for sustaining the capacity development efforts in West Bengal as wellas in other states. A key conclusion was the need for institutionalisation

of efforts in the government from the sustainability point of view ratherthan just limiting them to mere involvement. A sectoral approach, using

expertise of different agencies to reduce risks in pre- and post-disaster

situations helped. Involving marginalised sections such as internallydisplaced persons, women, people with disabilities, enabled cohesive and

quick action towards disaster mitigation. Regular regional coordination

between the government, UN, NGOs and the corporate sector helped in

quick identification of the gaps and needs of the victims. Donor funding,

while addressing immediate humanitarian needs, now increasingly put

strong emphasis on the need for a long-term agenda for disaster risk

reduction.

Sharing Best PracticesThe main feature of the UNICEF initiative in West Bengal was the importancegiven to sharing of effective practices, which resulted in some degree of

replicability. A number of successful practical and strategic interventions

were shared to enable future projects to achieve more and succeed better.Some of the effective practices were:

• Women and children were seen as change agents in the process of

DRR. Children gained knowledge and confidence that resulted in their

increased participation and proactive action for risk reduction.

• Behavioural change in areas linked to personal health, hygiene

and habits led to an all-round improvement in health and personal

effectiveness.

• Linking the process with development aspects by providing alternative

means of livelihoods like introducing alternative cropping patterns,gardening, keeping livestock and encouraging handlooms improved

the quality of life in the villages.

• Usage of indigenous knowledge helped in the sustainability of CBDRR.

In areas like West Bengal, CBDRR has emerged a social movement due

to its focus on the community and the community is now addressing

various other social problems, like HIV/AIDS and alcoholism, and this

has led to the empowerment of the community.

• In pursuit of disaster risk reduction, school preparedness programmes

were able to reach out to the wider community.

• Utilisation of assets like cyclone shelters and their sustainability

was reinforced by giving the communities a financial stake in their

maintenance. This essentially went beyond the regular participative

and consultative processes, making the asset available as a service.

,

Urban CBDRR

Considering the vulnerability of urban areas, especially

in the light of rapid urbanisation that most countries

will face in the near future, the need for urban risk

reduction was flagged as an area of immediateattention. Disaster management plans and DRR have

to be included in the urban planning process.

Behavioural changeforDRRamongsttheheterogeneous

population in urban areas needs a range of contextual

strategies as compared to the standard practice seen

in the rural areas. Engaging change is complex with

respect to the mindset of the urban population because

ofchallenges with individualism in a community mindset.

Often the involvement of the urban community is low

and this is combined with a lack of proactive support

from all stakeholders, especially since the concept

of community based on a geographical area is very

weak; it is based on other criteria such as profession

or state of origin.

Climate ChangeCommunities in rural environments may not know

what climate change is, but they are certainly aware

about the specific changes that affect their day-to

day lives and livelihoods. There needs to be a global

understanding of the failings of the adaptive approach

and a global recognition of its inherent limitations. The

adaptation method is often an extension of ongoing

efforts to reduce existing climate-related disaster risks

and not new or altered existing hazards likely in the

future. Glacial lake outburst floods and their growing

prevalence in the Himalayas was a particular example

that was emphasised in this context. The promotion

of renewable sources of energies from biomass and

promotion of paddy crop saline resilience in Bangladesh

was also of great interest to the participants.

Mitigation of DRR cannot be done without reducing

carbon emission and CBDRR should be sensitive to

the needs of the environment in order to restrict the

impact of climate change that will have an enormous

impact on disaster prone areas.

PartnershipPromotion of volunteerism for prevention, mitigationand preparedness has included students and the youth


in the process of preparedness. Forging partnerships

with different stakeholders like the government, NGOs,

CBOs, and the corporate sector, etc., for their inclusion

in the CBDRR process has led to its sustenance and

success in many areas. In some cases, strong ties

with the government have led to an introduction of

various schemes that have benefited various groups,

like people with disabilities, farmers and women.

Formation of inter agency groups helped initiate a

uniform approach to disaster management and has

been very effective in some areas. This association has

helped in finding solutions to problems through joint

action and has helped in the success of their missionthat is reducing loss of lives and property, and providing

quality service to the community. Partnership for

capacity building has proved to be a useful strategy

to utilise and build on their comparative advantages.

The formation of task force groups has supported

systematic implementation of DRR strategies.

Involvement of established networks, such as Nehru

Yuvak Kendra Samiti (NYKS), National Social Service

(NSS), Anganwadi workers, Accredited Social HealthActivists (ASHA) volunteers, will have to be promoted

to ensure sustainability of volunteerism for DRR.

DRR perspective and practice offer a significant

opportunity and hope but the journey is fairly complex.

Increased acceptance of the cross-disciplinarity of DRR

posessignificantchallengesformanagementoftheaims

of CBDRR. It demands patience to follow an integratedapproach in a multi-stakeholder environment. DRR is

a complex process! It can be made comprehensible,

focused and practical through a community-based

approach. The key to success of any such approach is

to ensure sufficient participation of the communities

benefiting from this and to periodically rehearse the

roles and responsibilities through a plan under the

supervision of experts, who also give their feedbackfor further improvement.


Temporaryflood shelter on stilts mode out of locally available material {bamboo and coirrope) and skill.


Rapid constructionof banana raft being demonstrated by the local youth during the field visit.


Entire village is in audience to childrenpresenting song and dance sequence to deliver keymessages on DRR.

BackgroundOn 26 November 2008, as part of the CBDRR conference

programme agenda, UNICEF organised a one-day fieldvisit to UNICEF CBDRR project areas in the State of

West Bengal. Over 100 delegates visited project areasin the South 24 Parganas and Nadia districts. With the

intention of involving a larger number of communitiesand partners, and due to logistical constraints,

conference participants were divided into four groupsand visited four different locations.

During the field visits, community members sharedtheir disaster risk reduction learning from the project.In each select village location, they discussed the

seven project steps for achieving DRR. Further, theydemonstrated the skills they had acquired as partof resilience and capacity building, so that theycould effectively reduce risks of natural calamities.It was an occasion to celebrate the vision of disaster

preparedness, which was the most visible common

thread between the visitors and the community.

During the visits, participants interacted with NGOpartners and beneficiary communities. The visits

were a rare opportunity for communities and the

grassroots volunteers of UNICEF partner NGOs to

share their achievements and commitments to the

project and concept of CBDRR, as well as their self-

confidence in dealing with potential threats to theirlives and livelihoods.

Allll NGOs, who were field-level project partnersof UNICEF, were involved in the preparation andexecution of the field visits:• Krishnagar Cathedral Charitable Social Society (CCK)

• Child in Need Institute (CINI)• Sreema Mahila Samity (SMS)

• Unique Social Equality (USE)

• Calcutta Society for Professional Action inDevelopment (SPADE)

• Palli Unnayan Samiti (PUS)

•

• Gana Unnayan Parshad (GUP)

• Uttar Banger Pragati (UBP)

• Indranarayanpur Nazrul Smriti Sangha (INSS)

• Rajadighi Community Health Services Society(RCHSS)

• Social Welfare Institute (SWI)

The villages that were visited:1. Village Kultali, Mothuranagar Block, South 24

Parganas District (Host partner NGO- PUS)

2. Village Chupipata, Krishnagar-ll Block, Nadia

District (Host partner NGO - SPADE)3. Village Shilberiya, Hanskhali Block, Nadia District

(Host partner NGO-SMS)4. Village Goas, Karimpur-ll Block, Nadia District (Host

partner NGO-CCK)

The discussion with the communities included

the "seven steps" process of the project:STEP 1: Selecting communities

STEP 2: Rapport building and understanding the

communities

STEP 3: Participatory disaster risk analysis (PLA)

STEP 4: Participatory disaster risk managementplanning (POA)

STEP 5: Building and training community-basedorganisations in CBDRR (task force formation

and capacity building trainings)

STEP 6: Community managed implementation

(mock drills)

STEP 7: Participatory monitoring and evaluation

Some of the innovative and traditional copingmechanisms as well as activities that were

shared with conference delegates during thefield visit were:• Banana raft making - banana is an easily available

plant and a raft can be quickly made with littleexpertise.

• Life jacket making - keeping life jackets to save

lives in floods, using readily available cheap local


material. These included locally produced child/

baby life jackets.Learning to rescue - different water-based life-

saving techniques of rescuing people, carrying the

rescued/injured and first aid.Swimming lessons and swimming competition forboys and girls.

Preparing family kits - family survival kit (FSK), and

child survival kit (CSK) - using plastic bags as water

proof kits and creating a safe storage space wherefamilies can keep and preserve dry food, important

documents, medical kits, children's toys and school

books in case of floods.

Bamboo platform - an emergency two-storey

shelter structure made of locally available bamboo

that can support a large number of people in the

event of a fast onset flood. The structure can be

speedily erected, at almost zero-cost and with

indigenous knowledge.

Child protection - education of young children inthe event of a flood. In case of separation, children

will know their own names, names of their parents,

name of their village, etc.Dharmo Gola (Grain Bank) - innovation based on

tradition: villagers save one part of their surplus

harvest in the gola. They manage the system

through a local managerial committee. In case of

a crisis, they take loan in kind from the gola, and

later repay the loan with interest (in kind).

• Village mapping - creating large-scale maps of

the ground for everyone to see. The map contains

houses, local shelters and low-lying areas, as

well as the hazard-prone areas. Such a map

enables villagers to see and identify risks and plan

accordingly. This mapping exercise is carried out by

the villagers every year before the flood season.

• The task forces formed through the project were also

described to the delegates. Task forces were based

on the felt need and aspiration of the community;

special emphasis was provided for inclusion of

the most vulnerable segments of society. These

task forces were named after their specific roles,

e.g. early warning and village protection team,

search and rescue team, temporary shelter and

camp management, first aid and sanitation, child

protection and school safety, and coordination, etc.

During the field visits, colleagues from NGO project

partners and community members/village womenjoined the conference in Kolkata along with other

participants, enabling continuing interaction with

project beneficiaries.

Mother and child practise with locally made life-jacket; right approach and methodology in capacity building can go a long way in ensuringsustainabilityof the new coping strategies.

Aconference participant tries the lifejacketduring thefield visit

CBDRR Conference, Kolkata, India, November 2008 1 1

Community volunteers demonstrated theprocessandskill of making alife jacket during the field visit.


Waterrescue was demonstrated verysafely and effectively during the field visit.

' m

"-' iT 1

—1

Inaugural Function

.*

11 9

*

*

1

CBDRR Conference, Kolkata, India, November 2008 1 5

Conference saw some keen participation by CBDRR experts from various countries within the region.


Case Study

Dola Dashurries through her householdchores. Today IsTuesday, the day herSelf Help Group (SHG) meets. The ten rupees she has saved this week is tiedsecurely to the end of her sari for depositing at the weekly meeting. Hergroupwillinvest the money and generate income to be distributed within the group.Dola is excited It is not the money she will earn from the scheme that excites

her. She is lookingforward to this week's meeting because she isgoing to learnsomething new. Dola lives in Gopalgunge village. The Nowpukur Rivercrossesright through the area. Duringthe monsoons, this semi-dry tributary of MatlaRiver discards its calmness and becomes a damaging flood, indiscriminatelyclaiming property and lives. Like all other villagers, Dola fears the river andprays to the gods to keep her family safe from it.

Lastweek Dola's group was visitedby motivatorsfrom the CommunityBasedDisaster Preparedness (CBDP) programme of Palli Unnayan Samity (PUS), alocal NGO. Theypromised that they would teach the women practicalwaysinwhichto providesecurityfor themselves and their familiesduringtimes offlood. They taught a few things such as the dry rations that can be stockedduring monsoon that can keep a familygoing for 7-10 days of floods and waysto keep precious documents wrapped in polythene so that they would not bedestroyed. They are coming back this week to talk about ways In which thewomen can address medical emergencies such as diarrhoea, snake bite and

even emergency child birth.

Since then Dola has been talking about nothing else. She mentioned it toLipika Dey. the oldwomanwholives nearby. Lipika wasamazed. Having losthusband and two children to earlier floods and having rebuilt her home timeand time again, Lipika finds the concept almost unbelievable. But Lipika isready to believe because it represents hope: and hope is the essence ofhuman existence. The news has spread among Dola's neighbours. Assheleaves her home to attend the meeting, Lipika calls from her doorway,"Come soon and tell us what you learn today." From another doorway,Purnima peeps out. She is heavilypregnant and cannot attend the meetingherself. "We're waiting to hear about the meeting," says her mother-in-law,Promila, indicating the two of them.

The exciting thing happening across villages in West Bengal, India Is thelocal "Self Help Group". MostSHGs are comprised of womenand the agesrange from 16 to 70 years. A village woman's life is hard and comprisesmainly of work - in the fields or home, cooking, cleaning and cateringto the needs of the family. The SHG meeting is an opportunity for socialinteraction with other women and a place to learn new things. Seizing thisopportunity, the CBDP programme has been taken to SHGs where there are

eager listeners and willinglearners. Thewomen will chat about what theylearn and acceptance of CBDP will spread rapidly through the village. Themessage - together we can save lives.

On behalf of UNICEF, Ms. Lori Calvo, State Representative, UNICEF West

Bengal, welcomed all participants to the Conference on Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR). She wished a special welcome toMr Sreekumar Mukherjee, Honourable Minister, Civil Defence Departmentof the Government of West Bengal; Pieter Bult, Deputy Director, UNDP

India; Indira Kulenovic, Coordinator and Advisor for South Asia, DG-ECHO;

and everyone who had made it from around the world, includingrepresentatives from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, states of India, Malaysia,Nepal, Pakistan,Thailand, Namibia and Indonesia. Shethanked all UNICEF'sCBDRR partners in West Bengal who had helped organise the communities

and women's groups for field visits and learning exchange with familiesliving in disaster prone areas.

She briefed the delegates about UNICEF's programmes in West Bengaland mentioned the rich tradition and culture of the state as also of the

city of Kolkata.

She appreciated the support of RedR India, UNDP India, Asian DisasterPreparedness Centre (ADPC), Sphere India and the Government of WestBengal in partnering with UNICEF to organise the conference.

Ms. Calvo spoke about the importance and achievements of CBDRRstakeholders, recognisingthe work being carried out to empower potentialvictims of disasters to better prepare, reduce the risks and build resilience,which in turn will result in lessening the impact of disasters and saving

lives, especially of children and women. This is in line with the HyogoFramework of Action (HFA), a 10-year global blueprint for disaster risk

reduction efforts, adopted in January 2005 by 168 countries at the WorldConference on Disaster Reduction, which called for building resilience of

nations and communities.

This conference, with strong regional participation, was seen as a small step

and a modest contribution in keeping the momentum of the global platformfor disaster risk reduction as per the UN International Strategy for DisasterReduction (ISDR). The conference focused on "sharing the best practices

and lessons learnt on community-based disaster reduction", includinglearning from the experiences of most vulnerable and disadvantagedgroups, especially children and women.

The exchange of experiences and lessons learnt at the conference mustlead to concrete action with a human rights perspective and actions, which

"It is time to stop people from

being victims of disaster time

after time. This conference

must lead to appropriate

human action that is

affordable and sustainable."


Rope bridge builtduringa mock drill

are appropriate, situation-specific, participatory,affordable and sustainable. Ms. Calvo saw the keychallenge in West Bengal as being integration of riskreduction into alldevelopment programmes addressingwomen and children.

Mr. Sreekumar Mukherjee, Honourable Minister, Civil DefenceDepartment, Government of West Bengal (GoWB), in his inauguralspeech acknowledged UNICEF's support and contribution to thestate Government in implementing the community-based disasterpreparedness (CBDP) project and giving the inputs for finalising theState Disaster Management Policy and Framework. He appreciated thepartnership of UNICEF-GoWB, stressing that it had played an importantrole in reducing the risks at the grassroots.

Mr. Mukherjee said that GoWB wasplanning to involve all levels ofthe stateadministrative machinery to build awareness to reduce risks of the mostvulnerable communities. He acknowledged that since 2001, the UNICEF-supported CBDP (renamed asCBDRR in 2008) had contributed significantlyto build the capacities of the vulnerable communities to combat thehazards. This, he said, had become the regional model for learning.

Mr. Mukherjee also mentioned that the state Civil Defence Departmentfelt it was important to shift gradually from just relief to preparednessand the risk reduction mode through policy change and orienting theadministrative machinery. Hesaid that the Department had been receivingadequatefunding supportfrom the central andstate Governments and thiswould enable it to organise more capacity-building training programmes

and expand its preparedness network.

TheMinisterthanked UNICEF fororganisingtheconferenceandemphasising

on the field visits for the international and national delegates, adding thatthis gave them an excellent opportunity to interact with UNICEF's NGOpartners and communities in South 24 Parganas and Nadia districts, andshare their experiences.

Mr. Mukherjee hadan intense interaction with conference participants andresponded to their queries regarding the CBDRR project in West Bengal,government commitments and concept's sustainability.

"West Bengal has decided toreduce the emphasis on relief

and instead increase awareness

andundertakecapacity-building

programmes to empower

vulnerable communities to

combat disasters..."

Mr. Mukherjee, HonourableMinister, responding to

questions from the audience.

20 CBDRR Conference,Kolkata, India, November2008

The CBDRR programme, being implemented in over 500 villages in West Bengal, has significantly addressed some of the socially constructedvulnerabilities.

Anumber of important initiatives have been taken and strategic documents

are being developed within the European Union (EU) that pave the wayfor DRR work. Some of these include the 'EU Consensus on Humanitarian

Aid' - adopted in December 2007; ongoing development of the European

Commission (EC) on the 'EU strategy on DRR for developing countries,expected to be adopted in early 2009', and the 'ECHO policy frameworkfor DRR, also expected to be adopted in 2009/ All these documents are in

support of implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action.

DG ECHO-DIPECHO programme was first initiated in 1996 covering six

regions of the world (in 2008 South-East Africa region was added) with

€120 million invested to date for disaster preparedness globally. South

Asia has received €19.2million up to 2007-2008. The new DIPECHO funding

decision for South Asia is anticipating €10 million for 2009-2010. The focuswill remain on increasing preparedness for response. By helping people

to help themselves, disaster preparedness should be seen as the firstresponse instrument.

DIPECHO South Asia currently operates in six countries (Afghanistan,Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan), implementing 25 projects

through 18 international NGO's, UN agencies and Red Cross family. TheDG ECHO support to disaster preparedness projects in South Asia has seen

a significant increase in the last few years reaching almost quadrupled

budget since 2005 funding decision.

In parallel to DIPECHO, efforts to mainstream disaster preparedness

(DP) components in humanitarian relief interventions in the region were

pursued in line with DG ECHO's overall strategy on DP.

In India, DG ECHO-DIPECHO supports eight projects in six states in

partnership with UNICEF, Christian Aid, Handicap International, Care

International, Aga Khan Foundation, German Agro Action, BBC World

Service Trust and Trocaire.

Some of the activities supported through these projects are:• Production of hazard vulnerability maps;

• Development and distribution of information, education, and

communication materials;

• Street dramas to spread disaster preparedness messages;

• Search and rescue training and equipment;

• First aid training and equipment;

"The aim should be to avoid

rebuilding risk, to promote

the 'Do No Harm' approach

and be more accountable."

Indira Kulenovic is currently

working for the European

Commission Humanitarian Aid

in South Asia and is involved

with Directorate-General for

Humanitarian Aid (DG ECHO)and Disaster Preparedness-

ECHO (DIPECHO) activitiesin South Asia. Over last the

nine years, she has beeninvolved in DRR in South

Asia. During this time she has

observed significant progress

in changing the mindset from

traditional responsive actions

to more preventive actions.


• School awareness education to institutions;

• Early warning systems for floods and tsunamis;

• Temporary shelters accessible to all, includingthe disabled;

• Small-scale mitigation and improvement ofevacuation routes with bridge building.

Taking into consideration the increase in numbers,scale and impact of natural disasters, it has become

evident that funds allocated for disaster preparednessand disaster risk reduction initiatives are insufficient.

However, considering that funds availability foremergency response is much greater, it has become

imperativethatalleffortsshouldbemadetomainstream

disaster risk reduction into relief and rehabilitation

activities. We should use all opportunities availableto build better capacities for future response, startingwith us ensuring that we do not rebuild risk, respect"Do No Harm" approach and be more accountable.

The lessons learned from the repeated and recurrent

disasters, whether large or small-scale, and the lessons

learned from the implementation of the four DIPECHO

Action Plans in South Asia have confirmed the need to

put into place efficient early warning systems, enforce

Ms. Kulenovic's presentation being keenlyfollowed by the panellists.

building codes, prepare communities to react in the first

hours of a disaster, train people, organise awarenesscampaigns, mitigate the impact of disasters and carryout advocacy towards all relevant stakeholders.

As from the DIPECHO experience, the most criticaltakeaways for successful implementation of disasterrisk reduction initiatives are as follows:

• Local ownership - involve the communities at all

stages;

• Replicability-ensure replication is within financial

reach of local communities;

• Maintenance - ensuring it can be serviceable at

the local level and that materials are available

locally;

• Replenishment - locally available materials and

affordable to communities for replacement orservicing;

• Indigenous knowledge - should always be used asthe basis and then build on it with small technical

improvement to reach the most appropriate

solution;

• Training - using qualified trainers, systematictraining tools, manuals, refreshers, transferred

and hosted knowledge;

Confer

Community B

CBDRR Conference, Kolkata, India, November 2008 23

• Linkages with local authorities-sometimes there are huge governmentor other donor development programmes that are being overlooked.One has to explore all possibilities in order to ensure sustainability ofprograms beyond the project period.

DRR is an investment and not a cost and it is everybody's business. We

should ask ourselves a question: "How prepared are we for the future,

particularly considering the potential impacts of climate change andconsequent natural disasters?" The time is now to get involved in a more

sustainable disaster preparedness and risk reduction initiatives. Better to

be prepared than sorry.

Recent tragic events should serve as reminders on how important it is to

invest and develop the culture of prevention by increasing the capacitiesfor response among the most vulnerable.

The only issue that made the difference in the tragic impact is the fact thatin Bangladesh (hit by stronger cyclone of category 4), the communities had

been involved in a cyclone preparedness programme (CPP), which includedearly warning system and necessary preparedness measures, that enabled

them to evacuate in time to safe areas while in Myanmar (hit by a category3 cyclone) such culture of preparedness was not in place - and thus thelarge-scale loss of life.

Although every life lost is a tragedy, the example above proves that simple,inexpensive measures can save lives in times of disasters.

Category PeopleKilled

SIDR-

Bangladesh

4 3,500

NARGIS-

Myanmar3 138,000 +

The lessons learnt from

repeated and recurrent

disasters, whether large or

small-scale, and those learnt

from the implementation of

the four DIPECHO Action Plans

in South Asia confirm the need

to put into place efficient early

warning systems, enforce

building codes, prepare

communities to react in the

first hours of a disaster, train

people, organise awareness

campaigns, mitigate the

impact of disasters and

undertake advocacy of all

stakeholders.


Bangladesh: This particular hand pump was damaged

due to floods and was rehabilitated in 2002. However, the

work was not properly done in a spirit of risk reduction

and as a result, in 2004, when floods hit the region

again, it was back to square one - investing once again

in rehabilitation of the same pump plus dealing with

hundreds of people affected by water-borne diseases.DO NOT REBUILD RISK. Affected communities are more

eager to learn about future preparedness for responseimmediately after a disaster strikes them, as they willnotlike to go through the same hardship again - regaining

control of their life as opposed to feeling helpless.

Mainstreaming DRR in relief and rehabilitation:

"Considering that funds availability for emergencyresponse is much greater than preparedness and risk

reduction, it has become imperative that all effortsshould be made to mainstream disaster risk reduction

into relief and rehabilitation activities. We should use

all opportunities available to build better capacities for

future response, starting with us ensuring that we donot rebuild risk, respect the "Do No Harm" approach

and be more accountable."

Photo and textfrom a presentation made by Ms. Kulenovic.

I

1

This important conference comes at a particularly opportune time. Asia isvulnerable to a large number of natural disasters; this was proven againin 2008 by the Indonesian earthquake and by the devastating floods innorth Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Orissa in India. We are still learninglessons from the response and recovery to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.In Myanmar, reconstruction after the devastating 2007 cyclone, Sidr, isstill underway. It is essential that risk reduction measures that reduce the

impactof future disasters are made part of the long-termrecovery processof these disasters.

Natural disasters will happen, even more so now with climate changeincreasing the frequency and magnitude of disasters. However, the impactof disasters, the extent of devastation can be prevented or significantlyreduced through disaster risk reduction initiatives. It was with this view

that 168 member-states of the United Nations met at Hyogo, Japan, in2005 and committed to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) whoseoverarching goal is to build resilience of nations and communities to

disasters by achieving substantive reduction of disaster losses by 2015.While measures to reduce disaster losses were encouraged particularlyduring the International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction (1990-99)and by the multi-stakeholder ISDR - International Strategy for DisasterReduction - system(set up in 2000), HFA has systematisedglobal, regional,national and local efforts to address disaster risk reduction.

UN policy towards disaster risk reduction advocates the implementationof the Hyogo Framework, which it does through the UN/ISDR Secretariat.The secretariat is the focal point for disaster risk reduction within the UNand among the members of the ISDR system, which include numerousorganisations, states and civil society worldwide. The creation of a newpost by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, reaffirms the high prioritygiven to disaster risk reduction and the implementation of the HFA by theUN. On November 17, 2008, Margareta Wahlstrom was appointed as theAssistant Secretary-General for DisasterRisk Reduction and the Secretary-General's Special Representative for the implementation of the HyogoFramework for Action in the ISDR Secretariat, with the aim of stepping upaction and international cooperation on DRR.

Through the ISDR Secretariat, the UN also monitors and reports on theprogress of the HFA. Meeting every two years, the Global Platform forDisaster Risk Reduction brings UN agencies together with governments,regional bodies, international financial institutions, civil society, the private

"A disaster is a reminder of

how vulnerable we are... It is

essential that risk reduction

measures that reduce the

impact of future disasters are

part of the long-term recovery

process."


sector, the scientific and academic communities to

share experiences and actions to implement the HFAat the national and local levels. The Global Assessment

Reports, compiled by the Secretariat with strongsupport from UNDP and the World Bank, are fed intothe sessions of the Global Platform. The 2009 Global

Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction, witha focus on links between disaster risks and poverty

trends, will be launched by the UN Secretary-Generalat the second session of the Global Platform in Geneva

in June 2009.

In addition to the UN/ISDR, specialised agencies and

programmes of the UN continue to enhance theircommitments to the HFA. At the international level,

UNDP and WFP Strategic Plans (2008-11), includedisaster risk reduction as a key objective. As of 2006,

UNDP is operating disaster reduction programmesin over 50 high-risk countries. DRR is recognised as acentral element of the work of the UN Environment

Programme (UNEP) on climate change adaptation.The new UN Platform for Space-based Information for

Disaster Management and Emergency Response ofthe UN Office for Outer Space Affairs aims to support

universal access to satellite technology used in early

warning and other space-based information related todisaster risk reduction.

Mainstreaming disaster risk reduction has also been afocus for the UN. In 2005, UNDP launched the GlobalMainstreaming Initiative to integrate DRR into otherUNDP priority areas and cross-cutting issues, includingclimate change and gender; as well as build capacities

to integrate DRR at the national level through thedevelopment of tools, such as tailoredtraining packagesand practical case studies. Under this initiative, atraining of trainer's (TOT) on mainstreaming DRR intodevelopment was organised for disaster managementprogramme staff from UNDP offices in the Asia-Pacificregion at Yogyakarta in July this year. Three of ourUNDP colleagues from India were sent to be trainedat the TOT and I am pleased to say that they will bedelivering the mainstreaming module to the UNDAFthematic clusters early next year.

The UN has partnerships with a wide range oforganisations working on disaster risk reduction. The

Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery,

a partnership between the World Bank and ISDR,has contributed to the scaling up of the World Bank's

own commitment to mainstream DRR into poverty

reduction strategies and climate change adaptation.So far, the World Bank has provided technicalassistance to 54 countries through the facility. The

ISDR also collaborates with stakeholder networks,

like the Provention Consortium, an informal forum for

information exchange established by the World Bankin 2000, with the Secretariat hosted by the Federation

of the Red Cross in Geneva.

In addition to Global Platforms, ISDR regional offices

promote information sharing and coordination amongexisting bodies as Regional Platforms for DisasterRisk Reduction. Following a series of consultations

facilitated by the ISDR, the Asia Regional Platformwas formally adopted at the second Asian MinisterialConference on Disaster Risk Reduction in November

2007. The conference adopted the Delhi Declaration onDisaster Risk Reduction that committed governments

to accelerate implementation of the HyogoFramework, including action plans and mechanisms

for periodic review, monitoring, reporting and linkagesto the Millennium Development Goals. Earlier this

month, ISDR along with the Asian Disaster ReductionCentre held the annual Asian Conference on Disaster

Reduction in Bali in cooperation with UNDP and otherpartners. Progress on the HFA will be the focus of thethird Asian Ministerial Conference from December 2-4

in Kuala Lumpur.

ISDR regional offices support the setting up ofNational Platforms for Disaster Risk Reduction

and till date, 45 states have established multi-

stakeholder national platforms. A total of 120governments have designated official focal pointsfor the implementation, follow-up and monitoringof progress of the Hyogo Framework for Action.At the country level, other UN bodies particularlyUNDP support national governments in establishingand strengthening institutional and legislativearrangements for disaster reduction and recovery.In India, we are embarking on the next UNDP-GOI

DRM programme where the focus is primarily oncommunity-based disaster risk reduction.

Resources such as the web portal PreventionWeb

that was launched by ISDR in 2007, aim at supportingnational actors to enhance their knowledge and abilityto undertake action. A virtual library on disaster risk

reduction, it provides a venue for collaboration,dissemination of practical information, includingstandards and guidelines, lessons learnt and access

to expertise and networks. A UN training tool forDRR was created when the UN Disaster Management

Training Programme was redesigned into a CapacityDevelopment for Disaster Reduction Initiative

through a joint effort between OCHA, UNDP andthe Strategy Secretariat. World Disaster Reduction

Campaigns led by the Secretariat give a great impetus

to national and local action. The 2006-07 'Disaster Risk

Reduction begins at School' campaign created a globalmomentum for strengthening disaster risk educationand ensuring school safety. The ongoing 2008-09'Hospitals Safe from Disasters', supported by WHOand the World Bank, promotes structural resilience of

health facilities and better preparing and training ofhealth workers on preparedness plans.

As already mentioned, the UN system supports themainstreaming of disaster risk reduction into thematic

areas such as education, health, gender, povertyreduction, urban risk management, sustainabledevelopment and so on. In particular, recentstatements by the UN Secretary-General encourage

championing disaster risk reduction as a core elementfor climate change adaptation. The Bali Action Plan

of the Framework Convention on Climate Change,adopted by the Conference Parties in December

2007, includes specific language on DRR, calling forenhanced action on DRR strategies to lessen theimpact of disasters on developing countries and onrisk management strategies. These topics will be thesubject of a formal workshop from December 1-12,2008 in Poznan, Poland.

Renewing commitments to and monitoring the

progress of implementing the HFA is, therefore,central to UN policy on disaster risk reduction. Much

needs to be done to achieve substantial reduction

in disaster losses by 2015: a major challenge is thelack of adequate resources required to ensure that

the resilience of nations and communities is built.


Although voluntary contributions to the UN Trust

Fund for Disaster Reduction have improved steadily,

as called for by General Assembly resolutions, more

is required to support follow-up activities to the HFA

by ISDR. Also, 147 countries have not yet establishednational platforms and 66 countries lack official HFA

focal points.


In recent times, competition and sports has emerged asapotent methodologyforinitiating change in society. It isincreasingly used by various NGOsfor behaviour change communication and capacity building. In the West Bengal CBDRR programme, swimming, boating and other skills/capacitiesnecessary todeal with flooding risk have been systematically developed amongst men, women and children.

On behalf of UNICEF India, it is my privilege to attend the Conference on

Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction in Kolkata, with participants fromall over India as well as several countries in South and South-East Asia.

Iwould like hereby to reaffirm UNICEF's commitment to global disaster riskreduction initiatives.

First, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Minister of CivilDefence, the Government of West Bengal, for inaugurating this conference,which is being hosted by UNICEF with our partners: UNDP India, AsianDisaster Preparedness Centre, Bangkok, Sphere India, RedR India, and theMinistry of Civil Defence.

As we all know, the humanitarian landscape has changed considerably inrecent years, globally as well as in India. The dramatic increase in the number

and scale of emergencies over the last decade and the resulting impact onvulnerable populations, especially women and children, is changing the wayhumanitarian agencies operate. Alongside the increasing focus on the impactof environmental factors, there has been a gradual but strategic shift inthinking about humanitarian action -this means movingaway from a primaryfocus on humanitarian relief towards a broader view that includes activities

across the spectrum of emergency preparedness, response and recovery.

Withinthischanginglandscape,developingnationalcapacityfor humanitarianaction - in emergency planning, preparedness, response and recovery - isacknowledged by UN agencies, NGOs, national partners and others as beingfundamental to improving the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Whilesome disasters are unavoidable, their impact on vulnerable people can besignificantly mitigated. We believe that it is vulnerability - whether it as aresult of discrimination, a lack of education or simplyno early warning- thatturns a hazard into a disaster. UNICEF argues that all of society is best servedwhen policies and programmes are child and family focused - including riskreduction, early warning, preparedness and response.

Today, UNICEF, and sister UN agencies work together to achieve acomprehensive, unified programme approach, which goes well beyonddisaster response and aims at incorporating risk reduction strategiesinto regular programmes. In dealing with disaster management issues,UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its

Core Commitments for Children in Emergencies (CCCs). UNICEF's CCCs

have recently undergone a major revision to incorporate strategies beyond

"UNICEF appreciates and

welcomes the development

of all partnerships aiming

at mainstreaming children's

issues into disaster risk

reduction and remains

committed to protection

of children's rights in

all dimensions - and at

all times."

Before herquoted speech, Ann

Hasselbalch described to the

conference participants her

first visit to the CBDRR project

in West Bengal in 2005, when

it was in its pilot stage. She was

impressed by the enthusiasm

of the project partners and

especially the communities.

She was pleased to see that

the project has survived and

become a success story.

i I GmIhm

Community Bas


Water rescuedemonstration by womenvolunteers of the searchandrescuetaskforce.


Sarbjit Singh Sahota, Director, RedR India, facilitatedthe session on policy issues. In the field of DisasterManagement, the policy focus of national and state

Governments is shaped by the emerging need andlearning from innovative approaches. Allocation ofresources by the state Government of West Bengal for

enhancing preparedness and efforts to clarify roles andresponsibilities were driven by the excellent work ofvarious development partners. Anoutcome of sustainedjoint action for disaster risk reduction by Governmentof West Bengal (GoWB) and UNICEF is the emergenceof the Civil Defence Department playing a major role inenhancing response preparedness and strengthening ofthe institutions for sustaining the capacity developmentefforts in West Bengalas well as in other states. Some of

the key conclusions were: a need for institutionalisation

of the efforts in the Government from sustainabilitypoint of view rather than just limiting it to their mereinvolvement. Sectoral approach helped using expertiseof different agencies to reduce risks in pre and postdisaster situation. Involving marginalised sections suchas internally displaced persons, women or people with

disabilities,helped to act cohesivelyand quickly towardsdisaster mitigation. The regular regional coordinationbetween Government, UN, NGOs and corporate sector,helped in quick identification of the gaps and needsof the victims. Donor's funding, while addressingimmediate humanitarian needs, now increasingly putsstrong emphasis on longer-term agenda of disaster riskreduction, including CBDRR.

Amock drill In public buildings was an important strategy to create awareness amongst masses along with capacity building ofGovernment agenciesresponsible for governance and service provision.

CBDRM/DRM: A Joint Initiative of Government of India and UNDPG. Padmanabhan, Emergency Analyst, UNDP India

BackgroundUNDP entered the disaster management arena during the Maharashtra

Earthquake Rehabilitation Programme in 1993 and since then has zealouslyparticipated in management of other disasters like the Orissa Cyclone(1999), Gujarat Earthquake (2001) and Tsunami (2004). Understanding theimportance of empowering communities to manage disaster risk, the focusof the current support of UNDP to the government is to provide sustainableDRR in 176 most multi-hazard prone districts across 17 states. Community-

based disaster risk management (CBDRM) was being promoted by NGOs,but quite often it did not involve the community and those which didinvolve them did not involve the government. Thus, UNDP proclaimed thatgovernment involvement was important at every level. UNDP experiencedsome problems in the beginning, as it was the first attempt in India.UNDP has a multi-donor resource framework that includes partners like

the European Commission, USAID, ECHO, UN Trust Fund, Government ofJapan, AUSAID, DFID, etc.

SummaryThis project is the world's largest CBDRM programme covering over 300million people in which approximately 160,000 plans have been preparedat the village-level alone. The main objective is to institutionalise DRM in

the government, which plays a catalytic role in its sustainability at everylevel by legitimising the process. The strong point of the programme liesin creating an enabling environment in the government and introducing

education programmes on DRR in the most hazard-prone areas. Thisprogramme has stimulated multi-hazard preparedness, response andmitigation plans for 176 districts across 17 states and encouragednetworking of knowledge among DM communities for DRM. The urban

earthquake vulnerability reduction component of the programmefocused on urban areas having more than 0.5 million population that fallunder medium to high-risk zones, and 38 such cities were identified. Theproject aimed at generating awareness on earthquake preparedness anddevelopment of response plans, techno-legal framework, training andcapacity building of communities on hazard resistant construction andlife supporting skills

Implementation of the programme facilitated an interdisciplinary approachto attain a holistic framework that included government agencies at all

levels, like the Ministry of Home Affairs, state nodal agencies, block disastermanagement committees, village disaster management committees and

gram panchayat disaster management committees.

'

"This project is the world's

largest CBDRM programme

under which approximately

160,000 plans have been

prepared at the village-level

alone, covering over 300 million

people."

Capacity enhancement through mockdrills.


Various IEC tools were used

to create mass awareness

about disaster risk and its

management.

Key programme activities include development of multi-hazard disasterpreparedness, responseand mitigation plansatevery levelofthegovernment.Plans were prepared with the community through a participatory approachto acquire an in-depth knowledge of their needs. The training and capacitybuilding of government functionaries, engineers, DMT and architectshelped in their clear understanding of the project demands and smoothfunctioning of the plans. DMT saw active participation of women and men.Over one million such volunteers were assigned specific tasks for whichthey received specific training on search and rescue and first aid in villagesand capacity enhancement through mock drills.

The programme, introduced textbooks in CBSE and state boards of

education curricula, trained around 1,000 teachers on DM at the national

and state level, and introduced school safety programmes in states. IECtools played an important role to disseminate messages on DRR.

Best Practices

Creating the Indian Disaster Resource Network (IDRN) under the DRMprogramme helped in the facilitation of quick mobilisation of equipmentand skilled human resources. Knowledge on effective tools, approachesand methods is found on IDRN. Guidelines on structural and architectural

designs for emergency operation centre (EOC) in different seismic zoneswere developed. The project witnessed its establishment and strengtheningin 17 states and 125 districts.

The project has put a gender action plan in place and has prepared atraining module and toolkit to mainstream gender in DRM. UNDP feels

that the relation between DM and health is significant and efforts toinvolve the Health Ministry have led to the preparation of a guideline forhospital emergency preparedness Planning and DM module is a part ofthe induction training of medical officers. A handbook for community-level health workers on DM has been created and successfullyused alongwith the use of IEC materials for raising awareness on the health impactof disasters.

The project has worked considerably on building public/privatepartnerships like TATA Tiscon for awareness generation and hascollaborated with professional bodies and associations like CM(Confederation of Indian Industries), Institute of Engineers, Builders'Association of India, etc. It has promoted volunteerism for prevention,mitigation and preparedness by involving Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK) andNational Service Scheme (NSS).

Interactive Discussion

• On the query, why there was a shift from DRM to DRR, the speakerclarified that it has been a conceptual question and confusion is a partof human tendency. The strategy being followed by UNDP is to develop

capacities in the government to empower communities

and to that extent the nature of intervention

varies - advocacy, institutional strengthening, skills

upgradation, etc. Risk reduction is important, but in

the absence of any system, it makes sense to startwith risk management at the community level. Once

that is achieved, we can focus on risk reduction

through mitigation activities and by promoting safedevelopment. However, it is important that we

communicate this to communities in simple language

without using jargon.



Flood affected children enjoying and playing in the safe environs of the learning centres at Sunsari and Soptasri. Responding to the learning anddevelopment needsof displaced children isone of thekeystrategies formitigating thelong-term impact of a major disaster like theKosi floodsof 2008.

BackgroundThe recent Saptakoshi (Kosi) river floods in Nepal and India affected 70,000people in Sunsari and Saptari districts of Nepal. Out of this population,

25-30 per cent was children, 49 per cent women and 23,500 IDPs. UNICEF

Nepal along with UN agencies, NGOs and community-based organisationsactively worked in these districts to reduce risks and were successful in

providing immediate response.

SummaryMajor preparedness measures were undertaken at different levels to

ensure comprehensive risk reduction. UNICEF adopted a three-tier system

for preparedness:

At the community level, locals identified high-risk villages and conducted

mapping on possible floods. Under the community capacity-building

programme, around 7,200 volunteers, mainly women, received training on

various risk reduction measures, like sanitation. A quick response team wasformed and behavioural change communication messages were disseminatedthrough radio and other IEC tools on possible flood occurrences.

At the district level, District Disaster Relief Committee (DDRC) coordinated

regular meetings between UN, NGOs and business communities, led by

the government, to work on preparedness activities.

At the regional/national level, capacity building of various stakeholders,cluster-wise exercise at the central level, and development of an emergency

preparedness and response plan were undertaken. A contingency plan on

the worst case scenario was also developed at the national level.

ChallengesLong-term nature of displacement of affected population was seen as a

major challenge. Since educational institutions served as shelters duringthe disaster, resuming education became difficult. As part of rehabilitation,people were not ready to relocate further; getting land was difficult andthis was further complicated by duplication of ration cards. Distribution of

relief material to flood victims living or shifting spontaneously outside themain camps was difficult.

Recommendations

There is a need for adequate training of staff and its counterparts on

emergency preparedness and response. Pre-positioning of emergency

i

"Coordinated sector-

wise approach helped

in quick response and

smooth implementation of

preparedness measures."

Key Learning

Quick identification of safe-

shelter to settle displaced

people, sector-wise staff

deployment and community

involvement is essential for

mitigating the impact of

the disaster.

Child-friendlysafe space, Sunsari.

supplies at the district level and the community level is necessary to reducethe impact. Social awareness about emergency preparedness throughcommunity action process (CAP) - e.g. boats and rafts, is important foralerting the community on ways to mitigate the negative impact of thedisasters on their own lives.

Best Practices

Quick decisions taken for rescue and shelter through DDRC helped insaving lives. Emergency response witnessed prompt contributions by allsectors in food and non-food items during the floods. Host community,i.e. local neighbours, extended support to the victims by providingshelter and food at the initial stage of the disaster. Involvement ofIDPs in management committees was the unique response duringthe Kosi floods. Opportunities and training to IDPs as facilitators andvolunteers to provide services in the shelter camps was one of thepositive practices to increase ownership and motivation among IDPs.Regular coordination between the government, UN, NGOs and business

communities helped in quick relocation. Sector-wise cluster approachled by the government helped to develop response plans to identify thegaps and needs of the affected population. Different sectors undertookspecific tasks like:

Education - Joint assessment by the government, UN and NGOshelped in identifying safe spaces and temporary schools fordifferent age group children from 3-5 years and 6-12 years. IDPteachers were trained and mobilised in temporary schools withinIDP camps. Building temporary shelters for IDPs and host children at

primary level within the relocation site was facilitated to encourageeducation among them jointly by UNICEF and the government.Higher-class students went to neighbouring schools and receivedan education grant.

Protection - In the Saptakoshi flood, protection issues were takeninto account from the very beginning due to preparedness training on

protection to government counterparts and concerned stakeholders.

Psychosocial counsellors were mobilised. Training and orientationto IDPs on protection issue helped in the formation of watch and

peer groups in which women and adolescent children were activelyinvolved to keep track of violence that occurred inside the camp.Various measures were undertaken to reunify the separated andmissing children.

Health and Nutrition (Ministry of Health) - UNICEF and WHO issued a

joint statement on the relevance of breastfeeding.Protection during emergencies - 24-hour health centres in the camps

provided free health services and medicines. De-worming tablets,

nutritional supplements to the malnourished and vaccination

were given to children to curtail epidemic spread. Under the

supplementary food programme for children under 5 and lactating

]


mothers, wet-rations were provided. Pregnant women receivedtraditional soup (Jwano) to increase mother's milk to continue

breastfeed to young children.

• Water and Sanitation - Hygiene kits, Aquatub, etc., were distributed

with immediate effect. Construction of temporary latrines, garbagepits and bathing space helped in reducing health related problems.WASH volunteers, consisting mainly of the IDPs, raised awarenesson the importance of healthy living among the affected population.Regular cleaning and hygiene promotion effectively reduced thechances of an epidemic.

Future Plans

Based on West Bengal CBDRR and other experiences, UNICEF Nepalwill plan a pilot CBDRR project in the most vulnerable districts of thecountry in 2009.

Hygiene promotion in camps.


Motivating and guiding the 11 NGO partners who are

conducting the CBDRR programme in seven districtsof West Bengal, UNICEF using DIPECHO funds untilFebruary 2009 will help over one million people to

become aware of how they can avoid much of the losssustained during earlier floods. Simple measures suchas securing their valuable documents in polythene,keeping school books and equipment safely, having a

stock of essential food, drinking water and necessities

like candles, matches and rope have given the villagers a

feeling of being in control. Basic medical knowledge like

what to do in the case of diarrhoea, fever or snake bite,

how to assist in an emergency child birth, methods for

rescuing and moving the aged, the young, the sick anddisabled are empowering thousands of villagers to direct

their own destiny. While human beings will never fullywithstand the forces of nature, CBDRR is empowering

the populations at risk to combat the disaster risk.

"

How UNICEF India Promotes 'DRR with a Human Face'Srdjan Stojanovic, Chief, Emergency, UNICEF India

BackgroundUNICEF was formed 60 years ago. Originally called the United NationsChildren's Emergency Fund, the organisation was created to providehumanitarian assistance to children living in a world shattered by theSecond World War. Ever since, UNICEF's mandate has involved a rapidresponse to humanitarian crises. As emergencies of our time have grownincreasingly complex and their adverse impact even more devastating,UNICEF remains dedicated to providing life-saving assistance to childrenaffected by disasters and protecting their rights. It has, however, startedshiftingto a broader mission of disaster risk reduction (DRR) efforts.

UNICEF is guided in its emergency response by its Core Commitments

for Children in Emergencies (CCCs), which outline core mandate andminimum set of responsibilities: a) rapid assessment; b) coordination;c) programme commitments; d) operational commitments. Importantly,in 2009, UNICEF plans to release revised CCCs, which will reflect a shiftfrom traditional emergency to expanded mandate, meant to integrate theframework: preparedness - response - early recovery. The revised CCCsare necessitated not only by lessons learned from recent emergenciesand global changes such as population rise or climate change, but alsoby significant changes in humanitarian environment and UN Humanitarian

reforms. There will be greater shift towards DRR - development of nationalcapacities and empowering communities.

The key guiding principle of UNICEF's humanitarian emergency responseis that children in the midst of conflict or natural disaster have the same

needs and rights as children in stable areas, or 'normal' situations. UNICEF'smain aim is to protect women and children and to fulfil the basic rights, i.e.access to education, health, water, etc.

UNICEF's mandate is to promote application of international standards.

Protecting children, ensuring that their needs are met and rightsobserved is an obligation according to international laws, not an option inhumanitarian action.

SummaryWe all know that children and women suffer more from disasters -

displacement, diseases, hunger,malnutrition, abuse, disruption ofeducationand psycho-social trauma. DRR efforts are addressing specific risks that existfor children and their caregivers. We need to understand the threats tochildren: the largest underlying risk is poverty, but education , for example,

"CBDRRhas emerged as a social

movement in West Bengal."


is a similar threat. Specific threats are many and vary

significantly. To counter these risks, UNICEF strivesto promote awareness and take measures, enhance

capacities and encourage participation of the mostvulnerable and disadvantaged. Their voices should be

heard, too, and their concerns addressed accordingly.

DRR isan important priority forlndia-thecountry faces

emergency situations of various intensities recurrentlyand all year round. Tens of millions of people are

affected and hundreds of thousands, if not millions,

are displaced annually. Typically, natural disasters hitthe poorest of the poor, socially excluded and children

the hardest. Amidst high population rise, climatechange, and persisting poverty among large segmentsof society, compounded with rising unpredictability of

disasters, cumulative risks as well as cumulative losses

multiply. Further, there is a substantial adverse impactof disasters on MDG/development goals.

In complement to the government and other

humanitarian actors, UNICEF India has responded to

all major emergencies in recent years. In 2008 alone,

UNICEF responded to a dozen emergencies and several

Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR)

projects across the country (before 2008, suchinterventions were called Community-based Disaster

Preparedness/CBDP). UNICEF's comparative advantage

is its network of 13 field offices, high credibility with

the government and other partners, demonstrated

leadership and coordination capacities, proven ability

for immediate response, saving lives and prevention

of epidemics.

Key UNICEF partnerships in DRR are with thegovernment partners such as National DisasterManagement Authority (NDMA), State Disaster

Management Authority (SDMA); Red Cross andCrescent Society; UN family, especially UNDP, as well

as the UN Disaster Management Team (UNDMT);

NGOs and specialised organisations, such as SphereIndia and RedR India; donors such as DG ECHO, DFID,

National Committees or private sector.

In line with government's strategic policy shift from

relief to preparedness/DRR, UNICEF has taken similarapproach and intensified its preparedness efforts.

These include a number of preparedness measures,

such as institutional partnerships, pre-positioning of

critical emergency items in select multi-hazard states,or specialised DRR training. UNICEF internal planning

processes include regularly updated Emergency

Preparedness and Response Plans, intranet-based Early

Warning - Early Action analyses, Avian Flu Contingency

Plans and Business Continuity Plans. Advocacy effortsinclude influencing government policy through NDMA

or state-level relief commissioners and mainstreaming

good practices, e.g. nutrition rehabilitation centres

and maternity huts in Bihar.

CBDRR is a key activity of UNICEF India's Emergency

Section as per its annual and five-year work plans. This

is reflected in United Nations Development Assistance

Framework (UNDAF) for India 2008-2012 and in theUNICEF Country Programme Action Plan 2008-2012.

CBDRR and Key LearningUNICEF India's major contribution to DRR is the CBDRR

project. As UNICEF's global experience demonstrates,

community-based risk reduction efforts, which areapproached from a social and behaviour change

perspective, will ensure that children and families

understand the simple and practical actions requiredto protect lives and personal properties in caseof natural disasters. UNICEF-supported CBDRR

projects are excellent examples of mainstreaming of

practices, which effectively lead toward empowering

communities and their capacity to deal with disasters,

with due attention to specific vulnerabilities and needsof women and children.

UNICEF India launched its first CBDRR pilot project in

2001 in West Bengal in response to a majorflood disaster.

This has since become a model project. Other than

West Bengal, UNICEF has launched several other CBDRR

initiatives in Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya

Pradesh. Each of these has proven to be beneficial inbuilding the capacities of vulnerable communities to

take on responsibility to prepare for, respond to and

recover from the impacts of disasters. UNICEF is now

preparing for launching its CBDRR project in Assam.

The CBDRR project in West Bengal has aroused

tremendous interest and support in the communities


and achieved a degree of success in instilling the confidence that they cansurvive through their own resources and skills in the immediate aftermath

of floods. Critically, CBDRR has helped change the mindset of not only thelocal community but also of other stakeholders. The major lesson learnt isthat communities can take on responsibility of protecting their own livesand livelihoods in the event of a disaster if they are adequately equippedwith knowledge and skills. In West Bengal, CBDRR has emerged as a socialmovement, with multiple stakeholders and high ownership of the projectby all, including communities. CBDRR is a key priority for UNICEF as part ofits DRR strategy in India.


• The interactive discussion during the conference focused on the socialmovement aspect of CBDRR and discussed how we can all collectivelycontribute to the further promotion of the concept. Participantsagreed that a social movement would lead to a more comprehensiveinvolvement of communities and other stakeholders. It will also helpsustain the CBDRR efforts. It is important to sensitise the donorsfurther, especially in terms of funding predictability.

• Sustainability of CBDRR, notwithstanding the positive example fromWest Bengal, remains an issue of concern, related to the role of keystakeholders, long-term strategies and polices, funding availability,external risks, etc.

• Specifically for UNICEF, the challenge is successful replication of itsproject in other select states. Furthermore, UNICEF's CBDRR projectneeds to improve on child-focused elements in its interventions, whichhave been inadequate in the past.

• As is the case with many other organisations, the policy to engage withcorporate entities has been explored by UNICEF. UNICEF India alreadyhas an established unit which deals with private sector, both corporatesand individuals. Some private sector funding has already been used inemergency response and since 2008 in CBDRR interventions.

Key Learning

The CBDRR project, especially

in West Bengal, has aroused

tremendous interest and

support in the communities

and achieved a degree of

success in instilling the

confidence that they can

survive through its own

resources and skills in the

immediate aftermath of

floods. Critically, CBDRR has

helped change the mindset of

not only the local community,

but also of other stakeholders.

The major lesson learnt is that

communities can take on the

responsibility of protecting

their own lives and livelihoods

in the event ofa disaster if they

are adequately equipped with

knowledge and skills. In West

Bengal, CBDRR has emerged

as a social movement, with

multiple stakeholders and

high ownership of the project

by all, including communities.

CBDRR is a key priority for

UNICEF as part of its DRR

strategy in India.


Risk consciousness amongst thecommunities wasbuilt gradually andvery systematically. Even minor monitoring visits byvolunteers ofpartner NGOswere utilisedas an opportunity to hove small andissuefocused discussions withtaskforce membersand the community at large. Over a periodoftime, thishas emergedas a subtle and veryimportant technique inkeepingthefocus andenergylevel highin the CBDRR programme.

BackgroundThere are existing gaps and challenges in converting the policy of CBDRRinto practice. Research on the subject highlights the need for interplay of all

stakeholders at all levels of policy development, specially focusing on agreedprinciples of CBDRR and their application in different contexts. For example,

applying the principle of participation of communities and re-building

better in different contexts will lead to good practices in structural riskmitigation. Toexplore different policy issues and advocacy for suitable policydevelopment, it will be useful to examine the concept of DRR, development

of good practices and roles of different stakeholders in detail.

Summary"The conceptual framework of elements considered with the possibilitiesto minimise vulnerabilities and disaster risks throughout a society, to

avoid (prevention) or to limit (mitigation and preparedness) the adverseimpact of hazards, within the broad context of sustainable development."

[Source: UNISDR]

Good practice of CBDRR is based on some important 'principles' that areapplicable in most contexts. Examples of such principles are:

• DRR integrated with recovery activities

• Mainstreaming DRR with development plans and policies

• Involvement of local government

• Participation of local stakeholders in decision-making

• Involvement of all government departments and other stakeholders

in DRR planning

• Multi-stakeholder engagement while designing DRR policy

Good practice CBDRR operates in a loop where the principles are appliedto improve implementation, resulting in specific examples/models/case

studies. Hence, "all these case studies need to be observed in the context

where we are applying them. What relevance will West Bengal have in

another part of the world? Similar models, but in different contexts."

The examples and principles in practice:

• Understanding the context in which a particular CBDRR activity takes

place is crucial;

• Commitment to valuing the principles of good practice within different

topic boundaries leads to examples of good practice CBDRR;

• If the process is right, examples of good practice will follow; and• Principles of good practice can be applied globally.

The policy development for

CBDRR requires interplay

between all stakeholders at

all levels, focusing on agreed

principles of CBDRR and the

application of these principles

in different contexts.


Challenges and Issues to PolicyDevelopmentThe main challenge is how all actors can come together.Ifthe government is not part of the process, then therewill most likely be limited success in achieving goodpractice as the government is the key stakeholder andholds primary responsibility. The challenge is in linkingCBDRR with government policy and practice.

Governments face their own issues that can hinder

allocation of resources to CBDRR, ranging fromcompeting priorities, to financial resources, to lack

of effective decentralisation, to lack of supportivesystems and structures, and at times low governmentcapacity in some countries itself is a challenge. There

are also community-related issues that hinder the flow

of information of CBDRR activities to government. Thiscan be poor appreciation of the government context,

lack of influence at government levels, or lack ofunderstanding and clarity of good practice. And, finally,there are also shared government and communityissues between the government and actors that act

as a barrier to linking CBDRR to policy and practice.These range from different perspectives on risk, to lackof integration of DRR development, to lack of trust.

Recommendations

To overcome these challenges, it is proposed that:• Governments provide regular, ongoing training

for key staff;

• NGOs attend government meetings andconsultations; and

• Governments and NGOs set aside assumptionsabout each other.

Best Practices

The way forward is for governments, donors and NGOsto realise that they all have an important role to play inaddressing these challenges.

• NGOs use the information resource to improvetheir advocacy.

• Governments use their resources to engage betterwith DRR perspectives from civil society.

• Governments work in consultation and partnershipwith civil society and other stakeholders.

• Donors develop their institutional capacityfor DRR.


• The speaker clarified that in the next issue of

Sphere Manual, planned for 2010, DRR will beincluded as one of the key subjects.

• On the query for UNICEF and Sphere India onwhether there was an opportunity for inclusion ofchildren in disaster management and policy, it wasclarified that it is already happening, e.g.:• various task forces are promoting/advocating

on the needs and issues pertaining to children.• a study is planned by UNICEF for early 2009 to

analyse the gaps in government policies withregard to children in emergencies.

• a module on development of child-baseddisaster risk reduction is being discussed inSphere India subcommittee on cross-cuttingissues and may be included in the next plan.

Building Safer Communities in South Asia: Good Practice and Framework for DRREilia Jafar, South Asia Regional DRROfficer, DIPECHO, IFRC, India

BackgroundDuring the last decade, each year, on an average, 56 per cent of thosekilled worldwide by disasters were in South Asia. The region is extremelyvulnerable to both seismic and hydro-meteorological hazards. Theinternational federation, South Asia Regional Delegation (SARD), has been

promoting the 'Building Safer Communities' approach in the South Asiaregion in-line with the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015(building resilience of nations and communities to disasters). As partof this initiative, it has now launched a regional project on disaster riskreduction (DRR) under the fourth DIPECHO action plan, based on theevaluations, recommendations and lessons learned from the previous RC/RC (Red Cross and Red Crescent) community-based DRR programmes inSouth Asia, and several consultations with external agencies at various

stages. This project seeks to improve the system, procedure and tools ofthe six South Asian Red Cross/Red Crescent (RC/RC) Societies through their

ongoing disaster management/risk reduction programmes. This formspart of the process of strengthening the capacities of institutions, both RCand others, as members of their local and national DM systems throughproviding materials and tools that serve both communities as well as theinstitutions themselves.

Millennium Development Goals

•TiVW

Fundamentalprinciples &

humanitarianvalues

Linking statcivil society &community

Social ^Lmobilization

Inter-agencypartnership

Globalnetwork

An organisation having

hierarchy of structures right

up to community level andwell-defined linkages, like

Red Cross, can maintain a

community-based process and

simultaneously link it with

global initiatives like the Hyogo

Framework for Action.

ntt+cftttbuilding safer communities

in South Asia

'H^.


Vulnerability and capacityassessment taps into

community knowledge and

allows us to build on their

resilience in programme/

project design.

People are more often

concerned about risks of

everyday life than about

prospect of a big disaster.

People's own assessment of

risks must be valued if we are

to succeed.

SummaryUnder thisproject, activities have beeninitiated inAfghanistan, Bangladesh,India, Nepal, SriLankaand Pakistan. Afghanistan has started initiatives withlocal funding for response to small-scale disasters and awareness-raisingin the schools and food-for-work (a livelihood promotion) combined withCBFA (community-based first aid) and HIV/AIDS awareness. Bangladeshhas improved itsearlywarning mechanismthrough improved relations andcommunications that resulted in significant reduction in the loss of life, forexample, during cyclone Sidr in2007. Other activities include vulnerabilitycapacity analysis (VCA), livelihood promotion, improved advocacy, andclimate change adaptation, which have been implemented well within thecommunity. The communities have also adopted an ethos of self fundingfor self-sufficiency.

India has adopted a practice of multi-use of flood and cyclone shelters.During normaltimes, the emergencysheltersare usedas school, communitycentres and local markets. Repair and maintenance of the shelters is doneby the community.

In Nepal, the local community identifies small-scale mitigation projects. Arevolving CBDP fund (fund management system) is run by the implementingcommunity that isusedforemergency purposes and livelihoods promotion.

Pakistan has improved through capacity building of branches andcommunities by linking them with disaster response. They have set up'disaster management cells' in most flood prone areas and establishedPakistan Red Crescent Societies branches in earthquake affected areas.

Sri Lanka is using an integrated approach on tsunami recovery with longterm approaches to livelihoods, water and sanitation, risk awarenessraising and safety in schools.

TheInternationalFederation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)isstrengthening and mainstreaming disaster risk reduction capacities in sixSouth Asian National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies through theapplication of standardised community-based DRR systems and tools.

The national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies play a strong role ininitiating and sustaining the CBDRR processes while IFRC strategicallyresponds as per the priorities of the HFA (Hyogo Framework for Action).IFRC's strategic objective is to support national societies to contributemore effectively to the building of community safety and resilience....

• Through the integration ofdisasterrisk reduction intopolicies, planningand longer-term programming;

• through targeted disaster prevention, mitigation and preparednessactivities and advocacy; and

Research/case

studies and knowledge

management


Improving

the quality of DRRTraining Programmes

Strengthening

coordination and

networking

Building safer

communities in

South Asia

Strengthening

community basedprogrammes

Advocacy and

public awareness

rising

• through the focused integration of disaster riskreduction considerations into humanitarian

response and disaster recovery.

An organisation having a hierarchy of structures rightup to the community level and well-defined linkageslike Red Cross can maintain a community-based process

and simultaneously link it with global initiatives like theHyogo Framework for Action. IFRC has identified thechallenges, lessons learned, and best practice. There

are a number of initiatives in order to assist in the way

forward on the DRR framework for Red Cross and Red

Crescent Societies of South Asia. There is an ongoing

review cycle with cross-regional 'lessons learned'workshops undertaken to ensure baseline knowledgeis being shared.

Challenges• Requires follow up and often long-term

interventions.

• Integration has been on the RC agenda for a whilebut so far no concrete steps have been taken.

• The findings of VCA often cannot be addressedonly by one agency.

Skill

development of DRR

practitioners

• Approaches towards urban VCA need to be revisiteddue to lack of time and sense of community in

urban setup.

• Need to manage expectations.

• Need to work with local partners and develop

advocacy skills.

Lessons Learnt

• Scaling up community-based DRR takes time andcapacity - a long-term developmental approachand sustained investment are required.

• Clarification of the DRR concept and strategies is

crucial for effective advocacy and programming.

• There is a need to capture the impact of DRRprogrammes and cost/benefit data in a better way.

• Follow-up is required to ensure the sustainabilityof the programme beyond the life of the project.

• People are more often concerned about risks ofeveryday life than about prospect of a big disaster.

People's own assessment of risks must be valued ifwe are to succeed.

• VCA taps into this community knowledge andallows us to build on their resilience in programme/

project design.


• Disaster management can be better integratedwith other projects so that they support eachother (e.g., health, WatSan) and become mutuallyreinforcing.

• DRR allows us to respond more effectively to localpeople's concerns while promoting and pursuingdisaster preparedness activities in the community.

Best Practices

• Development of a community-based DRR trainingcurriculum for field practitioners.

• Development of handbook on DRR (My personalguide to risk reduction and advocacy).

• Skill development of DRR practitioners.

• Standardisation of first aid and basic search and

rescue kits.

• Production of a DRR documentary film-profilingeveryone's good work.

• Public awareness campaigns, such as postercompetitions among school children in six national

societies in South Asia.

• Organisation of regional DRR knowledgesharing events.

• Development and dissemination of good practicein DRR.

• DRR technical exchange programmes.


Useoffolkmediumtoconveymassages for behaviourchangehas been effectivelyadoptedas a methodologytocommunicatemassages as per theproratesof the CBDRR programme. Thelocal artists make an instant connection with the audience and the impact of their work is all too evident.


Community Speaks Out

This is a community meeting in Chandanpur Gram Panchayat (GP) ofDakshinpara block in Uttar Dinajpur, one of the northern districts of West

Bengal. Despite the heat and humidity, 150 eager villagers crowd into theroom and squat down in small groups. The meeting has been called byCBDRR partners of UNICEF. Theparticipatorylearningactivitiesfor thisvillagehave already been completed and the villagers have learnt the basics offamily preparedness. The Gram Pradhan (village head) takes the chair. Afterpreliminarywelcome speeches, UNICEF is Invitedto speak to the villagers.

We open with a question about the charts on the wall. Mohd. Nasir

shows us that his village lies between two rivers. Generations of families

have lived in Chandanpur and witnessed the rivers steal everything theyever owned. So far the feeling had been one of resignation, but now thevillagers animatedly discuss ways of protecting themselves, their familiesand their most treasured belongings. We quiz them on their new-foundskills. "Who will save you when the floods come?" They answer eagerly."We will save ourselves and our children." "How?" we enquire. The mentell us they have been formed into groups. The early warning group has afew educated men who read newspapers, listen to the news channels onTVand radio and are in touch with what is going on. But the villagers alsohave their own rural indicators. "The river starts making a strange noise,"says an old woman "and that is our warning." "How do you warn the rest?"

we ask. "Our team moves around on cycles," says Mohd. Nasir "and thewomen blow conch shells and beat drums. Then people will move to safeplaces on higher ground."

Young Karimbhai jumps up to tell us that he is part of the rescue group."So what do you do?" "Rescue people," he answers with a satisfied smile.

He is able to tell us that they will see that the aged, the sick, pregnantwomen and small children are taken into safe places first. He adds that

they have learnt to build machans (raised platforms of bamboo) and arelearning to use makeshift stretchers to carry the old and the sick. Members

of the women's SHG inform that they know how to care for those sufferingfrom diarrhoea and fever during floods. Selma Khatun tells us how to make

ORS from boiled water, sugar and salt. Amina Bibi describes how to tie a

tourniquet for a snake bite. They all know what kind of food should be

stored during the rains to keep the family safe for 7-10 days when thingsare not available. We are impressed with the women's knowledge. "Whatif a woman goes into labour during a flood?" we ask. "We will answer,"says another group of women. An elderly woman describes how theyhave a kit containing blade, scissors, thread for typing the umbilical cordand another woman tells us that they will boil water for disinfecting andwashing hands. "She will do the delivery," they say, indicating the elderlywoman who described the equipment, "she is the dai-ma (local midwife)and she has received special training and a kit." We decide to involve thechildren who are getting restless by now. Pointing to some young boys atthe back, we say, "your parents know what they have to do, but what aboutyou? What will you do?" Laughingand jostling each other, there is a babbleof voices. Finally 10-year-old Alam speaks up. "We will wrap our schoolbooks in plastic bags and keep them out of the water." "Right up on thetop shelf," says his friend Golu. "And we will swim to school and back with

the packet on our head," continues Alam. The other boys grin and nod inagreement. The girls don't want to be left out. Fourteen-year-old Sheetalis on her feet egged on by her friends. "We want to learn to swim," she

declares. "Should only boys be safe? Why can't girls learn to swim?" Herquestion is poignant in a society that favours the male child and allows little

boys to splash around in local ponds while the girls fetch water, wash dishesand look after younger siblings. Today the children know that if they areseparated from their parents during a flood, they should attempt to reachthe local secondary school which is on higher ground.

Our partner NGO signals the end of the meeting and the village Pradhan

graciously thanks us for our visit. As we file out, past the chart which showsthe village between two rivers, we wonder momentarily how people canlive in such threatened surroundings. However, we realise that in a countryas populated as India, millions of people live under similar circumstances

with no choices. The Community Based Disaster Preparedness programme,in the seven most threatened districts of the state, will offer 290,000

familiesa fightingchance to help themselves during the devastating floodsthat torment the state every year.

Lessons Learnt


Sharing Good PracticesA series of sessions on "Sharing of Best Practices

and Lesson Learnt on CBDRR" were facilitated

by G. Padmanabhan, Emergency Analyst, UNDPIndia, Chiranjeet Das, Technical Advisor DRR, PLAN

International, India; Zulfikar Ali Khan, EmergencySpecialist, UNICEF Bangladesh and Sarbjit SinghSahota, Director, RedR India.

A number of practical and strategic interventions thathave been implemented with success were shared to

enable future projects to achieve and succeed better.

A few examples of the effective practices were:• In pursuit of disaster risk reduction, school

preparedness programmes have been able to

reach out to the wider community.

Utilisation of assets like cyclone shelter and theirsustainabilitygetsreinforcedbyhavingcommunitieswith a financial stake in its maintenance, which

essentially goes beyond regular participative andconsultative processes to make the asset available

as a service.

Early warning, through innovation and communityparticipation, is now able to reach the neediest. The

focus now has shifted to delivering an actionablemessage.

Delivery of post disaster response has been used

as an opportunity to address various types of

vulnerabilities and got linked to the desired riskreduction agenda.

Buildingof assets through post disaster response iscontributing to the mitigation of risk.

"Prior to CBDRR programme, we dldn 't prepare adequately because ofourexpectation that administrative response would be quick enough toreach usessentialitems,now we see the reason to remain ready withplanto survivethe Initial 7days Immediately after thefloods." Head Masterof the High SchoolinAmoja village/booth 66/140), SadolGram Panchayat, Mushidobad District.

"When peopleareunited, political differences get patched upandthat Is the reason that CBDP runs smoothly in allthepanchayats Irrespectiveof their political affiliations." Panchayat Pradhan, Sautvi Panchayat, Murshidabad District.

"It is for the first time (during the process of PLA) that we have known our village, it was an empowering experience." Women and men inNidhipota village in Nadia District.

"The awareness ofpreparedness remains allthetimewith us; this isalsoa way tocounter ouranxieties aboutthefloods." Women in almost every village.

BackgroundUNICEF commissioned RedR India to conduct an external evaluation of its

CBDP Project in West Bengal to review its progress, identify best practices,

its challenges, its overall impact and whether it had the potential to bereplicated in other regions.

Summary1RedR India conducted the evaluation by using primary information, i.e.,

through individual interviews and focus group discussions, and secondarymethods like reviewing literature related to disaster and disaster

preparedness, and referring to organisational documents and journals.

This project included key features like self-help groups (SHGs) as the focal

points, participatory learning appraisal (PLA) for risk reduction, plan of

action (PoA) for contingency plan, task force group formation and regularmock drills. There was seamless coordination with the government at all

the levels, e.g., PoA, which was prepared using participatory methodsinitially went to the gram panchayat and through it to the block officer.

This is significant, as it provides legitimacy toCBDP through active inclusionof the government, which encourages a strong sense of ownership of thegovernment officers like block development officer (BDO), secretaries

and district magistrates, who received monthly action plans and progressreports of the project. Active interest of the State Civil Defence Ministerand the Chief Minister helped in the institutionalisation of CBDP in

government development processes. Government participation hasfacilitated community dialogues with local self-government and nearly70 per cent of women participate in these discussions.

NGO partnership is extremely strong due to joint planning and sharingby NGOs, intensive training of around 100,000 staff, task force members

and animators.

Key roles of each group were assigned, e.g., UNICEF led the entire projectby designing programmes, coordinating with the government, providingtechnical support and scaling up strategies. The Inter Agency Group (IAG)team looked after daily coordination between agencies, their training andmonitoring, and evaluating daily progress. Various NGOs integrated CBDPin their ongoing developmental processes and interacted with panchayats

1 Thispresentation is based on the evaluation conducted by a team consisting of N. Hari Krishna,Chaman Pincha and Mamata Pradhan with advisory support of SarbjitSingh.

"CBDPhascreatedopportunity

for women to learn new

skills and assert their role in

development processes."

58 CBDRR Conference. Kolkata, India, November 2008

Proactive skills engagement

and skill building of women

has succeeded in reducing

induced vulnerabilities.

and local government officers and a good management informationsystem (MIS) drove the project with meticulous design and comprehensivedocumentation.

CBDP has become so important to the local community that theyhave efficiently integrated it with polio eradication. It has become a

movement encompassing a vast arena of social issues like alcoholism,

female education, etc., and is a unique feature in West Bengal. Theproject needs to function for at least three years to make it sustainablein the community.

Key LearningsIt is important for men to learn cooking, preparing ORS, etc., that aretraditionally seen as a part of the female domain and for women to

learn rowing, swimming, etc., that fall under the male domain. This can

be easily replicated in other areas to avoid helplessness among eithermen or women.

For any programme to be sustainable, it is essential that it is institutionalised

in the system of governance from local to higher levels. This gives theprogramme a legitimacy and ensures long-term sustainability.

The programme has demonstrated that it is not necessary to havehuge fund allocation for its success. It can become a part of the

existing programmes, such as in this case it became a part of the polioeradication programme. A dedicated pool of human resources and

genuine involvement of the local governance and the community can dowonders even with not so-huge-resources.

Addressing women's strategic needs yields huge gains to make thecommunities resilient (refer to best practices ahead) and expands the

spaces for women beyond the programme itself.

Recommendations

The scope of needs should be beyond rescue and immediate survivalstrategies. The quality of post-disaster survival should be integrated in the

ongoing CBDP with increased investments by government, UNICEF andother agencies.

UNICEF may like to integrate the needs voiced by the community in theassessment visits and interaction with the communities. For this purpose,

PLA can be an exercise not only in mapping the resources but also in

mapping the needs of women and men pre- and post-disaster.

There may be a series of PLAs. One for resource mapping, another for theanalysis of vulnerabilities and capacities of women, men and children and

yet another for building a comprehensive gender disaggregated data base.

Among women and men, capacities of the elderly can

be mapped and utilised in flood response.

PLA outcomes may be understood as dynamic rather

than static, as they should be revisited periodically,

especially after the floods to reflect the learning and

emerging needs. Its strength and weakness should be

evaluated against the backdrop of the community's

gendered experiences.

Children's capacities could be further utilised to get

them involved and thus educate them on CBDP. For

example, children may be involved in preparing the

child survival kits and help their mothers to get the

family survival kits ready. Children should be able to

understand the PLA exercise and should know about

the safe and vulnerable places. They may also be trainedin simple first-aid skills, including preparing ORS, etc.

On the line of children's panchayat, networking of

children may be initiated by CBDP, where children may

like to share their anxieties, needs and skills duringand post-floods.

To sustain the motivation of the task force in normal

times, they need to be recognised as trainers who

can later train families in survival skills and thus keep

human resources ready in case members of the existingtask force migrate or otherwise drop out of the group.

Members of the task force could be sent to other

areas not covered by CBDP to build capacities of the

communities and families in the skills of survival. With

a common experience of flood-suffering, as trainers,they will be more convincing motivators for the non-

CBDP flood prone areas.

Capacity building for service providers needs priority for

themto respond effectively tothedisaster. Organisational

preparedness in terms of trained human resources and


logistic arrangement should be given due importance

in the ongoing CBDP. All partner organisations may like

to integrate the issues of early marriages, malnutrition,institutional deliveries in the CBDP. While mentioning

the contents of family survival kits, sex-specific sanitary

needs of women need to be particularly mentioned for

all sources of information dissemination.

Gender-disaggregated data banks should be madeready and available at different levels, from the gram

sansad upwards. Innovative methods can be used for

data collection to reflect gender interest and needs.

This can be a part of PLA exercise itself.

Systematic mechanism needs to be evolved to

specifically look into the needs of widows, single parentfamilies, especially the female heads of households,

single men with/without children.

Periodic capacity building for PRIs on the rationale

and skills of preparing PoA can well be replicated.Exposure visit of one panchayat to another, which

has done something innovative in this direction, e.g.,

Satui Village Panchayat's five-year plan, maintaining a

separate file for action plans from sansads, may catalyse

mutual learning. Best practices of the panchayats in

integrating CBDP in their systems may be documented

and used as a resource material for PRI training.

Although there are excellent quantitative indicators in

place monitoring and evaluating progress of CBDP in

terms of its goals, developing qualitative indicators foreach of the components may further strengthen the

programme as a tool for building human capacities

and thus contributing to the development process.

There is certainly a scope for bringing in more

women in the leadership position as coordinators and

Progress/Implementation in Phases has Made the Programme Sustainable

Yearl Year 2 Year 3

Knowing community Community Preparedness Family preparedness

Creating conducive environment Bamboo shelters, raised pump

sets, life jackets, etc.

Behavioural change

communication

PLA and approvals Survival kits Rigorous health and livelihood skills

Task force creation and Training Mock drills Integration with local self-governance


supervisors, etc. Currently, majority of women staff

are more at the animators' level. A number of trainingcamps can be organised for the staff at all levels for

raising awareness on social equity and gender issues.

Apart from CBDP, if UNICEF introduces more

programmes/projects, such as training and awareness-raising on issues of health, child marriages, etc., it willbreak the monotony that the community sometimesmay feel in the normal times. It will also help sustain the

programme through its linkages with other projects. Inother words, CBDP can be effectively mainstreamedinto the overall development process.

Best Practices

CBDP has enhanced health and hygiene awareness andhas led to a change in the gender role in households,

with boys learning how to prepare ORS or purify water,tasks traditionally performed by females. Womenactively took part in the public domain like attending

Gram Sansads (village-level meetings), makingshelters, helping others, etc. Women have receivedtraining on search and rescue to encourage them to

reduce risks that are an outcome of socially induced

vulnerabilities.

CBDP has further reduced the loss of livestock.

Community has become self-reliant and CBDP has

led to a change in social behaviour, with the men

cutting down on alcohol and cigarette consumptionto save money for preparing family survival kits.

Many women feel that these survival kits are a

central component of CBDP.

CBDP has created an opportunity for women to learn

non-traditional skills and assert their role in the

development processes.

Innovative and affordable life-saving strategies, such as

locally made life jackets of different types for womenand men, and for women who have to rescue children

is a fine example of how an expensive apparatus likelife-saving jacket can be made out of available localmaterials: parachute material stuffed with coconut

shells/thermocol, etc. This is also an example of howexisting traditional skills of women, i.e., sewing, have

been utilised in an effective way.

The long-term panchayat plan is a remarkabledocument, underlining the importance of a sustained

approach as against ad hoc measures for disaster

management strategies. The plan reflects local wisdom

and is a deliberate attempt to mainstream floodsmanagement in the development agenda (CBDP is one

of the components under the financial allocation for

the social sector). The plan is worth replicating acrossall panchayats in West Bengal and can serve as a modelfor CBDP in other states.

The NGOs and funding agency's close interactionwith local governance bodies helps in keeping

the functionaries motivated. Sometimes the NGO

interaction builds new capacities and triggers newideas, with the NGOs using indigenous knowledge andcoping mechanisms through their close interaction

with the grassroots and PRIs.

Strategy to safeguard missing children and through

it relieving women of delay in saving their own liveswas a huge success. Training small children to say theirnames, give proper addresses and carry identity cardsis something that stands out as a remarkable practice.The confidence that children will not get lost alleviatesthe concerns of parents, especially mothers, duringfloods. When they are not anxious, they can paygreater attention to their own survival.

Meaningful inclusion of women, both in terms of

number and active involvement in PLA and PoA, will

ensure the sustainability of the programme. The open-ended nature of the programme to allow it to absorbother social issues is replicable.

The programme has shown that it does not need hugefunding to mobilise the community and build capacities

for survival skills. Effective networking with dedicatedNGOs on the lines of IAG, a collective ownership and

sharing of experience can be successfully replicated toavoid duplication of activities and be enriched by oneanother's expertise and experiences.


• Information dissemination on governmentschemes, such as DM Act, goes to the grassrootsthrough the gram panchayat.

Information on the number of trained human

resource that forms the task forces was gathered

through interaction with the concerned NGOs in

the areas visited by the evaluation team and fromIAG reports.

Sustainability of the CBDP project ideally requiresthree-year cycle investment.

Other than the actual calamities, task force

members can be used in their area as trainers

for imparting the necessary skills to all families in

the community; they can also train people from

those areas which have not yet initiated CBDP

programmes - this will have a cascading effect

and keep the motivation of the trained human

resources high.



I W

Girls (particularly invisible in disaster management) were also active in response toHurricane Stan, 2005.

"We organised the shelter. Others were surprised that the youth were organising the shelter.We ran the shelterfor one-ond-a-half months. Nearly 23 families and 30 children were shelteredhere," said Cindy, the President of the School Emergency Committee.

SummaryChildren can contribute positively in disaster management and to the overallenvironment. With the increasing number of disasters and the vulnerableincreasingly being women and children, PLAN has been addressing theconundrum by actively empowering children by using the DRR concept to

reduce their vulnerability.

The disaster situation is known to strongly affect children during a crisis,

but its psychological effects remain for a long time afterwards. Invariably,children are denied a role at all stages of the disaster cycle - in the crisis

response period; in the recovery and reconstruction period; and in thepreparedness and planning period.

Children in disasters are recognised as vulnerable, but the details are oftenoverlooked. For example, when unaccompanied and out of their normalenvironment, they are at riskof abuse and abduction. Overstressed parents,

guardians can react with violence or neglect. Emergency responders oftenforget to provide them a safe place to play. The children's psychologicalhurt can be subtle and hidden, but significant and disabling.

It seems that many schools put children at risk. Children have a right to

protection all the time and this must be enhanced, particularly at theschool level.

PLAN also wants to re-emphasise the link to those linked to disaster work

and to realise the importance they play as part of development. By takingthis perspective, emergency responders need not always look at people asvictims but as active change agents. This outlook needs to be particularly

applied to children as active agents. How often do children get the right toparticipate in disaster? Some would be shocked at the very idea.

This might even be considered as very unusual in the world of disastermanagement, but by giving children a voice and an active role in emergencypreparedness committees not only empowers the vulnerable, but provides

perspectives that can easily be missed by adults.

In conclusion, children are not just vulnerable victims in disaster, nor isit about picking up the pieces after the event. Children and youth have

a right to more than just inclusion on the lists of consultees. They havea right to have a say in their own development and this must include

reducing disaster risk.

"Emergency responders need

not always look at people as

victims but as active change

agents."

Poorly constructed schools put childrenat risk.

Sierra Leone, a 'temporary' school, stillhere, years later but the location floodsregularly.


Disasters, like development,

present windows of

opportunity. DRR should open

these windows.

A chilJ working with a TV crew on thedangers of the area.

The questions asked by the audience related to the approach to betaken with disabled children and reducing their vulnerability. PLAN doesfollow a contingency planning process, which involves and focuses on the

importance of the participatory process at all levels.

A question was raised about the integration of development in relation

to DRR. It was stressed that community should really have only one plan

and not separate ones to do with livelihoods, education, health, etc. PLAN

focuses on having one plan.

BackgroundInvolving children in the process of CBDRR is a major challenge in

Thailand and the country should make this an integral part of theprocess by 2012. Children are the most vulnerable sections of society.

However, like in Cuba, their active participation in CBDRR has resulted

in the loss of fewer lives and has protected and helped the community.

CLDRR can significantly reduce the negative impact of disaster on the

survivors. Save the Children is currently working on CLDRR in Thailandto empower children and through them, institutionalise DRR in

the region.

SummaryThe tsunami experience led to shift of concept in Save the Children fromemergency response to preparedness. Over 40 schools (primary and

elementary level) in four tsunami-affected provinces during 2005-07 and

16 disaster-prone villages and schools in 11 provinces were inducted by

the local organisations to conduct children-led disaster risk reduction

CLDRR in 2008.

One of the major steps undertaken was to build capacity of schoolchildren

on CLDRR. In order to implement it, the project organised an orientation

programme for the school authorities and teachers to give support for

CLDRR activities led by children, developed training manual on DRR, andencouraged dialogue with policy-makers at the national level to share

their experiences and lessons learnt during this process to include it in the

national curriculum.

Local partners received training to facilitate children to lead CLDRR activities

on key concepts of DRR, risk and resource mapping and DRR education

campaign. Local partners were encouraged to evolve an approach to work

with children, schools and communities. They were supported to carry outeducational campaigns, mapping vulnerabilities and capacities to educate

the other vulnerable groups, and form response groups. Community visitwas a major element of this training.

The organisation introduced their mandate and concepts of childparticipatory approach to schools taking part in the CLDRR Programme.

Young people were given training to further train with schoolchildren to

develop risk and resource map, and to produce an education campaignunder their guidance. This promoted children to address risk behaviourand raise awareness on DRR through their education campaigns.

"Adults need understanding,

reasons and skills to facilitate

children's participation in

schools and communities, and

to support them for a positive

impact of CLDRR."

Children produce a community map,identifying disaster risks and resourcesin their communities.


"We are the most vulnerable

and we should be aware of

the risks and how to overcome

them."

Key Learning

It should be a long-term

process and promoting

individual children can defeat

the purpose of CLDRR that

needs participation of all

children. Technical support

should focus on facilitation,

communication and working

methods, rather than honing

individual leadership skills.

In order to achieve the highest

level of children's participation

in DRR, we must also work with

adults to support children. For

instance, DRR facilitators must

not dominate children and tell

them what to do. Instead he/

she must be the supporter to

listen to children's ideas and

facilitate the process - let thechildren lead.

Children participation in DRR

is not a one-off activity; it is

a process which needs a lot

of time and effort to achieve

meaningful results.

Participationis the rightof children

Children are amongthe most vulnerable

during disasters

Children

are not mere victims but are active citizenscapable of making decisions and taking action

on issues relevant to their lives

Recommendations

Adults need understanding, reasons and skills to facilitate children's

participation in schools and communities and to support them for a

positive impact of CLDRR.

Best Practices

Schools and communities are more aware of disaster preparedness due

to this programme. Risk and resource maps and education campaignsproduced by children are included in school/community disaster

preparedness plans. Children have gained knowledge and confidencethat has resulted in their increased participation. The school authoritiesin the disaster-prone areas are incorporating CLDRR in their curriculum.


• On how CLDRR is integrated into the curriculum and how is the

government involved, the speaker responded that in Thailand, the

curriculum is already integrated. For example, students learn mappingin their maths class and the English teacher introduces them to words

like disaster, hazards, etc. Awareness among teachers is raised in the

disaster-prone areas. The tsunami experience has encouraged the

establishment of the curriculum and supports student participation.

• Children can be directly involved in the community through their

education campaign and learn from their schools.

• To ensure that the message is rightly disseminated to parents, local

partners hold regular meetings and link children to their parents. Save

the Children encourages linkage with the local authorities, community

leaders and others.

BackgroundIbnSina is one of the largest health NGOs in Afghanistan, and with over 2,000employees and 2,000 volunteers, it is able to directly help over 3 millionpeoplethrough health services. Thearea of operation covers 11provinces ofAfghanistan and parts of Pakistan. There are also capacity building exercises(public health management) within Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kirghizstan.

Objectives• Overview of the disaster management project

• Overall goal and objectives of disaster management programme (DMP)• Achievements of DMP

• Challenges within DMP

• Recommendations

SummaryIbnSina has opened schools, run community midwifery educationprogrammes for people in remote areas, and is involved in highereducation and management training. It also has a disaster managementprogramme for ensuring victims are rescued and, if necessary, givenprompt medical assistance in the event of a natural or manmade disasterin parts of Afghanistan.

The Disaster Management Programme (DMP) was started to enable thecommunity to have the capacity to respond to disasters. This DMP trained8-15 people per village/area in the community, school and health facilities(400 people in total) in order to respond to disasters. These village-levelmanagement teams are trained in first aid, evacuations, transportation ofpatientsand communication. Althoughthefocuswasatthecommunity level,there had to be focused training at the regional and national level. Thosetrained were then able to disseminate learning down to the community

level. Thus, 100 disaster management and regional/provincial teammembers were trained in disaster management/response, community-based disaster risk management, training of trainers, sphere standards,first aid and control of communicable diseases during disasters.

IbnSina has responded to a number of emergencies ranging from conflict,to flood, to avalanches, to disease outbreaks. Some of the success of DMP

was within the community. It identified at risk people; contacted emergencyresponse teams; helped evacuate people; provided first aid to victims ofdrowning; provided information and education to those affected; helpedin distribution of non-food assistance; and provided medical aid.

"I believe in making solid

differences in remote areas."

Health care facility in remotecommunities.


First aid trainingin remote parts ofAfganistan.

Challenges• Insecurity

• Staff turnover

• Lack of female capacity - for example, gettingfemale help in cleaning female toiletries

• Difficult access to remote and far-flungareas (districts)

• Cultural barriers/male-dominated communities

• Lowfemale literacy rate

Lessons Learnt

• Specifying the responsibilities of each organisationand actor in the area in the event of emergenciescan prevent duplication,and increase efficiency andeffectivenessof disaster responses.

• CBDRR pilots are closely linked to existingcommunity structures - an important element

of the approach towards reaching continuity andsustainability, and towards strengthening localcapacities for disaster resilience.

Selection of disaster management/CBDRRfacilitators from the community ensures

sustainability, i.e. gained knowledge and skills

remain in the village after project activities are

withdrawn.

Involvement of the community, utilisation of their

resources and respect for their culture, values and

norms is important for the success of such projects,

especially in areas where security is unstable and

cultures are conservative.

Regular communication with local communities

living in disaster-prone areas is vital to timely

emergency responses. Identifying and training

local capacities in disaster-prone areas is crucial to

disaster risk reduction and management.

Despite cultural and religious issues, a low literacy

rate, low level of awareness, poor economy andviolence against women, some women were able

to take part in the pilot disaster management/


CBDRR project. This trend needs to be further

encouraged.

To strengthen capacities of community disaster

management/CBDRR facilitators and local people,it's necessary to increase knowledge and awareness

on cross-cutting issues like gender, human rights,

environmental issues, and peace building.

In contexts like Afghanistan, it is important to

develop a synergy of disaster preparedness,

strengthening livelihoods, relief, disaster risk

reduction and peace building approaches. Help

people to advocate for their own needs and

involve government authorities in community DM

planning and early warning systems.

Organise literacy education sessions for

non-literate members of the village disaster

management committees. It was recommended

to involve religious leaders more effectively in

the process.


Converting Crisis into Opportunity:Activities Implemented• Construction of protection bunds• Constriction of linkage roads• Safe storage grounds• Construction of culverts

• Credit support for salt stocks• Insurance

• Value addition

• Market linkage• Advocacy for inclusion of salt farmers

under calamity relief

"We lost everything during thetsunami... Our only hope was thiscrop!!! We had to lose that too inthis flood and rain...

What can we do, when nature hasmade a decision... We can only goback and start preparing for thenext crop."

Neelama, salt farmer from Ullamapalem onNovember 4, 200S.

Concern's Approach to DRRSebastian TV, Emergency Programme Manager, Concern Worldwide, India

BackgroundConcern Worldwide and a local NGO partner initiated a CBDRR programmeto reduce the vulnerability of the tsunami-affected salt farmers of Prakasamdistrict of Andhra Pradesh after the 2004 tsunami. Salt farmers livelihoods

and community were affected during the tsunami, but this group waslargely ignored as they were seen to be too small in the economic and

social circuit of the larger area. Concern Worldwide played a key role inrebuilding this industry and applying CBDRR.

SummaryThe salt farmers lost their livelihood due to the tsunami, but were

also ignored by the world media that focused its attention on fishingcommunities whilst the salt farmers' plight was largely uncared for.

Although no loss of life occurred (it was off season), there was tremendousloss with respect to infrastructure (the crystallisation ponds, the canals, thedrying platforms and the protective bunds) and loss of stored salt. Thesesalt farmers are highly vulnerable with risk to livelihood and lives not justfrom tsunamis but also cyclones, high tides, floods and heavy rains. Saltfarmers do not have their own lands due to the legal framework that doesnot allow them to own land. Hence, other land owners, who have takenland on lease from the salt department, sublet the land to them.

Some of the key problems with the salt farmers noted were:• Lack of proper protective bunds and other infrastructure support to

mitigate disaster

• Lack of early warning and disaster preparedness initiatives• Lack of salt and crop insurance schemes

• Lackof a parent department to respond to the situation - confusion ofresponsibilities between state and central government

• Lack of policy on disaster and disaster response among salt farmers• No assessment policy, compensation package

Construction of roads under the project has helped them reduce transportcost and enhance their income. This has further helped in market linkages.Theynow have access to large manufacturing units, who can come and getthe supply from their village directly.

The DRR stages undertaken by Concern were:• Hazards, risks and vulnerability analysis

• Capacity and vulnerability assessment

"The focus of our CBDRR is

on their livelihood, which is

salt harvesting. If the people

lose their means of livelihood,

then the focus needs to shift

elsewhere."


• Problem tree analysis

• Training on PLA tools to CRG (common resource

group) and villager net leaders

• Development of CBDRR plans

• Prioritisation and implementation of select activities

Key Learning• CRGs, which are the core unit of CBDRR, have

similar aims and objectives as women SHGs and

perform financial as well as social intermediation.

• Financial support has been in the form of credit

and financial discipline has been good.

• One of the cluster federations opted for credit

for infrastructure development like protection

bund, road and culvert and proved it to be a more

profitable investment.

• Infrastructure development has enhanced

livelihood security.

• The intervention has made people more self-reliant

and disaster resilient.

• CRGs and federations serve as a platform to identify

and take up policy issues for advocacy: Examples:

• Land rights

• Benefits under calamity relief fund

• Learn from the community, share the learning and

replicate.

• Respect indigenous knowledge and practices.

Best Practices

• CRGs are a good means to address a number of

development and vulnerability issues.

• Credit support through CRGs' works and repayment

has been very encouraging.

• CRGs have been effective as an approach to take

up land rights.


• Initially, Concern planned to support the fishing

community also as part of the tsunami intervention.

But soon the NGO realised that small and marginal

farmers, and salt pan workers were equally affectedby the tsunami and they did not get the attentionthey deserved. Even within the target communities,

community mobilisation wasgiven priority to identify

and reach out to the unreached.

• Concern has not addressed the issue of toilets for

women in the salt pan areas. The workers come

from nearby villages and the need for toilets in thefarm area was neither identified nor raised as a

major issue. But this is certainly an area that needs

consideration.

Concern found that there were many agencies vying

to support women SHGs and therefore it did not

focus on supporting women SHGs for credit support.The focus of Concern's CBDRR was on beneficiaries'

livelihood-salt. Though it has inherent hazards, the

target population had little other options as this has

been their traditional occupation. Diversification

of sources of livelihood was discussed.

In the absence of proper roads, salt stock had to be

transported from the field to the nearest road by

bullock carts and this was expensive. As the farmersdid not have storage facility at the road side, the

stock had to be immediately sold at price set by the

buyers. This resulted in their exploitation. When the

connecting road was built with Concern's assistance,

transport vehicles could pick up stock directly from

the field and this reduced the transportation cost. As

there was no pressure to sell the stock for want of a

storage facility, the producers could bargain for a just

price. The construction of the road has also helped

in bulk transport and transport even during the rainy

season. This has facilitated direct linkage with larger

traders, who can pick up stocks from one point.

CBDRR PracticesHabibullah Bahar, Manav Mukti Sanstha, Bangladesh

BackgroundDue to its geographical location, Bangladesh is multi-hazard country,where many types of disasters, but mainly floods, occur regularly. TheCBDRR project was implemented in Siraganj District, Bangladesh, with thesupport of DFID and UNDP.

SummarySiraganj District is a high-risk area in Bangladesh. Regular floods and itsremoteness have led to a lackof employment and low-income generationin the district. All sections of society, such as students, NGO workers,local elite like leaders, government employees, professional class likebusinessmen, farmers, disadvantaged groups like the poor and disabledpeople, all took part in the CBDRR project in the district.

Various tools like observation, social and hazard mapping, etc., were usedfor risk analysis and planning for community risk reduction. Stakeholderswere identified in this process and they were assigned particularresponsibilities. At the individual level, people raised plinths, plantedtrees, installed tube wells and latrines, maintained shelters for animals,etc. The community formed a village disaster management committee(DMC), constructed and maintained shelters, coordinated with concernedgovernment officers, NGOs, etc. The local government and administrationfulfilled the duty of creating embankments, roads and social institutions,and provided government support to the local people. The concernedNGOs implemented project activities of DRR and integrated these withdevelopment programmes.

Inthis district, DRR is linked to development programmes for its sustenance.Forinstance, alternative options of employment, such as growing livestock,gardening and handlooms that are disaster safe have now become a majorsource of income.

Key LearningCBDRR programme interventions enable the community to cope with thedisastersituation while continuingtheir normal lives. It hasa visible linkageto the development of livelihoodsand community development.

"The creation of alternative

employment has resulted

in confidence among the

community that they can deal

with any risk."


DRR Activities Implemented:• Awareness raising

• Homestead plinth raising (individual and cluster)• Construction and reconstruction of multi-purpose

flood shelter and social institutions

Plantation

WatSan

Road construction, reconstruction and repairing

Livelihoods activity for extremely poor families

Best PracticesThe creation of alternative employment has resulted in confidence among the community and has reduced theirsuffering during the non-disaster time. This has further ledto the sustenance of CBDRR in the district.

BackgroundThe Disaster Management Institute (DMI) in Bhopal was established in1987 and has a strong background in disaster management activities,including training, research and consultancy services. It has variouspartnerships, and a majorone is with UNICEF on a CBDRM programme.Partnerships are with many government and various stakeholders likecivil society organisations, corporate organisations and the communityat large.

SummaryDMI works in the state of Madhya Pradesh (MP) only. MP is susceptibleto all kind of disasters from floods, earthquakes, severe droughts. Itexperienced the world's worst-ever industrial disaster, the Bhopal GasTragedy. The high number of hazards has led to a number of DRR initiativesin the area through the participatory preparation of district disastermanagement plans and community-based disaster risk managementprojects. There isa need for involvement of multiple stakeholders in DRR,and partnership at different levels is required for effective managementof risk. This is everyone's business and everyoneshould be involved, evenif it is in a basic way.

DMI has been working on a project for strengthening community disastercoping mechanisms through CBDRM and district disaster managementplanning. The goal of this project is DRR through disaster managementplanning and initiation of community-based disaster risk management. Itsobjectives are to strengthen the copingcapacities of people within the 10selected districts of MP, with a focus on basic services specifically relatedto children and women, as well as on initiating CBDRR, preparation andimplementation of district disaster management plans. This partnershiphas the support and approval of the state government.

The working structurehas a very high emphasis ongovernment procedures.For example, any plan needs to beapproved by the appropriate authority.NGOs that are selected will be the nodal agencies for facilitation ofpreparation of CBDRM plans. All stakeholder bodies with coordination andlinkage will then go through the district administration.

The NGOs are the facilitators for the plans and are a part and parcel ofthe project. They have to encourage CBDRM, ensure training of local self-government institutions and provide support for preparation of districtdisaster management plans.

"DRR is everyone's businessand everyone should be

involved, even if it is in a

basic way."


Another important partner is the local self-governmentbodies in the rural and urban areas where the project is

being implemented. Their role is to partner with nodalNGOs for the preparation of community-level plans

and provide resources for implementation. Scale up ofthis work is a big challenge. Panchayati Raj Institutions

(PRIs) are expected to play an important role in the

expansion of the programme.

UNICEF, as an international agency with regional and

global experience in emergency response and DRR,can share best practices and provide technical advice.

Other stakeholders, such as education institutions, are

seen to play a critical role by providing their buildings

for relief centres, which are also used as training

centres for training children and community. The

involvement of scouts, guides, national cadet corps,junior Red Cross, etc., is also envisaged as part of theproject implementation.

Linkages shall also be established with various nationaland international agencies working in the area of CBDRR

management for replicability as well as expansion ofthe project. Similarly, linkages shall also be establishedwith policy-making organisations, like the National

Disaster Management Authority for policy formulation

issues in the wider area of disaster risk reduction and

also in the area of CBDRM.

Community-based Flood Information SystemMoloy Chaki, Programme Coordinator, Bangladesh Disaster Preparedness Centre

BackgroundIn Bangladesh, out of 64 districts, 40 are flood prone and most of themget very limited help from the flood warning system. Floods in 2007were peculiar as they occurred in two spells in a month. Flood controland structural mitigation is not possible since the government does nothave sufficient resources. The Bangladesh Disaster Preparedness Centre(BDPC) undertook a study to identify the problems in the flood control and

warning centre run by the government and found that:• Warning is given only through electronic and print media; they do not

have mandate to disseminate messages directly on the ground. Thus,people living in the rural areas, who do not have access to the radio,

TV, etc., could not be warned and were deeply affected by the floods.

• Messages sent by the government created chaos since people are not

familiar with terms like centimetre, millimetre, etc.

• These messages do not mention the specific areas that are going to

be affected.

BDPC, after this study, started the Community Flood Information System

(CFIS) Project.

SummaryThe aim of the project was to create a proper communication system forreducing risk through the flood information system (FIS) and covered two

districts, namely Manikganj and Tangail, which witness regular monsoon,and covered 650 households.

CFIS developed "a strategy to create a cohesive, simple and an effectiveFIS. At first, it carried out an assessment on the need of early warning, the

expectation of the community and the approaches required for bridgingthe gaps. The project designed early warning dissemination by including

members of the local community, like teachers and students, who are seen

as 'change agents' and formed warning dissemination groups (WDG).Thesevolunteers were given training on how to disseminate information and the

preparedness needed for reducing the impact of the floods. WDGs werelinked to the local disaster management committees (DMCs) for smooth

dissemination of information. Raising awareness through mock drills,

cultural programmes, etc., on flood warning and preparedness among the

community was jointly facilitated by the WDGs and DMCs.

The next step was to identify the danger levels. It was noticed that the

households knew their danger levels through indigenous knowledge. They

"Change agents played a

vital role to disseminate

information and in forming

warning dissemination groups

(WDGs)."

Warning flags and its interpretation

Mooprjtf Norm*!


determined the threat levels through the level of the

water in the local market place, e.g. if the water levelrose to the plinth of the market, then it was a 'normal

flood'. Interpretation of this danger level of the floodwas then done with the help of coloured flags, as each

colour symbolised the type of flood, ranging fromyellow (moderate) to red (severe) and blue (increase inflood) to white (decrease in flood). Flood markers that

helped the community to understand the situation

were also installed.

The dissemination flow was at three levels and the

message was sent through the short messaging service

(SMS) as quite a number of villagers used mobilephones. Thus, they were sent an SMS with specificsymbols depicting the type of flood and its situation.The three levels are:

• National to family level: SMS was sent to

households using mobile, i.e. around 40 out of 650households.

• National to community: SMS sent to the 'change

agents' who then put the flags as flood markers.• National to organisation (DMC)-SMS was sent to

those who could disseminate the information and

help the families evacuate, if needed.

ChallengesThe government did not show any interest in the

programme but their support is needed for itssustenance. Area-specific SMS is not possible due to

technical problem and high expense.

Recommendation

It is essential to activate DMCs and to seek help

from the mobile companies to make such initiatives

cost-effective. There is need for strengthening

monitoring systems and create mass awareness on

the flood early warning system that helps save lives

and resources.

Best Practices

Flow of information was smooth due to active

participation of the WDGs. 'Change agents' played a

vital role to disseminate information. The community

appreciated the use of symbols in SMS', as they

need not be literate to figure out the meaning and

as mobile phones are popular, the information was

disseminated effectively.


• BDPC believes in indigenous knowledge and

farmers develop their cultivation around that.

• In a real situation, the role of the early warning

system was excellent as the cyclone preparednessprogramme helped in disseminating the

information quickly.

• Flagging system is known only in the southern

part of the nation. SMS is the only alternative

in the northern part but connectivity can affect

information flow.

BackgroundEFICOR was started in 1967 as the emergency relief wing of the Evangelical

Fellowship of India (EFI). EFICOR believes in integrated community

development, development education and capacity-building programmes,and HIV/AIDS, health and nutrition programmes, apart from relief and

rehabilitation. As an emergency organisation, EFICOR undertakes post-disaster situations and provides food and non-food items to the affected

facilities. In 2003, EFICOR started thinking about the "preparedness" of

communities affected by various disasters. EFICOR had participated invarious seminars and workshops on disaster preparedness. Hence, the

disaster mitigation and preparedness programme was initiated in 10villages in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh while working on floodrelief and EFICOR decided to prepare the community living in the area to

reduce its effects. The CBDP concept was followed and implemented in theproject in Godavari basin of Khammam district.

SummaryFloods are the most prominent hazard that people of the district have to

grapple with. The pilot project started working on 10 riverbank villagesin three blocks in Khammam district, with the sole purpose of reducing

vulnerability in the area.

Several forms of interventions were designed, like activities on raising

awareness and preparing people, and formation of disaster management

committees (DMC) in these 10 villages (35 per cent of whose memberwere women). The central role of the DMC was to update the village

flood contingency plan with the approval of the community and thelocal government. Creation of an emergency response task force of 20people, who were identified as 'change agents' in each village was part

of the project. The task forces were given skill and capacity-buildingtraining. The response team helped in warning, carrying out rescue and

evacuation, first aid and relief management during the time of disaster.Two educated volunteers, in the age group 20-25 years, were chosenfrom each village and they were trained in various skills in the areas of

disaster preparedness and mitigation.

Disaster management fund at the village level helped in the sustenance

of the community during the disaster situation. There was a focus on

environment building, with activities like tree plantation. The projectintroduced alternative cropping systems that were demonstrated and

replicated to help the community survive during the period of disaster.

"DMC is an innovative

initiative for community

response to disasters that

builds community ownershipthrough participatory needs

analysis to implementation."

Seedsfor alternative crops and a farmerwith an early crop, well before regularflooding period.


Key Learning

EFICOR, in partnership with

Tear Fund UK and DFID, has set

up three DRR projects: in Bihar,

Assam and Orissa. This was in

response to flood and drought;

the learning from Khammam

project was replicated and

the development concept is

now incorporated in new DRR

projects. DMC is an innovative

initiative for community

response to disasters and

there should be community

ownership from need

analysis to implementation.

Concept clarity is essential for

community mobilisation and to

make the project successful, as

this will lead to empowerment

of the community, shifting from

dependency to self-reliance.

The emergency fund (also called

DRR fund) came to the aid of

the community during the 2007

flood (in Bihar) by propping

up the purchasing power to

buy food during emergency.

For instance, the people of

GandhrainandBhadwarvillages

in Andhrathari block managed

to purchase food grain that

sustained them for about seven

days during the emergency.

It may be mentioned here that

relief assistance (both from

government and NGO sources)

generally reaches after a week

to the affected community.

Amidst the flood emergency

back-drop, DRRF has been

proved to be a cushion for the

flood victims.

Components of DRR were nestled into the community mobilisationprocess in DRR projects.

Involvingthelocalgovernment at every level of planningand implementationwas an important step towards sustainability of the process.

ChallengesThe project faced several roadblocks like lack of capacity at thegrassroots level, illiterate PRI members, political influence in

implementation, increasing impoverishment and lack of ownershipamong the PRI/government.

Best Practices

The concept of a task force was new but the community liked it since it

was systematic. The creation of an emergency fund helped the villagerssurvive the initial phase of the disaster. The project connected CBDP

with the development of the community through livelihood changes that

improved household food security by introducing early crop patternsthat were more suitable to the hazard situation. Farmers and women

groups have benefited from the government schemes and women are

actively participating in committees and groups. All these measureshelped in reducing the negative impact of floods that occurred in 2006

and there was a reduction in loss since the community was prepared,their livestock were protected, crops and yield were secured to an extent

and the active involvement of the task force helped in swift organisationand implementation of measures.


The contingency funds of EFICOR are used for emergency purpose likepurchasing food soon after the disaster.

EFFICOR studied the viability of the fund before floating it and found

that each family can contribute to it, with contributions being as low asRs 2/month. EFICOR has made a passbook for each family contributingto the fund.

Community-based Psycho-Social Support in DisasterMemoona Chaudry, Programme Officer, UNDP Pakistan

BackgroundThe psycho-social effects of a disaster can be far-reaching. Awell-thoughtthrough response that builds on the community coping strategies canbe very valuable. The psycho-social work of UNDP during the Pakistanearthquake in 2005 was an example of an effective practice.

SummaryThe social effect of the earthquake in Pakistan was enormous, as it shockedthe people, since no earthquake had taken place in the region in theirliving memory. The residents became insecure, vulnerable and helpless.The situation got exacerbated as the government did not know about theexact damage for the first two days and snowfall claimed the livesof manydue to the absence of any shelter.

Psychological effects of disaster grew as people were suffering fromanxiety since they did not know how to deal with the situation. Some

suffered from acute stress. The speaker shared the case of a woman whoon coming to know about the earthquake rushed to her children's schoolonly to find that her children were dead. She then rushed to her husband's

shop to share the news, but he too had died under collapsed construction.Thus, victims on coming to terms with reality suffer from post-traumaticstress disaster (PTSD), phobia - any aftershocks compel people to coverthemselves, and panic as they start over-reacting.

It is necessary to understand the situation while dealing with such victimsand this is an important aspect of disaster that often gets negated.

ChallengesThe main challenge is to deal with victims suffering from acute stress,as they stop sharing their feelings since they are in a state of denial.

Best Practices

It isnecessaryto use coping techniques like speakingto people and makingthem accept the reality and channelise their energy by involving them inactivities like building shelters, etc., that give them confidence and a senseof pride as they start feeling that they can help others and heal their ownwounds in this process.

Creating social network of such victims is important as common worries leadto friendship and victims start knowing each other and this helps in carryingout mock drills, role plays, etc., for imparting education on preparedness.

"Community workers need to

keep the HOPE alive amongthe victims."


Key Learning

Community workers need to

understand the situation of

the people, accept the reality

and make victims accept

the reality and to overcome

the challenges. They should

help the people overcome

depression and in any case

keep HOPE alive among the

victims so that they can help

themselves to cope with the

situation and life to come.


• On the query when and to whom should we offer psychological help,the speaker explained that we need to understand the situation

and the psychologist/therapist should only respond after analysingthe victim's frame of mind. This is individualistic and cannot always

be generalised.

• Often, we find that the situation affects trainers or people who go to

help others and this leads to low enthusiasm. However, professionalsshould draw a line and understand that we are there to help and

we need to be mature, as the victims are depending upon us. If our

confidence lowers or we ourselves fall victim to depression or anxiety,

who is going to take care of the actual sufferers? Being human, it is

difficult to keep your emotional part aside from whatever is happening

around you, but you have to think as a helper and the one who has to

take the victims out of such situations and bring them to normal life.Self-motivation is very important.

BackgroundHandicap International is working towards mainstreaming disabled peopleor persons with disabilities (PWDs) in DRR, as they are one of the mostvulnerable groups during disasters and have the right to access all benefitsand services of DRR.

SummaryHandicap International identified areas of integration like involving PWDsin awareness generation activities, early warning system, vulnerabilitycapacity analysis, shelter management and livelihoods.

The initiative laid down some basic steps like sensitising DRR stakeholderstowards this group, as most feel that these people cannot help and are

indifferent towards them. The stakeholders were provided with basicskills and knowledge to integrate this group in the process of DRR. Thesemeasures encouraged the participation of this group through counselling,

community meetings and regular rehabilitation support. A 'twin-track'

approach for mainstreaming the disabled was used where, on the one

hand, specialised services are given to the disabled and, on the other, theywere included in risk assessment, providing employment opportunities,access to WatSan, health and education, among others.

Inorder to achieve the objectives of the initiative, the project undertookdifferent activities through a co-implementation arrangementwith CARE-Andaman, Orissa State Disaster Management Authority(OSDMA), Welthungerhilfe (German Agro Action) and its local partners,Ramakrishna Mission-West Bengal and SAMBANDH-Orissa in theirongoing CBDRM projects.

Through these initiatives, the project has witnessed successful

participation of the disabled, especially women in Orissa. The first case

study is of a girl named Anima, who is 18 years old and could not walk till2006. She was provided with a pair of crutches and received guidanceto be a part of a local SHG and task force. Through her participation inDRR, she learnt to make life jackets and is now earning from the sameand this has made her independent and confident. The second casestudy was on Dulari, a 30-years-old non-literate woman with locomotordisability (complete paralysis of both lower limbs, unable to stand andwalk). Her active involvement has made her the elected president ofthe local self-help group (SHG) in Shivshankar. She is now a leadingvolunteer in her village, trained in first aid and is an active advocate of

"Given the opportunity,

PWDs can actively participate

and meaningfully contribute

towards DRR initiatives."

18-year-old Anima of Mohisamanvillage, was unable to walk till 2006.Now supported with pair of crutchesand guided to be part of SHG andtask force.

Participation in DRR: SHG members,part of the shelter management taskforce, prepare lifejackets.


Dulari Mondal participated

in DRR/Microfinance and

Livelihood:

• Leadingvolunteeratvillage

level.

• Trained on First Aid.

• Active advocate on

inclusion of PWDs in CBDP

at community level.

• Earning Rs 2,000 per month.

• Dulari Mondal, 30 Years.

• No formal education.

• Bamboo Tikri, Baratang.

• Locomotor disability

(complete paralysis of

both lower limbs, unable

to stand and walk).

• Active member of first aid

task force.

• President of SHG.

"Twin Track" approach for mainstreaming disability

Personal factor

pctvom

diutnlittes

PT/0T/

orthopaedicaipectt/iign

languagesupported...dinKf.prvicei' delivery to

disabled pmom

111Positive

interaction

Environmental factor

Integration of disability In DRR

to give PWDs access to mainstream services

(non-specialised services)

- Develop awareness among the communities

for positive attitude

• Access towards barrier free environment

- Inclusion in risk assessment process

• Employment opportunities- Uveilhoodl/IGA/credit opportunities

• Access to WATSAM. health • education

. Rights and social justice

the inclusion of disabled people in CBDP at the community level. This

has boosted her confidence and she now runs a paan shop and earnsaround Rs 2,000 a month.

Challenges faced during co-implementationThe major hurdle is the limited community awareness about challenges

and special needs of PWDs during disaster. The project saw resistance

from PWDs on participating in the project owing to low confidence,

low self-esteem along with a charity-based environment. There is a lack

of awareness amongst PWDs and their family members on the existingrehabilitation services; limited mobility/dependency and communication

barrier further decreases their participation and involvement of peoplewith severe and multiple disabilities is still an enormous challenge.

Recommendations

PWDs and their families needs to be sensitised about their rights, entitlements

and benefits at the local level for the sustainability of the initiative. The taskforce needs to be trained to include PWDs and their necessities in CBDRR.

Disability issues have to be incorporated in the village contingency plan.

Best Practices

OSDMA has now modified two multi-purpose cyclone shelters thatare accessible to PWDs as well as other vulnerable groups. Awareness

programmes have helped the disabled people to join in community-levelactivities and over 100 PWDs have been included in different task forces

formed by the co-implementing partners in Andaman & Nicobar Islands,

Orissa and West Bengal.

Nearly 648 PWDs were assessed through nine assessment camps and154 PWDs have been identified for providing assistance to enhance their


capacity for participating actively in DRR-related activities. This initiativehas witnessed an increased level of awareness on 'disability and disaster

preparedness' at the community level. The project has established ane-platform and website that contains resource materials on disabilityand DRR and can be used by others and serves as a sensitisation and an

informative tool for the trainers.


There was a suggestion to incorporate this group in the DM act. Disability

should be included as a cross-cutting issue in DRR and other developmental

programmes.

Key Learning

Given the opportunity, PWDs

can actively participate and

meaningfully contribute

towards DRR initiatives and

there should be a long-term

intervention to engage this

group and continuously

sensitise stakeholders towards

their needs and their inclusion

in DRRat all levels and phases.

Including them and their

family members right from

the planning phase will reduce

vulnerability of PWDs. Linkage

with CBOs/government bodies

for regular rehabilitation

services/benefits/concessions

for PWDs is required to

sustain the programme and,

most importantly, disability

needs to be considered as

a cross-cutting issue at the

organisational level.


"While training communities in Kashmir, we as facilitators found us to be illiterate as we couldn't read and write

Urdu. Use of visualisation cards helped us to overcome our illiteracy in Urdu. Similarly various other training aidswere used to communicate complex concepts and strategies with men and women. Important ground rules fortrainers while delivering CBDRR training to communities are:

1. Toencourage women's participation and participation of other disenfranchised groups2. To remain objective in understanding vulnerabilities

3. To help each other to learn and lead an inclusive learning process."

Grassroots Level Training in Jammu & KashmirMandar Vaidya, RedR India

BackgroundRedR India, in partnership with the Aga Khan Development Network

(AKDN), facilitated a capacity-building programme that included

delivering training courses using alternative media and methods withcommunities affected in the 2005 Kashmir earthquake. In this project,AKDN supported 17 villages in Uri block in Baramulla district, under

its earthquake relief programme. RedR designed and delivered various

training modules for community emergency response teams (CERT) invarious villages in Uri block.

SummaryIn most situations, community capacity building is restricted to imparting

skills of early warning, search and rescue, first aid and shelter management.RedR has designed a module which takes communities through areflective experience to raise consciousness about changing patternsof vulnerability and hazards along with basic skills of disaster response.At the end of the training, participants were able to express the processof disaster preparedness and articulate their concerns and strategies forreducing risks.

The objective of the training was to prepare communities that live inthis earthquake-prone region to face an emergency. The project teamagreed to shift from traditional CBDP to the CBDRR approach. The

community was taken through a reflective process to raise consciousnessabout changing patterns of vulnerability and hazards. Discussion about

the importance of being organised to respond effectively to disastersand preparedness requirements led to the recognition of the needfor forming community-based organisations. Training also embarkedsuccessfully on building gender consciousness, which can lead totargeted vulnerability reduction.

Training methods kept in mind the prevailing illiteracy of the communityand visual cards were used to communicate the purpose of the trainingand to engage the people. Flannel boards emerged as an effectivemedium of communicating complex concepts in a simple manner. Also,the use of learning games helped in clear understanding of the relevanceof preparedness, mitigation and prevention. Other learning gameshelped in understanding the need of contingency planning, creatingeffective coordination and encouraging the group to work-out their ownaction plan.

"The use of alternative media

along with participatory

methodologies helped

communities to understand

their own vulnerabilities and

capacities."

88 CBDRR Conference. Kolkata, India, November 2008

PRA tools were another effective medium/tool to

disseminate information/ideas on vulnerabilities and

capacities of the village. This exercise witnessed active

participation of women in preparation of vulnerability

maps and resources available to reduce vulnerability.

Interestingly, women freely discussed their vulnerabilityand their perspective on it in forums that had an equal

number of men.

Public health risks were specifically discussed with

the help of the 'F' chart, using photo language to givea visual appeal and ensure higher recall value among

the participants.

ChallengesThe major challenge was to use participatory methodsto elaborate on the CBDRR concepts that went beyond

regular discussions, role-plays and lectures. It was

challenging to engage the participants during the

training and women's involvement was low due to the

prevailing social norms, although the use of alternative

media helped to overcome this challenge.

Key LearningAppropriate forms of communication can be utilised

effectively to communicate complex concepts. Removal

of customary laptops and LCD projectors free-up themental and physical space, paving the way for creative

involvement of participants and trainers.

Best Practices

The use of alternative communication in the training

stimulated consultation and discussion amongst

participants to tackle their own vulnerabilities and

eventually reduce risks.

Game to form and deploy adequate strategies to address vulnerabilityand optimal utilisation of capacities.

BackgroundThecommunity that the Community Development Centre worked with wasvery vulnerable and this was the first time that some important tasks likecoping study on an insurance policy for fishermen, scoping study on smallboat registration policy, model logbook and piloting for non-mechanisedboats, etc., were being implemented in the community. This was alsothe first time that such government policies were being implemented inthe community. The CBDRR project required a number of methods to beimplemented in the cyclone-prone area.

SummaryAsustained process of awareness building about the hazards, particularlycyclones and floods, was achieved through the project. It also helpedto unlock people's initiatives and build on their coping mechanisms.Participatory methodologies were used, which included song and dancesequences to communicate and empower people with the knowledgeabout the emerging and cyclic threats and the fact that it is possible tosurvive and cope. Specific activities like early warning disseminationand key ideas like survival through preparation were reinforced through

repeated practice.

In response to a cyclone warning, the villagers learnt to disconnectthe water pump to ensure that it did not get damaged and sealed thepipes to ensure that no salt water entered the fresh water well. Some ofthe other practices that have been mainstreamed into the community

life were:

• Afterearlywarning, suppliesareputtogethercontainingfood, matches,spare drinking water and this is put in a large pot and buried in theground for protection.

• The pillars supporting the houses are reinforced and tied.• The population then evacuates to the cyclone shelters, ensuring that

they take with them the vulnerable like the elderly and disabled, asalso their livestock.

Innovative activities and projects implemented in the communityincluded a pilot development with "model logbook and piloting" for non-mechanised boats. Normally, any non mechanised boat does not need tobe registered when going out to sea. After introduction of the project, alog of the outgoing boats was maintained by the fisher folk organisation.This information can be used to understand locations during the onset

of a disaster.

"A sustained process ofawareness building about the

hazards, particularly cyclones

and floods, was achieved

through the project."

*

:;•*

>

•antr^y-

* 1

3**


Lessons Learnt

• Visual materials are

more understandable in a

community.

• Participatory video and

audio documentaryare important tools for

community awareness.

• Introducing the log book

system enabled to track

fishing boats.• Participatory vulnerability

assessment (PVA) helps

participants in analysing

disaster related issues and

in effective development ofplans within a short period.

Some of the other activities were first aid training and provision of first aidequipment, safety kits for fishermen, water rescue training and scopingstudies in insurance and registration policies.

Recommendations

• Holistic planning should be undertaken for the community.• Emphasis should be given on the involvement of youth in project

activities.


• The log book helps to know how many people had gone out and who ismissing, and therefore the fishermen saw good reasons to do this andadopted this as a good practice.

BackgroundCBDRR strategies, adopted by different organisations working specifically

on the issue of CBDRR or DRM, are mostly aiming at preparing thecommunity for saving their lives from the immediate devastation causedby natural calamities. This is definitely of utmost importance, but it

should be clubbed with sustainable intervention strategies to combat the

post-disaster crisis - when relief has been withdrawn, the media focus

has shifted, the land is still not ready for doing any kind of agriculture andhunger looms large.

SummaryFor past few years, DRCSC has started initiatives in the agro-ecologically

vulnerable areas of West Bengal that build people's resilience. The

initiatives involve food forests and grain banks. With climate changehaving a more pressing role to play, food security of the communities is

being increasingly put to test. This particularly affects the more vulnerablecommunities during drought, cyclone, floods or strong storms. These

initiatives were taken as a measure of preparedness to address the acutescarcity of food and thereby malnutrition faced by the community during

and after the disaster.

Food Forest

Problems & Possibilities

1 The affected families live in a helpless state during and after natural

calamities. At this time, there is an acute scarcity of food and the

families suffer from malnutrition.

2 There exists a wide variety of indigenous trees that supply food and

fruit, which are rich in nutrition value but fetch a very low or have no

price when taken to the market.

3 They have high tolerance value and can withstand natural calamities.

4 These trees have an important role to serve in the bio-variety web.

Many of these are on the way to extinction or are already lost.

5 Collection from the wild has been one of the main sources of food

(tuber, root, different types of weeds, juice, etc.) for the rural poor.

With the degeneration of forest and other ecosystems, this source hasgradually withered away, resulting in acute malnutrition and scarcity of

food for poor families.6 In villages, especially in the semi-arid zone, large tracts of land remain

fallow. In the absence of any vegetation, soil erosion takes place.

"People's effort for protecting

and nurturing crops was

rewarded through the equal

sharing of the fruit and other

producesamongthemembers,

especially during and after

natural calamities when no

other food is available."


Intervention

The idea of creating food forests had the following

objectives:

• to make provision for food (fruit and vegetables,

including leaves, roots and tubers) for survivalduring the interim period before the external aid

system is able to respond and also in the post-disaster situation;

• to conserve bio-variety by reintroducing extinctspecies and varieties that were indigenous to thearea - those that were previously cut down to

make way for agriculture and firewood;• to cultivate the fallows that were being wasted and

to save them from soil erosion;

• to create a source that can act as a substitute for the

poor person's food they used to collect from the wild,access to which has gradually deteriorated; and

• to unleash a scope of supplementary income formembers of the group during the time when there

is no disaster.

The species and varieties selected for introduction were

plants with high nutrient as well as tolerance value. Thestrength of these species and varieties is literally their

strength to withstand extreme conditions of weather. Thefruit and vegetables have the capacity to withstand thevagaries of nature and have more shelf lifethan traditional

crops and fruit trees, and have longer fruiting time.

The intervention involved using participatory

rural appraisal (PRA) for selection and formingof beneficiaries and groups. The PRA was also used

for using group knowledge for making a list of

trees that could withstand stress and of strategic

crops collected from the wild like edible weeds,

roots, tubers etc. Land was given to groups by

the panchayat on lease for at least 25 years togrow these high tolerance and strategic crops on

common land.

The group's efforts for protecting and nurturing thecrops were rewarded through the equal sharingof fruit and other produces among the members,

especially during and after natural calamities when

no other food is available. The surplus was sold in the

market. Agri-wastes produced were equally shared

among the members to be used as fuel and fodder.

Impact• Supply of food increased during and after natural

calamities.

• Nutritional need of the farm families could be met.

• Scope for a supplementary family income could

be opened up.

• Local bio-variety could be conserved and

increased.

• A group asset was created.

nm

Farmer groups were motivated toplant extinct ornear-extinct species of trees with high tolerance value and strategic crops oncommon land givenby the panchayat to the group onlease forat least 25 years. Many indigenous trees having high tolerance value produce nutritious foodandfruitthat have low or no commercial value. Many of these ore getting extinct or are already lost.


Challenges• There were no quick returns in the growth of these crops and trees and

therefore the use of inter crops to reward the groups with immediate

gains was introduced.

• In the semi-arid zone, initially the people were sceptic about thepossibility of growing anything on the barren fallows.

• Most of the group members were landless labourers or marginal

farmers, which made it imperative for them to work in others' fields to

earn their living. It was, therefore, quite difficult for them to find time

to work for cultivation and maintenance of the food forest. Initially, asmall section dropped out from the group due to this problem.

• The original owner who had lost all interest in the land and had

discarded it as useless, returned to ask for a share in the mid-term crop

and fruit. A tripartite meeting, involving the members of the group, theowner and the panchayat, had to be arranged to settle the dispute.

Key Lessons• Involvement of the panchayat throughout the entire activity was

one of the most important factors, especially in case of resolutionof disputes, etc.

• Group integrity, especially during the formative months, is another keyto success.

Grain Bank

Problems

In most of the villages, there is no agricultural work during September-October and April-May. Naturally, hunger looms large over poor families,who earn their bread by working as agricultural labour. The livingconditionsget even worse in the event of natural calamities like floods, drought or

cyclonic storms. With only the walls at their backs, they are compelledto take loans from local moneylenders at abnormally high interests bymortgaging their assets and labour. In many cases, they have to migrate toneighbouring districts in search of work.

Intervention

Introducing grain banks in the disaster-prone areas had the followingpurposes:

• To make provision for food at the time of disaster and afterwards,To reduce indebtedness to local moneylenders;

• To reduce migration during periods of crisis; and

• To unleash a scope for supplementary income.

Under the initiative, adult male and female members from 20-25

households are organised to form a group and motivated to set up grainbanks in the village as an intervening measure. The bank is set up withinthe homestead of any member at an elevated place where usually flood

Key Lessons Learnt

• Mutual understanding

among the members and

integrity of the group is

the key factor in making

grain banks successful.

• Homogeneity of economic

status is also very

important.

These initiativeswere basically

aimed at addressing food

insecurity, which assumes

alarming proportions during

and after natural calamities. It

would be their earnest effort

to integrate the DRR and DRM

strategies that they learnt

from this conference with

these initiatives to launch a

comprehensive disaster risk

reduction programme.


Grain Bank set up within the homestead ofone of the members at an elevated place whereflood waters cannot reach. DRCSC supports constructionofstone or concrete base to ovoid rodent and pest attacks.

waters cannot reach. Grain is stored in large bins made

with straw rope, bamboo, etc., which are constructed

by members. DRCSC supports the construction of a

stone or concrete platform as base to avoid rodent

and pest attacks. The group members make rules withadvice from centre staff. Members keep record of

lending, repayment, etc.

The rules of the bank are usually as follows:

• Each member deposits 50 kg rice after harvest.

• DRCSC deposits a matching grant of 50 kg

per person.

• During the lean period or at the time of natural

calamities, the members take a loan from the bank

without mortgaging any asset or labour.

In the next season, after harvest, the members return

the loan in terms of grain, at an amount of interest

much less than that charged by the moneylenders

(10-12 per cent as against 60-100 per cent).The interest actually increases the stock of the bank.

Grain from the bank is also used for doing small

seasonal business, like making rice, flattened orpuffed rice, etc. In such cases, the rate of interest is

usually double the rate applicable for distress loans.

The rate in these cases is actually decided upon by

the group concerned.

Impact• Indebtedness has reduced significantly.• In the last 10 years, 160 such grain banks have

been created, with 2,400 households as members.Most of the banks have enough grain reserves tolast for 60 days. (More grain banks have started inneighbouring areas without any financial supportfrom us).

• Both male and female members of the

households take part in managing the grain storeand sanctioning loans, etc., and their capacity tomake decisions and resolve conflicts as a grouphas improved.

• New self-employment opportunities have alsobeen created.

• As the old grain banks start paying back the initialloan from DRCSC, new grain stores have started inneighbouring villages, through area-level revolvingmechanisms.

• Local organisations have started accepting it as aneffective disaster mitigation strategy.

Challenges• At the time this idea was taken up for

implementation, there were quite a few instancesof failed grain banks in the area. A local-level

survey revealed that the members - at the time of

returning the loan - mixed stones and bricks in the

sacks containing rice. This gradually reduced theirstock and it ultimately failed.

• This was basically an initiativeof women groups. Atthe time of the first deposit, some of the husbandsresisted their wives from making the initial depositof 50 kg grain.


• The speaker explained some of keychallenges, e.g.in semi-arid areas where the idea of food forests

was launched, people didn't believe that thefallows could be cultivated.

• Another challenge was introducing foods that theirancestors used to take but had gone out of cultural

practice in this generation. People of the semi-

arid zone were habituated to growing and havingmillets, vegetables like tapioca (cassava) and fruitlike kend, norh, aanshfal, gab, etc. Introduction ofrice in 1960s diverted their taste from millets.


Roots and tubers like cassava, elephant yam,colocasia that grow easily in this region have beendumped as the poor person's food and are usuallynot grown. The fruit mentioned above do not sell

in the market, so the trees have been cut.

The introduction of grain banks did not face manydifficulties. In some respect, this was because

people had their backs to the wall and so theyhad to act.

CBDRR Project in Flood-Prone AreasJahangir Alam, Project Coordinator, Dhaka Ahsania Mission, Bangladesh

BackgroundBangladesh is one of the most populated countries in the world, with 144million people. People's exposure to hazards is very high, and resources todeal with the existing and emerging risk are inadequate. The Dhaka Ahsaniamission works in a highly vulnerable area of Bangladesh that witnesses nearlysix large-scale disasters per year.

SummaryThe concept of the CBDRR project was to take the good practices and innovationsof the last project and replicate the process and multiply its impact. Therefore,the focus was on capacity-building and partnership development.

The strategy was to improve access to services and ultimately improve livingconditions. This had a four-pronged approach with the focus being on policy

advocacy, institutional capacity building, service delivery and community

capacity building.

The various types of activities that this strategy was required to focus on were:• Sector 1: Disaster preparedness

• Sector 2: Advocacy and public awareness

• Sector 3: Mitigation works

• Sector 4: Mapping and data computerisation

• Sector 5: Education

• Sector 6: Early warning systems

• Sector 7: Research and dissemination

• Sector 8: Facilitation of coordination

• Sector 9: Institutional strengthening

• Sector 10: Local capacity building/training

The coordination requirements were both vertical and horizontal, which required

work with the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management down to working with

parent NGOs, schools, and village development committees. The outcome of the

CBDRR process is to ensure sustainable risk reduction. This means sustainabledevelopment that meets the needs of the present without compromising the

ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

This project was a DG ECHO-funded project that is reaching 24,000

beneficiaries. This new approach has linked people and the government with

DRR planning in order to mitigate the damage. The creation of coordination

and communication mechanisms improved the exchange of lessons learnt

between different communities. Under the community-based approach

"This means sustainable

development that meets the

needs of the present without

compromising the ability offuture generations to meet

their own needs."


Communitycapacity building

Policy advocacy

JIncreased access

to services

4Service delivery

Institutional

capacity building

CBDRR programme implementation strategyto achieve improved living conditions

to disaster preparedness (CBADP), the training ofschool-going children on dealing with earthquakeshas added to the sustainability of the project. Thistraining was imparted through the use of rallies,competitions debates, etc. During these activities

with children, opportunities were constantly exploredto link these messages with ideas for preparation of

the wider community. This has helped to addressthe preparedness needs of the community on asustainable basis.

"This approach may be replicated by others aspreparing people for natural disasters, is not an optionbut a right of the people at risk."

Outcome of the CBDRR process

"Sustainable development that meets the need ofthe present without compromising the abilityof future generations to meet their own needs"

Social

Sustainable

Economic

Viable

SummaryFOCUS has special experience with setting up early warning system (EWS)at Nagayalanka Mandal of Andhra Pradesh against floods, cyclones and

tsunami. Community-based disaster risk reduction means involving all

stakeholders to initiate coordinated action.

EWS is not just about giving a warning, but giving the right warning. If theright warning is not given, then the disaster impact can be greater. People

and agencies should be able to take action based on the message. Hence,the message has to be actionable.

FOCUS Humanitarian Assistance/Aga Khan Foundation were workingin a high-risk area exposed to multiple hazards. The hazards were alsodifferent depending on the time of year, with the cyclone season being

in May, June, September, October and November, and flooding being inJuly and August.

The system required improvement in the delivery of messages fromthe Indian Metrological Department (IMD), Delhi, or IMD, Chennai, tothe village community. The communication bottleneck was found to be

between the mandal office and the village community.

WorkArea: Nagayalanka BlockofAndhra Pradesh, India. Thisis the delta ofKrishnaand Godavaririvers. It is the site of cyclone landfalls on the east cost of Indiafacing the Bay of Bengal.

"It's not just about giving

a warning, but giving the

actionableright warning:

message."


Some of the limitations found in the existingsystem were:

• No direct communication between the village andthe district;

• Dissemination of message from mandal revenue

officer (MRO) onwards mostly manual; messengercarried;

• This makes it time consuming, tiring and

challenging;

• Limitation in making message reach the community

in the crisis period;

• No scope for communication from village to MRO;• Very little time is left for preparation given the fact

that much time is wasted in organising the procedural

matters relating to message delivery; and• No broadcast facility between the mandal and

village level.

Thus, a strategy to solve this communication problemwas devised. Firstly, communication software called

INSTAXX was accessed. This software is able to

communicate between state headquarters and the

village community. It works by sending out SMS andemail. The second system developed was the use of a

repeater and VHF transmitter. This enhanced responsesin the mandal office and distributes the messageto the villages. This message is then transmitted inthe form of VHF and/or public address systems. Thismultiple approach reduces redundancy and improvesthe chances of message reaching the beneficiaries inthe fastest possible time.

Best Practices

• The capacity-building of mandal/block-level

government offices by providing hardware andsofter skills for communication can improve thedelivery of early warning messages.

• Use of backup systems based on different

technologies reduces the risk of failures of earlywarning system.

C I h,.l!rWl:M^: LY WARNING SYSTEM -APR2D

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INDEX

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(Chief Secretary and Relief Commissioner)

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Proposed Project Villages : Nagayalanka IVIandal. Krishna District

• Different parts of the communication system canbe put to other uses like use of SMS system tocommunicate with fishermen that have gone tothe sea. Similarly, it can be used to spread publicinterest messages.


• On the issue of VHF radio limitations, such as

power supply, the speaker clarified that there are

a number of field conditions and it can be said

that this is not 100 per cent effective, but 48-hour

backup batteries have been installed, which is a

mechanism that has been tried.

Kammana Molt

Revenue Villas

GangapsshwanmRevenue Village

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Embankment Situation

and Vulnerability in the

Sunderbans.

Stable

Vulnerable

Breached

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Embankment Situation and Vulnerability in the SunderbansJoachim Schmerbeck, Welthungerhilfe, India, Professor Hazra and his team

from School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadhavpur University, Kolkata

Background• The Sundarbans isa region of high natural dynamics and a high biodiversity.

It is susceptible to increasing hazards affecting people's life and livelihoods.The level of preparedness regarding the embankment in the Sunderbans,

• as compared to the actual situation and in view of the predicted scenarios

under climate change, is relatively low. Welthungerhilfe, together• with Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Narendrapur, and the School of^ Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University, conducted an assessment

of the embankments and its impact on the vulnerabilities of people in• the Sundarbans in a case study in Kadwip.

• Summarym The presentation was about the Sundarban region, the largest

single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world, which• is spread across Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. The Sundarbans

is only 10,000 years old and has a high diversity of flora and fauna.

"This diversity is not endangered by disasters like floods and cyclones;• it is in fact a product of these."

Currently, there are 4.3 million people living in the Sundarbans. There hasm been a steady constant transformation of forest into agricultural land. Due

to the low lying area, there have been construction and establishments

• on 3,520 km of embankments. These fragile embankments and raisedriverbeds have led to erosion. Since 1980, 0.4 million people havebeen affected. This is set to continue and accelerate with the impact of

*> enhanced climate change and rising sea level.

• Welthungerhilfe, together with Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama,

Narendrapur, and the School of Oceanographic Studies of JadavpurUniversity, Kolkata, did a community vulnerability assessment in

• Lakshmipur Mouza, Kadwip Block, Sundarbans. The aim was to assess

the role of coastal erosion and embankments in the life and livelihood

of local people and to suggest options for vulnerability reduction.•j The methodology included assessment of the embankment, community-

level assessment and assimilation of results and knowledge for• vulnerability reduction.

The results showed that three-fourths of the land of Lakshmipur Mouza• has disappeared in the sea between 1925 and 2008. The embankments

were graded into three categories, stable, vulnerable and breached. Over

• halfof the 3,520 embankments are vulnerablewhile a fifth are breached.

"Empirical studies and

sophisticated tools can

help minimise losses of

the Sundarbans people."


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1 10 CBDRR Conference, Kolkata, India, November 2008

Mr. Jibok Chatterjee, Emergency Officer, UNICEF India

facilitated the session on "Urban CBDRR". He explainedthe need for urban CBDRR to reduce risks among the

urban population who are vulnerable to the disasters.

Cities have half the global population and are centres

of economic growth and social development. Being

concentrated, cities have an advantage of minimizing

infrastructure cost of basic services like water,

sanitation, health care, education and waste disposal.Similarly during disasters, disruption of one service can

affect large population. Cities, especially in third world

§S

Number of Household

living along River Bank

KALI BARU/ PSR MINGGU

3.156 KK

"SBffW

countries are also the centres of poverty, inequality,

environmental and health problems. Citizens lackingeconomic assets, political power and social resources

are invariably exposed to urban poor water supply,poor sanitation, polluted air, poor waste management

and other localised environmental problems and are

most vulnerable to disasters. This requires a specialdimension of DRR activities to help the marginalised

sections and the middle-income groups living in cities,which are exposed to the disasters and suffer a great

deal due to its occurrences.

KALI SUNTER

3.974 KK

KALI CIPNANG

6.699 KKKALI BARU TIMUR

1.476 KK

High growth ofsettlement in Greater Jakarta has caused gradual 'reclamation' of drainage infrastructure.

BackgroundPROMISE has been working on building capacity through flood early warningsystem (FEWS) among the urban population in Jakarta, Indonesia.

SummaryJakarta, like any other city in the developing nations, witnesses highgrowth rate of urbanisation and slum and squatter settlements havebeen legalised. A Jakarta risk profile proves that floods have the mostdisastrous effect on the city as seen from the impact of repeated floodsfrom 2002-2007. Floods in 2007 led to a total loss of US$900 million. Many

experts believe that due to the current housing system, the velocity offloods increases dramatically in a very short time. The primary problem isthat 40 per cent of the total area is low land area. Coupled with this, theattitude of people of using the river as a dumping ground has worsenedthe situation. Urbanisation is causing gradual reclamation of naturaldrainage infrastructure and improper use of solid waste further leadsto a reduction in the efficiency and functionality of the drainage system.Existence of dual authority, i.e., the big river is under the Ministry ofWater while the smaller ones are under the provincial government, has

created its own problems due to the absence of coordination among the

two authorities.

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"It is essential to bridge the

gap between the government

and people by encouraging

them to work together.

This will stimulate better

coordination and clear

misunderstandings."

.*. <--


Key Learning

Since there is no land

available and one can't goanywhere else, people willhave to live with floods and

prepare themselves to reduce

its impact on their lives.

.

A major gap remains as

citizens have limited trust

in the government despitevarious measures undertaken

by it. The public feels that

this is government's annual

earning and that they do not

care about the people.

The flood risk management (FRM) programme of the government hasfive components. Prevention methods look at structural measures,reforestation, watershed management and land use and buildingcontrol. The mitigation approaches are conserving flood plains,special management and building regulation allowing for flood-proofconstructions. Preparedness activities include public awareness, EWS andflood mapping. Response plan includes solidwaste management, warningsystem, evacuation and health services and rescue while the recoveryplan involves rehabilitation of infrastructure, damage compensation, etc.But a major gap remains, as citizens have limited trust in the governmentdespite various measures undertaken by it.

PROMISE has helped the government to improve the FEWS throughCBDRR. The project began by conducting training of trainers (TOT) for thegovernment and community, and 20 members from each were selected

and their meeting helped to bridge the gap. Scientific approach was usedto generate detailed risk maps, which helped to identify most vulnerablegroups and plausible effects of floods on them. Activities like town watchingand urban planning along with capacity-building became popular idiomsof the project. Community was involved in drafting risk maps, designingschool action plan to protect children and generating awareness on whatthe students could do during floods.

PROMISE helped in the improvement of FEWS by including the communityand the national agency. This was mainly done as the target group, i.e.120,000 households belonging to the low middle class income families,were vulnerable as they were not allowed to re-settle in other areas.

ChallengesThe urban population has a complex mindset that is difficult to change.Another obstacle was to make them believe that DRR could reduce risk

of the neighbourhood.

Recommendation

It is essential to bridge the gap between the government and the people byencouraging them to work together. This will stimulate better coordination

and clear misunderstandings. There is a need to implement both structuraland non-structural measures of CBDRR for urban community, includingchanging the behaviour of the people.

Best Practices

Working with the government helped in the improvement of the FEWSwhile community participation helped in its successful implementation.The project to an extent reduced the mistrust of the community towardsthe government through joint meetings and activities.

BackgroundThis project is being implemented by SEEDS India and is financiallysupported by DIPECHO. The project recognises schools as institutions that

can sustain CBDRR activities in the community.

SummaryTo conduct CBDRR, families and individuals need to be educated on

disasters since they are the first responders. The project aims to promoterisk education as an ideal way to empower the community.

"The programme looks at institutionalising CBDRR and its process through

schools. Schools command strong respect and affinity amongst the

community, which creates a fertile ground to mainstream risk educationusing community resources. Hence, the community is expected to continue

to support the project benefits beyond the project period. Currently, the

programme is being implemented in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India.

The operational framework has a down-top (from school to the state)approach in which the model of the DM Act is linked with the School DM

Act. The activities include training of trainers, evolving community DMplans, capacity building for state-wide school safety initiative, etc., which

has contributed in the development of Himachal Pradesh State Disaster

Management Planning Strategy.

Through the schools, different groups in society like parents, masons,

government and neighbourhood receive information on disasters.

To conduct trainings, several types of tools are used, like awareness

generation through information, models and community plans.

The school checklist help each student to share his views on the needs

for improvement in his school premises and the school committeethen reads these views and brings about desired changes to reduce

risks. At the family-level, a 'family hazard hunt form' is provided in

which they have to identify and rectify problems highlighted by afamily in its own home and the neighbourhood. The school DM plan

is integrated with model/block DM plans and its sustainability is seenthrough the formation of 'safety clubs' that use cultural mediums to

disseminate information on ways to reduce risks and action to be taken

during disasters.

ChallengesThe major challenge is to institutionalise the process for sustainability.Disaster preparedness requires an integrated approach.

"Through the schools,

different groups in society like

parents, masons, government

and neighbourhood receive

information on disasters."

Key Learning

Providing risk education

is important to empower

community and schools

provide an institutional

framework to initiate and

institutionalise the process

of CBDRR.


Recommendation

CBDM needs to be institutionalised within

the community for its sustainability beyond theproject period.

Best Practices

Schools have provided a platform for interactionwith other groups in the community, who needto understand the relevance of CBDP and CBDRR,

and contribute to reduce the impact of disasters.The project has trained people like masons onbuilding disaster-resistant structures, empoweringfamilies through the 'family hazard hunt' forms andthe neighbourhood gained information throughclubs that organises cultural programmes to spreadinformation in an interesting manner. The schooldisaster management plans are further linked with

community disaster management plans, considering

the fact that during emergencies schools act as safehavens and the school staff is primarily responsibleto execute relief and undertake distribution as well.

Folktheatre organised by the safety club.

Further, for most of the times, community usesschools as their safe shelter and hence evacuation

plans should be interlinked with the school

plans for better management and preparednessduring disasters.


• There is no strategy for school drop-outs. SEEDSis only working with school-going children atthis stage.

• Sustainability is a challenge - SEEDS intervenes inthe community through schools.

• SEEDS has involved the government in the trainingprocess and at the state-level. This project canonly be sustained if the government builds it intotheir system.

• Block-level only looks into the developmentaspect. Primarily, the tehsil is the revenue unit,which responds during the disasters. Under the

project, tehsil-level response plan and block-leveldevelopment plans have been integrated.

BackgroundThe Urban Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction Project, Guwahati, is a

collaborative project of Government of India and the UNDP, and is a projectunder urban CBDP. The project implementation was difficult and it took time

for the people to be sensitised that they could take steps for preparation and

mitigation, as it was a complete shift from the earlier approach. Moreover,

the last major earthquake in this part of the country was in 1950 and

therefore most of the present generation has never faced a major disaster.

SummaryGuwahati is a multi-hazard prone city that is located in earthquake seismic

zone V. It also suffers from landslides and artificial flood and water loggingin low-lying area is a common occurrence.

The goal of the project was to ensure sustainable reduction of risks in most

earthquake-prone urban areas. The trigger factors to start this project were

several large-scale disasters that occurred in Bhuj, rapid urbanisation thatincluded vulnerable building stock and seismicity profile of the cities.

The premises of the project are that the government is primarily responsible

for managing disasters and sustainable disaster management principles

and practice should recognise community capabilities.

The approach was to develop a district and 60-ward plans Initially,

Planning posed to be a difficulty, since the urban community lacked thecohesion and did not really feel the need to plan for something that might

not happen during their lifetime. Immediate need took precedence and

therefore various strategies were tried to get the project moving.

Finally, the district administration signed an MoU with different NGOs

working in different wards and gave them the responsibility of getting the

community involved to make the ward preparedness and response plans.

Now, all 60 wards have their own preparedness plans along with the task

forces, who are being trained in the skills of search and rescue and first aid.

At the district level, a district disaster management and response plan,

encompassing the hazard risk and vulnerability profile and the inventoryof critical resources is available.

The community was engaged in the process of preparation and participatory

approaches, like conducting mapping exercise, forming trained task forces

"The government has revised

bye-laws in Guwahati city to

promote the construction

of earthquake-resistant

buildings."

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were used. Civil defence volunteers were involved

and mock drills conducted to test the efficiency of theplan. The community was sensitised through meetingsand were shown videos on disasters, IEC materials to

generate awareness. Street plays, folk dance (Bihu),

radio jingles and discussions prompted the communityto participate in the project and understand the harsh

consequences of disasters in their own lives.

The project provided community-based training formasons to build earthquake-resistant structures and

around 377 masons have been trained from June-

October 2008. Around 213 engineers and architectsreceived training on earthquake-resistant technologyand 35 engineers obtained training on rapid visual

screening. Around 913 teachers have been trained

on DM, as a result of which 139 schools' DM plans

have been prepared. CB training is also provided totask forces, the police and students of some schoolsthat have completed their school plans on first aid

and search and rescue. Hospitals are a vital part ofthis training programme and doctors are trainedon hospital preparedness and emergency health

management. Thus, the training programme in thisproject includes all relevant sections of society, like

professionals, business houses, youth, governmentand hospitals.

The government has revised building bye-lawsin Guwahati city to promote the construction ofearthquake-resistant buildings.

ChallengesUrban community involvement is only on a small

scale and there is a lack of proactive support from allstakeholders.

Best Practices

Partnerships have been forged with different agencieslike the government, NGOs, CBOs and the corporatesector, etc. For providing technical training (to

engineers and masons), the project has collaborated

with the Guwahati Indian Institute of Technology (NT)and Assam Engineering Institute. The civil defence

volunteers of each ward are members of the task

forces (search and rescue, and first aid).

Architects and engineers demonstrate a safe building method during a workshop.

BackgroundBuilding disaster resilient communities by creating a culture of safety inschools in Gujarat was undertaken by FOCUS Humanitarian Assistance, an

affiliate of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).

SummaryVarious studies on disasters highlight that the number of schoolchildren

affected are estimated to be in millions. This is the reason that a lot needs

to be done to make schools safer since they are very vulnerable and the

'agents of change' are located here.

The project was initiated in Gujarat, a multi-hazard prone state. Theinitial risk assessment concluded that out of the 265 schools assessed, 25

were the most vulnerable and at risk. An in-depth baseline study of theseschools identified and established a profile of the local risks, hazards,

capacities and coping mechanisms. A multi-hazard risk model, scientificand mathematical in nature, was developed to carry out risk assessmentthat included both natural and man-made hazards. The model helped

in highlighting quantifiable indicators of risks in the schools. Theseindicators were shared with the schools for them to initiate necessary

corrective action.

Institutional mechanism led to synergy and coordination, as the stateeducation ministry was in tandem with the government priorities. Theintentions behind this were to mainstream DRR curriculum in schools

and provide the multi-hazard risk model to the DRR practitioners forwider application.

As a first step, disaster management plans were developed and drafted bychildren and teachers with the contingency plan in case of emergencies

by using participatory methods. After its due validation by the school

authorities, the plans were formally handed over in the school assembly.

An intensive capacity-building programme was targeted at both childrenand teacher, which included trainings on formation of school emergencymanagement committee, task forces formation, etc. Task forces were

trained in early warning, search and rescue, first aid, fire fighting andconducting mock drills and stockpile management. For awareness building

of the wider community, mass media proved to be an indispensablemedium to disseminate information on disasters. Print messages with the

Dos and Don'ts were disseminated through local newspapers to enhancedisaster awareness in the surrounding communities. Radio spots with

"A lot needs to be done to

make schools safer since they

are very vulnerable. Further,

this provides easy access to

the wider society through

the students - the agents

of change".


celebrity endorsement were broadcast through All

India Radio to address the community at large.

ChallengesSchool safety is not seen as a priority and Gujarat is ahigh-risk area.


Private schools might resist safety measures due to

high investment. However, once the project started,NGO got their full support and till now FOCUS has onlyworked with private schools.

Hazard Indicators

Natural hazards

Seismic zone

Distance from active faultEarthquake

Litholo

Shallow sub surface

Intensity zone

Flood Local gradient

FLi

CycloneIntensity zone

Distance from coast

Human made hazards

Fire history

Existence of fire triggers

Existence of fire enhancers

Intensity zone

History

Exposed reinforcement

Bending/sagging

Structural cracks

Civil unrest

Buildingdistress

Themulti-hazard risk model was used to ascertain the level of risk to various schools. Theprogramme was targeted at schools that hadhigh risk scores.

CBDRR Conference, Kolkata, India, November 2008 1 I 9

Withtheir knowledge power the Childrenfrom the CBDRR programme villages impressed the visitors. Recognition ofinformation and knowledge needsof men, women and children followed by adequate response is central thought in CBDRR process that helps people gain controlover theirsituation.


Risk of being affected by natural disaster(per 100,000 people)

Developing countries

High-income OECD

50 people per 100,000

a

1980-84

Source: HDRO calculations based on OFDA and CRED 2007.

2000-04

1

11

1 1

•5d

Ohiinge

[.^^^TS^Jfx.^ T*V


Preeti Soni, Head, Energy and Environment Unit, UNDP

India and S.N. Srinivas, Programme Officer, Energy and

Climate Change, UNDP New Delhi co-facilitated the

Session on "Climate Change".

Developing countries are more vulnerable with severe

impacts and high dependency on their agriculture

and allied sectors. It is a threat to all, but the poor are

most vulnerable. This has increased significantly in

the last 20 years. It is said 1 in 19 people are affected

in developing countries as opposed to 1 in 1,500 in

member-countries of the Organisation of Economic

Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The impact of climate change on people can be seen in

a numberof ways. Reduction in agricultural production,heightened water insecurity, increased exposure to

extreme weather and rising sea levels. Impacts onecosystems with some species becoming extinct and

increased health risks with a greater incidence of

vector borne diseases are some of the serious issues

emerging out of the impending climate change.

Expansion of TshoRolpa Lake, Nepal as seen in a satellite observation.

Glaciers and GLOFs in Hindu Kush

Himalayas Region• Bhutan: 677 glaciers 2,674 lakes - 24 dangerous

• Nepal: 3,252 glaciers 2,323 lakes - 26 dangerous

• India: 2,554 glaciers 156 lakes - 16 dangerous

• Pakistan: 5,218 glaciers 2,420 lakes - 52dangerous

Past Events:

i. 21 events affected Nepal in recent past at an

average of one event every 2-5 years.

It is also important to think about the longer term

impacts. The climate change is forcing a downward spiral

of disadvantage that undermines future opportunities.

In order to manage this scenario, it would be wise to

invest in adaption for changes. These are:

• Climate proof infrastructure

• Social protection

• Building vulnerable communities' resilience

• Strengthen disaster response

"The link is between what we do and climate change.The following four questions are to provoke thoughts

and discussion over this session of presentations:

What are climate induced disasters? What are

the prepared strategies to deal with impacts (shortand long term) due to these disasters? What are the

response strategies (immediate and long term) to

cope with disasters? What are the synergies betweendisaster response and climate change response?"

Regional GLOF Project- Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH) region.

ii. Bhutan has a history of GLOFs in 50s, 60s and in

1994 in Luggye Tsho.

iii. GLOF events in Ladakh, India though landslide-

induced dam outburst more frequent [viz. Parechu,

Himachal].

iv. Six incidents in Pakistan during 2008 in

Hunza valley.

BackgroundThere is a new and emerging hazard called glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF).

It is important to know the nature of this hazard, the risks it poses and the

possible approach for risk mitigation and preparedness interventions.

SummaryGLOFs is a new hazard being primarily triggered by the impact of climatechange. Climate change's maximum effect is felt in the polar regions,

but significant secondary effects are felt in the Himalayan region, which

straddles eight countries in South and Central Asia. Warming in the region is

higher than the global average, with glaciers retreating at an alarming rate

of 30-60 metres per decade. This is causing a likely increase in incidence ofclimate-induced hazards.

The Himalayan region comprises the largest area covered by glaciers andpermafrost, and these are Mother Nature's renewable storehouse of fresh

water. It has 15,000 glaciers from which nine major river systems emanate,

which support 1.3 billion people.

Due to glacial retreat/melt, lakes form behind moraine or ice 'dams' and a

rapid accumulation of watertakes place. Lake formations have been observed

at altitudes over 5,000 meters or 15,000 feet. The inherent instability of such

'dams' can cause a sudden breach or outburst, discharging millions of cubic

meters of water and debris in a few hours that can be triggered by other

hazards, such as avalanches, landslides, rock fall and earthquakes. This canaffect agriculture, livelihood, eco-systems, forests, livestock, socio-economicinfrastructure- inducing forced migration and undermining already meagre

sources of livelihood. As per a UNEP study, the frequency of these events is

on the increase since the second half of the 20th century.

The Regional GLOF Risk Reduction Initiative, supported by Directorate-General European Commission for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO/DIPECHO)and implemented by Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery through

UNDP country offices, aims to strengthen GLOF risk reduction efforts in

the Himalayan region (India, Pakistan, Bhutan and Nepal] through non

structural and community-based interventions.

Community interventions that have taken place include:

• Awareness generation and sensitisation of downstream communities;

• Promotinglow-costriskmitigationmeasureswhichcan be implemented/sustained by communities themselves;

"There needs to be a global

recognition of the imperatives

of adopting an integrated

approach to address climate-

induced hazards."

Effect of Luggye Tsho GLOF incident inBhutan in 1994.

A Glacial Lake in Lunana area ofBhutan.


A thought...

"Building a culture of

prevention is not easy. While

the costs of prevention have

to be paid in the present, its

benefits lie in a distant future.

Moreover, the benefits are not

tangible; they are the disasters

that did NOT happen."

Kofi Annan, "Facing the

Humanitarian Challenge:

"Towards a Culture of

Prevention", UNGA, A/54/1

• Training and capacity building of communities and local administrations

to enhance preparedness and response capacity;

• Orientingexistingearlywarningsystemstomakethemmorecommunity-centric and developing better understanding and interpretation ofwarning generated including maintenance of systems deployed;

• Introducing concepts and practices of land-use planning andmanagement as well as risk zoning and making them more 'tangible';

• Crystallising experiences and coping mechanisms of mountaincommunities.

Looking ahead, the problems of climate change are adding a new andmore intractable dimension to the problem of risk. It is accepted that that

climate change will alter the number, severity, frequency and complexityof climate-related hazards. However, there is great uncertainty aboutthe local-level manifestations, even "natural" variability impacts arevaried from event to event. The traditionally understood hazard, risk and

vulnerability profiles in the region are changing and newer hazards aregetting introduced while the existing ones are getting accentuated.

An integrated climate risk management approach needs to be adopted.This takes into account geographical scales (community level to globallevel), timescales, climate affected sectors (water and food security),development concerns (poverty reduction) and the many variesstakeholders (governments to academics), in order to achieve thecoherence and coordination required.


• The information about the dangers iscomingfromvariousorganisations/institutions in the region as well as from UNDP sources.

• Community monitoring of water level is not happening. This

is because the altitude at which these glacial lakes are formedand the technical/scientific knowledge required to study glacialcharacteristics and generating speedy early warning are some ofthe challenges. However, such monitoring can be done through theuse of satellite imagery.

SummaryTheSundarbans ecosystem is still one of the most biologically productiveand taxonomically diverse ecosystems of the Indian sub-continent.Nearly 69 floral species have been recognised, including 34 species thatare true mangrove types. Sundarbans sustains almost all mangrovespecies available in the Indian sub-continent. It is also famous as the

habitat of the Bengal tigers. This diversity makes this delicate region aworld heritage site.

WWF's project took place at Mousuni Island, Sundarbans BiosphereReserve. The focus was to create and improve awareness, adaption andcommunication, as this one of the most vulnerable sites in the area. There

are four villages on this island, with a population or 24,000. Nearly 85 percent of the land is agricultural and part of it has been progressively lostsince 1969. It is estimated that 15 per cent of the agricultural land hasbeen lost during this period.

Data collection involved primary and secondary data collection,from recording and analysing the community perception on high

SUNDARBANSwis i msr.M

p-N-r*-^.!.— ^ *•

"The village people don't

necessarily know whatclimate

change is, but they do know

there is change happening!"

Mangrove plantation.


intensity events and livelihood options, household

questionnaires for disaster impact responseassessments and village level surveys to assess

community preparedness towards disaster.

The problems found, that the community was facing,involved 13 incidences of natural disaster (storm,

cyclone and tidal surges) between 1993 and 2007.The embankments frequently got breached (6 timesin the last 15 years) with crops being destroyed andrendering the agricultural land fallow for the next2-3 years. There has also been a decline in the 'fishcatch' in and around the Sundarbans region. In thelast 20-25 yrs, climate change has affected the peopleand creating natural failure."

"The village people don't know necessarily know whatclimate change is, but they do know there is changehappening!"

Activities implemented in Mousuni Island thatbenefited the community were:

• The establishment of resources centres for the

community for access to information.• Disaster relief shelter repair work.• Installation of early warning system(s) in the

project site.

• Formation of disaster relief teams. This included

providing necessary tools and techniques to teamsand training for their appropriate use, which wasorganised by local partners.

• Climate adaptive agriculture and inland fisheriespilot project was implemented underthe biologicaland physical resilience building initiative.

For coastline protection and reduction of erosion,mangroves have been planted, but the embankmentsare going to be breached, so people need to thinkof solutions to adapt to the actual situation ratherthan trying to stop it. Exploring alternatives orstrengthening existing livelihoods will go a longway in this context. Agriculture and fisheries arethe dominant skills that people command and it is

important to build on these skills.

The impact is greatest on people's livelihood andhence the focus of the project was on climate

adaptive agricultures and inland fisheries pilotprojects. Adaptation measures have factored in theinevitability of a flooding scenario and strengtheningof existing livelihood options (agriculture, fisheries andfishing) have been attempted rather than exploringalternatives. Crop species need to be biologicallyresilient and to be able to withstand shock. The paddy

crop chosen was "Talmugur" and this has been sown inthree agricultural plots. Early observations show thesecrops have a saline resilience, but final productivity

results are awaited.

Lessons Learnt

• Climate and agricultural productivity data for a short

period of time does not indicate any change. Thedataset for a longer time span is needed.

• Future benefits of community-based livelihood

intervention and infrastructure development may

get offset due to weak embankment construction.• Some livelihood-based demonstration projects

(like agriculture, inland fisheries and plantationprogrammes) need to be replicated (multiplecycles)twice or thrice before we draw any conclusion.

The analysis may be disseminated among policymakers at a later stage.

• It is necessary to collaborate with disaster reliefagencies to address any crisis situation, though it isa slow onset disaster.

Interactive Discussion• The paddy crop species that WWF used was

called "Talmugur." From what WWF learnt, theexperiment was successful because they usedsaplings rather than seeds. The saplings were ableto survive despite being submerged for 6-8 hourswith tidal water, but mechanisms to improve the

flushing out of water are still needed.


Childrendemonstrate their skills at using banana raft and otherfloats.


Repeated use of variousmapping tools has builtgrassroots level capacityfor informationcollection and its analysis. This analysis helps communitydefine the problems itfaces on a regular basis. Importantlythe problem definition is not done by experts with their baggage of biases. Thesharedunderstanding of risks between NGOand the Community has strengthened the partnership for disaster risk reduction.

130 CBDRR Conference, Kolkata, India, November2008

Keen contest watchedby visitors and the villagecommunity.

Unified Response Strategy, Sphere IndiaVikas Gora, Focal Point - Unified ResponseStrategy,Sphere India

BackgroundSphere India Unified Response Strategy (URS) is an inter-agency initiativesupported by UNICEF and other agencies. It is hosted by Oxfam India andled by SEEDS India. URS is an action-based project, launched with therationale to build common understanding among different stakeholdersfor an organised and coordinated response.

SummaryThe main purpose of URS is to provide a common platform for national,state and district-level stakeholders to map the resources, capacitiesand vulnerabilities, identify the gaps and overlaps, develop protocolsfor inter-agency common assessments, common response planning andcommon monitoring and evaluation processes.

The objective of URS is to develop a common understanding amongdifferent stakeholders for an organised and coordinated response,facilitate preparedness and improved coordination protocols duringemergencies in order to avoid duplication of resources and negativecompetition between agencies.

Activities feature common assessment after inter-agency interactions,post-needs assessment, etc., using common IEC materials, uniformtraining and capacity-building programmes, among others. Currently,formation/ strengthening of inter-agency groups (lAGs) is beingundertaken in states like Assam, Orissa, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh,Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat.

ChallengesThe frequent changes in the government representatives dampen theprocess of the continuity of commitment towards URS. The inter-agency-personal dynamics also pose a challenge in reaching a consensus on issuesof coordinated action. It is also challenging to get information of agenciesefforts/initiatives for coordinated action during emergencies. Anothermajor hurdle is to find ways to keep lAGs active in peace period and linktheir efforts from relief to development.

Key LearningIt has been noticed that agencies are keen on sharing information ontheir outreach and resources. Grassroots NGOs are recognising the needfor coordination at their level. Stakeholders have accepted the need forconsorted efforts for quality delivery and to avoid duplication of resources.

"URS in action project seeksto develop/strengthen inter

agency common platform forall stakeholders at various

levels for an organised and acoordinated response."


Best Practices

The lAGs aregetting due recognition fortheir utility andefforts. The evolution of lAGs is different in differentstates, but the experiences in various contexts areavailable to share and build on good practices.

Training & capacitybuilding

#Information,

communication and

education

•F3r*

Interactive Discussion• Small NGOs are a part of district-level IAG and

INGOs; big NGOs and fund mobilising agencies area part of state-level IAG. IAG ispretty activeand URShas been institutionalised for the pasttwo years.

• The purpose of IAG is to share knowledge andother institutions should be a part of it in orderto have institutional mechanisms in place.

Govt-NGO interface

\Dist NGO coordination

committee

strengthening

IitfcJl Unified Response Strategy

INetworking and

advocacy

Sphere India

Developing SITREPS &GIS mapping

NGO data base

Common assessments

Partnership for SustainabilityDr. Anthony Gnanamuthu, German Red Cross, Orissa, India

SummaryThe German Red Cross (GRC) has a strong history of doing CBDRR work,

which comes from its experience in the DRR work initiated in the late

1980s in Bangladesh. Considering the disaster history and vulnerability

status of Orissa in the global hazard map, GRC carried out a dialogue withGovernment of India in 1991, which was reflected in the Orissa Disaster

Mitigation Programme (ODMP) I (1994-2002), a bilateral development

programme between Federal Republic of Germany, through the German

Development Bank (KfW - Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau) and the GRC,

and Republic of India through Government of Orissa and InternationalRed Cross & Crescent Society - Orissa State Branch (IRCS-OSB). It was the

first community-based disaster risk reduction programme in India andwas started on a pilot project in the most cyclone vulnerable districts,

i.e., Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Puri, Ganjam and Jagatsinghpur

through its OSB. Interestingly, it followed four years of advocacy by GRC.

The programme emphasised on disaster preparedness and comprised the

construction of 23 multi-purpose cyclone shelters and social mobilisation ina broader perspective to establish a culture of disaster preparedness. The

concept of preparedness in the state introduced by IRCS, and manifestedby itself in 23 shelters, could provide protection to 420,00' people during

the 1999 super cyclone, including three expectant mothers who underwentlabour pain during that crucial time.

It's not just the physical shelters/buildings, rather the preparatorymechanism established along with the community members, furthered bytraining programmes such as search and rescue, first aid and community-

based disaster mitigation (CBDRM) that provided strong protective shieldsto the community during pre-and post-1999 cyclone. That, perhaps, is

the reason why in the worst-affected Erasama block, the two sheltercommunities - Khurantatuth and Padmapur - stood the test of time.

It is indeed of importance to create a social acceptance of DRR; for any

NGO that wants to create a social movement, they should really look to

create a social revolution. It is not just about implementing CBDRR in a

project mode; it is about achieving all-round development, although

CBDRR projects do create a certain level of awareness."

A paradigm shift in the approach to disasters is now clearly perceptible in

Orissa - from disaster response activity to pre-disaster preparedness and

1 World Bank Report.

"It is indeed important to

create a social acceptance of

DRR; for any NGO that wants

to create a social movement,

they should really look to

create a social revolution."


i mm . .-« *w;v" nv»*i

• •«•'•

A mapping exercise in the fond of the cyclone.

formation of Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority

(OSDMA) with the objective of effective mitigation andmanagement of disasters.

ChallengesThe foundation of any building must be strong. Buildingmay be physical or social - the invisible social building

created by social mobilisation process is an invisible

social structure that needs as much attention that any

physical structure needs. Thus, the foundation of social

structures must be strong, indicating the very fact that

each and every individual of the community must be

involved in the process. The community members must

be adequately represented in the community-baseddisaster risk reduction organisations (CBDRROs).

Moreover, as a physical building needs regular painting,

so does the social building need regular updating.

Similarly, the concept of DRR continuously evolves with

time, as the social and physical surroundings changefrom time to time. Such process intensive work needs

at least 36 months to institutionalise the DRR conceptin the local structures.

Best Practices

• ODMP ll's success lies with the number of

milestones to achieve the bottoms-up approach,

with final aim to have 100 per cent communityownership. It was a staged programme which

involved a number of milestones, each with a

number of activities and their desired impacts.Ultimately, it involved a complete handover to

the community, which has been able to sustain

this activity.

• Hierarchy of organisations is required to makeimpact amongst all stakeholders. In order to

ensure 100 per cent community participation,

organisations at the household level are

developed [called household micro groups (HMG),

constituting 25 to 30 households.] These are led bya leader and a deputy leader; women participation

is encouraged through the stipulated criteria

of one female representative from each HMG.

At the shelter-level, representatives from each

HMG and the sarpanch (village head) form theshelter disaster management committee (SDMC),with representatives from the village youth club,

anganwadi workers, SHGs and the task force

member forming part of the committee to provide

an equal, just and democratic representation. All

financial power is vested with the secretary, vice-president and treasurer, who jointly are signatories

to the SDMC bank account.

These CBDRROs are systematically strengthenedthrough different capacity-building programmes

such as leadership, empowerment, orientation on

PRI, DRR, etc., for their independent functioning.

It was stipulated that periodic joint meetingsof SDMC, task force and community volunteersshould be organised to strengthen coordination,

cooperation and interaction betweenthe members.

Their in-depth knowledge of their situation and

resources helped to provide right direction to

their plans and adopt situation specific strategies


for DRR. The continued interaction between the

members strengthened unity and boosted their

spirits to work in tandem with each other.

Most importantly, the institutional framework

came out as the best conflict resolution mechanism

at the shelter level. Dissident members were

brought to a common platform and the problemsor issues afflicting them were discussed and a

timely decision was arrived at.

Implementation strategy must be developedaccording to the local social and cultural set up.

Appropriate communication strategy to suit local

needs must be adopted in order to involve all

members of the community into the process.

Unless and until ownership of the MPCS rests with

the community, accountability and responsibility

will not be developed. The very essence of the

programme is to develop a self-resilient, self-

reliant and self-respecting community, which leads

to strong community ownership of the programme

and ensures its sustainability. Thus, to involve eachand every community member in the process and

The social Building merges with the physical Buildingestablishing the culture of disaster preparedness

CCP updating, shelter

community chest insurance

coverage and DRR measures

Mass awareness, street play,

dry exercise & mock drill

Regular meetings of

SDMC, HMG & TF

Training & orientation

programme

^r^ 1

Task forte team

HMG & SDMC

Colouring & finishing

Roof casting

Rod

Water

Sand/cement/chips

Bricks

Pillars

Foundation


develop accountability among the members, a

unique strategy has been followed. Every householdcontributes monthly into a fund called the shelter

community chest (SCC). The SCC has three main

objectives, to be used for minor maintenance

of the shelter, to serve as a contingency fundduring disasters and most importantly envisage

increasing community's bargaining power with the

government and administration.

A task force team is developed under aegis of eachSDMC, comprising 30 strong willed and healthy

youth (18 to 40 years) and two 'traditional birthattendants' (TBAs). Further, they are sub-divided

into different groups with different assignmentsaccording to their physical ability and personal

inclination. The groups assigned with specific tasks

are: search and rescue - eight members, first aid

- eight members, information and dissemination

- eight members and an emergency group -

six members. The task force regularly practices

through dry runs and mock drills at SDMC and task

force joint meetings.Regular use of the shelter helped to enhance

sustainability of the programme. Thus, in normal

times, the shelter must be used either as a school,

a health check-up camp, or as agreed upon by

the community.

There also must be linkages within all the facetsof the local plans and the community must

have the opportunity to implement these in

a different way if they so choose. There is aneed to establish linkages among the shelter-

based organisations with the gram sabha, palli

sabha and local administration for awareness

on various developmental schemes available for

the community and to create pressure group for

long-term sustainable development interventions.

Linkages must be established among shelter-based

organisations with the gram panchayat, block and

district Red Cross branches for holistic and long-

term development interventions in the shelter

villages along with disaster preparedness.

At the block level, the SDMCs are integrated into

a federation, working as a pressure group of

CBDRROs. They are empowered to bargain and

mobilise developmental activities and promote

for pro-people disaster risk reduction policies.

Appropriate linkages have been established with

the gram sabha, palli sabha, gram panchayat,

block and district administration for follow-up

activities by CBDRROs federation.

• A maintenance corpus fund of Rs 1 million has

been created for each shelter and deposited in the

bank in the shape of a fixed deposit. The interest

earned on the fixed deposit is utilised for repairand maintenance of the shelter. Out of the corpus

fund, the government of Orissa contributes Rs 0.2

million and KfW provides the rest Rs 0.8 million.

• The programme also emphasised on formationof block Red Cross branches and strengthening

of both block and district Red Cross branches to

ensure decentralisation of the process and the

participation of all stakeholders.


Discussions took place on the issue of livestock being

affected by cyclones. The idea of constructing raised

platforms to save the livestock was put forth. It is vitalto see livestock as a source of income, which is linked

to the recovery capacity of a family.

BackgroundHumanitarian response to any emergency provides an opportunity to

achieve disaster risk reduction through various sectoral programmes

that also address the underlying causes of social, physical and attitudinalvulnerabilities. Providing improved lifeline services like drinking water,

sanitation, health housing, etc., during non-disaster time can lead tocomprehensive risk reduction.

RedR India believes in promoting humanitarian response as a service

delivery rather than projects. RedR India's capacity building programme

is geared towards improving quality of humanitarian services through

improved performance of humanitarian professionals. Community-based

approaches are central to implementing effective humanitarian assistance

and ensuring long-term sustainability of the lifeline services.

SummaryThe humanitarian sector at large understands that disasters are essentially

a social and health issue, and disasters tend to intensify pre-existing

status, differences and inequalities.1 Suspension of services like waterand sanitation worsens impact of suffering caused by the disaster and has

direct impact on the health of disaster-affected men, women and children.

Interruption of services has adverse effects on well-being, quality of life,

and development of affected populations as well as those not directlyaffected. Thus, improving sustainability and quality of existing lifeline

services can be a potent approach for disaster risk reduction. The need for

external response to the post-disaster situation predominately dependson the capacity available in the affected region.

The quality or level of essential services, like drinking water, shelter,sanitation, education, food and nutrition, public health, etc., in the pre-

disaster phase is a major factor that defines the need for external help.

This clearly indicates that the benchmark quality of day-to-day services

and their delivery needs to be improved so that these are accessible even

after a disastrous event unfolds and the services should be able to cope

with the overload due to the event.

RedR India is a system to organise surge capacity to respond to humanitarian

emergencies. Maintaining a roster of humanitarian personnel and their

training to keep them ready to respond to disasters and conflicts is the

1 Source of quote: World Health Organisation.

"Improving sustainability and

quality of existing lifeline

services is essential for

reducing disaster risks."


Sample data on accessibility to services:• About 30 million persons in rural areas suffer

from sanitation-related disease.

• 5 of the 10 top killer diseases of children aged

1-4 years in rural areas are related to water

and sanitation.

• About 0.6-0.7 million children die of diarrhoea

annually.• Typhoid, dysentery, gastroenteritis, jaundice

and malaria claim the lives of over a fifth of

the children aged 1-4 years in rural areas.

• Economic loss of Rs 12,000 million annually

due to loss of man-days due to accidents

or diseases.

Source: Central Bureau ofHealth Intelligence, Ministry of Healthand Family Welfare, India 1998-1999.

core mandate of RedR. Some of the key aspects of

this value chain of services available to humanitarian

organisations and governments include:• Trained humanitarian personnel are available

on-demand.

• Learning opportunities for performanceimprovement are created on regular basis as well

as on demand for individuals and aid agencies.

• In-time technical support organised in response to

specific learning needs of humanitarian personnel

and agencies engaged in response.

• Programme planning and management support to

organise and deliver specific humanitarian services

like water, sanitation, hygiene promotion, shelter,

health, etc.

• Design and development of equipment and

technologies for humanitarian assistance.

While delivering its key mandate of capacity-building,

RedR India training courses are essentially designed tohelp participants improve the quality of humanitarian

service delivery. Some of the vital concepts that are

elaborated during RedR India courses are:

• Progressive reduction of risk: Risk reduction

requires a step-by-step approach and may require

2 'Engineering in Emergencies', a RedR-Practical Action publication.

diverse set of strategies to reduce/manage the risk

effectively. Plan on the basis of a staged approach;identify priority actions and get going. Plan to

upgrade facilities and services, and improve

people's access to services and benefits.

Integrated action for risk reduction: Achievement

of results in any sector is linked to the actions of

other sectors. Hence, to reduce disaster risk in a

decisive manner, it is importantto understand cross-

sectoral linkages or risk strands that go beyond

specific sectoral domains. For functional reasons,

maintain sectoral approach but breakdown/

overcome boundaries of sector, scale and discipline

to ensure that RISK is managed. Participants are

exposed to integrative strategies for risk reduction

like 'water safety planning' to protect drinking

water quality, system and the source. Similarly

'hygiene improvement framework' is used to

understand and prioritise WASH sector action to

improve public health.

Planning for risk reduction: Understanding and

responding to the link between disasters and

development is the critical success factor for

disaster risk reduction. Hence, it is vital that

planning practice for DRR span various domains,

like development planning, preparedness planning,

contingency planning and emergency response.

Even while planning for immediate needs, maintain

a long-term view.

Participation and self reliance: Mobilising a

community's own resources, skills, knowhow,

adaptability, fortitude can be valuable to relief

efforts and can restore some measure of hope,

confidence and dignity to people.2 Organising

community into appropriate governance

structures responsible for administering various

services is central to operation and maintenance

of services; organisational sustainability - a

structure to bring together different stakeholders

without, for example, needing to call on outside

expertise on each occasion the system/servicebreaks down. Establishing community-based

management and governance of services is one

of the most preferred approaches to create an

able environment for disaster risk reduction.


Appropriate technical support: Technical support provided should

be ideally compatible with local skills and capabilities.3 It should be

safe, effective, useful, sustainable (is it good for the resource base?),

affordable, acceptable, wanted (are the end-users demanding it?),

and adopted (have the end-users been able to use it within their

existing context?).

Social aspects of technology selection: Capacity building of local people

and structures is an important strategy of humanitarian work that aims

to reduce disaster risk. RedR India training courses always look at range

of technology solutions and adequately equip participants to workoutcriteria for selection of any technological solution.

Cross-cutting issues (CCI): Adequate focus on cross-cutting issues, likegender, environment, protection, disability, children, will make sure

that the infrastructure created by development and humanitarian

agencies is useful/accessible by one and all. CCI focus is a key step inachieving sustainability of services and assets, e.g.

• Going by aim of gender equity and principles of empowerment, alluser groups, including men and women, should be consulted. Only

then, services will work for EVERYBODY.

• Applying ecologically sound planning principles may include studies

on carrying/yielding capacity of environment, which become the

basis for decision-making on use of various natural resources, like

water, soil, etc.

Use standards for systematic planning, action and measurement of

output and outcome. Sphere minimum standards for humanitarian

action are completely mainstreamed into all RedR training courses.The process of contextualisation of standards for a given situation is one

of the effective sources of coordinated action by various stakeholders.

Proactively Address vulnerabilities: Vulnerability mapping followed by

analysis along different pathways [inequality stemming from race, class,

gender, demographic processes (growth and population distribution),

etc.] is important for targeted risk reduction. Ideally, vulnerabilityanalysis needs to inform policy and structural responses. While planning

and implementing humanitarian response, explore the progressionfrom "event vulnerability" to "consequence vulnerability4", which will

help clarify the recovery process and needs.

RedR India delivers its expertise on emergency response through, training,

deployment of humanitarian personnel and making in-time learning supportavailable in the field. Some of these support services are delivered through

partnership/standing agreements with various humanitarian organisationslike, UNICEF India, Oxfam, IBNSINA (Afghanistan), SOPHEN (Nepal), MERCY

3 'Engineering in Emergencies', a RedR-Practical Action publication.4 'Event vulnerability refers to household vulnerability that is associated with the direct

impacts from a disaster agent; and consequence vulnerability will refer to the household'svulnerability associated with the social and political processes of recovering from the disasterevent.' Kristen Miller and Joanne M. Nigg,1993.

Key Performance Indicators of

RedR India

Period: April 2007-October

2008

* 88 standard training

courses delivered.

* 2,138 participants trained

on standard RedR India

courses.

* Access: Courses conducted

in various languages

including Bangla, English,

Gujarati, Hindi, Tamil and

Telugu.

* 78 humanitarian personnel

deployed with frontline

humanitarian agencies in

different countries.

* About 25 per cent of this

worked with UNICEF India.

* Awareness courses on

first aid for construction

industry.

* 9,320 total participants.


Key Learning

DRR is a goal with multiplicity

of options, choices and

complexity. To keep

things simple and yet get

communities on a path to

achieving comprehensive

DRR, risk reduction should be

attempted on sectoral lines

by providing better lifeline

services during non-disaster

time. The effectiveness of

services can be increased by

involving people in defining

the problems and the desired

responses; such an engaging

process also helps to address

some of the underlining

social causes of vulnerability.

Efficacy of services can be

further enhanced by exploring

and responding to the

'cross-sectoral' linkages that

creates the desired enabling

environment for success of

the sectoral action.

Services must work for ALL.

Malaysia. RedR-HCC5-Oxfam have a special understanding, wherein HCCprovides its engineers (trained by RedR) to Oxfam through the RedR system

as and when there is a major emergency. During the recent Kosi floods in

Bihar, some of them were responsible for initiating effective water and

sanitation response in IDP camps.

Recommendations

Implement community development or humanitarian assistance projects

as 'services', which are accessible to all and governed by the users. To create

sustainable service that progressively achieves risk reduction, maintainadequate focus on:

• Motivation of men, women and children

• Maintenance of services

• Cost recovery/sharing/uptake

• Continuing support-localisation

• Institutional arrangements - with good external linkage

• Participatory monitoring


Knowledge-building is an important part of RedR's work; the process

involves accessing and deploying knowledge from two main sources:

• Learning and experience brought back from the field by RedR members.

Most RedR trainers (sectoral experts) are humanitarian personnel who

work with frontline agencies.

• Policy and practice documents/manuals, equipments used by varioushumanitarian organisations. Most RedR courses are planned and

delivered in partnership with humanitarian organisations.

Implementation of housing and settlement provides logical space and

opportunity to bringing services and address inherent inequalities in the

community/society by:

• Providing access to services like water, sanitation, health and hygieneeducation.

• Making benefit reach the excluded or the most vulnerable sections of

the community.

• Help excluded or vulnerable sections to gain control over resources

and services by:

• Getting them included in the governance of resources and

services, and

• Set up inclusivegovernancestructures with adequate representation

for men, women and other groups.

5 Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) is the construction industry lead on emergencyresponse for World Economic Forum (WEA).

B J r 7 *»-T|

Institutional Learning of State Inter-Agency GroupFather LP. Sarto, Convener, Inter-Agency Group (IAG), West Bengal

SummaryThe Inter-Agency Group (IAG) of West Bengal was formed after the October2000 floods, which highlighted a need for joint action, with UNICEF beingthe initiator of the forum. It had a broad based membership, with humanrights-based NGOs working together. It created a membership and jointtalking group with a movement towards joint action groups. The IAG alsobegan to bridge distances from Kolkata to Coochbehar in North Bengal andfrom the Himalayas to the marshy Sundarbans.

The core objectives of IAG are:

• To influence state government response policies and integratepreparedness as a good practice.

• Improve organisational capacity to ensure timely unified humanitarianassistance.

• Promoteeffective inter-agency cooperation and agency cooperation andcollaboration with mainstream disaster preparedness and response.

The functions of the IAG are centred around disaster response, withindividual partners working also on disaster preparedness. Positiverelationships have been formed in terms of emergency preparedness,information sharing, knowledge and training cooperation. The grouphas also been able to act as a joint force for state-level leverage andintervention on policy.

The strategy for IAG is to offer the key platform to avoid duplication indisaster preparedness and response. There is also a strategy to extendthis to include an executive committee and technical subcommittee,especially for disaster response. And finally, IAG organises joint trainingprogrammes relating to disaster preparedness and response at NGO andcommunity levels.

The leadership among members is shared and a convenor is nominated for

effective coordination. Itis currently an institutional membership, butthereare plans to involve academic and management institutes. A 'state-level'coordinator is proposed for disaster assessment and coordination with theSphere India's Unified Response Strategy (URS).

The challenges that IAG face are: West Bengal government currently hastwo departments with inter-relating activities (Disaster ManagementDepartment that deals with relief and the Civil Defence Department thatdeals with mitigation and preparedness). There are also some problems

Leadership among members

is shared, and a convenor

is nominated for effective

coordination.


internally with respect to the geographical spread

of partners, or lack of pro-activeness on the part of

members, who respond only when disasters occur. And,

finally, there are difficulties in taking this partnership

to the next level with preparedness.

At present, IAG in West Bengal is a consortium of 56organisations, including UN agencies, international

and national NGOs, Red Cross and Red Crescent

Society, etc. Further concerted efforts are being madetowardsinstitutionalising IAG asa secretariat,forwhich

the state Department of Disaster Management has

committed funding support to make this consortium

sustainable and formal. The pu rpose of the above is to-

(i) promote and institutionalise the unified response

strategy as a priority; (ii) mainstream emergency

preparedness as an integrated development strategy;

and (iii) systematise the related response mechanism.

It is expected that the State IAG for West Bengalwill engage themselves in certain activities, which

will build the capacities of stakeholders and localcommunities to cope with calamities.

BackgroundIn the aftermath of the devastating Orissa super-cyclone of October1999, and especially following the extremely severe floods of 2000 in

West Bengal (21 million affected, 1,500 casualties, 2 million housesdamaged), the Inter-Agency Group (IAG) in West Bengal felt that therewas a momentum for change. IAG argued that with such devastation,

there should be a way to assist vulnerable communities to effectively

prepare themselves individually and collectively for a disaster so as tominimise loss of life and livelihoods.

UNICEF India launched and supported its first community-based disaster

preparedness (CBDP) project with IAG partners in West Bengal in 2001.It has since become a model project. It should be noted here that by 2008,UNICEF started referring to "CBDP" as "CBDRR". CBDRR initiatives in West

Bengal focused on floods, but also landslides, cyclones and tsunamis.

The CBDRR concept was based on the assumption that communities hadto live with disasters. External intervention work could not change their

lifestyles. However, if communities were prepared for a disaster, theresponses and preparedness initiated by them would be more effective inreducing loss of life as well as damages to their assets and livelihoods.

In West Bengal the CBDRR project had been ongoing in various phases, attimes erraticallydue to lackof secured funding. However, with the over US$500,000 funding received from Disaster Preparedness - ECHO (DIPECHO)in late 2007 that UNICEF was able to systematise its CBDRR efforts andensure higher sustainability. DIPECHO's support, under its 4th Action Planfor South Asia, was the first ever to UNICEF India and the single-largestcontribution to UNICEF India CBDRR efforts. The project was planned to be

completed by end-February 2009.

SummaryCBDRR project: In 2008, UNICEF, along with Government of West Bengaland 11 key long-term partner NGOs undertook the CBDRR project with

DIPECHO funds. The project aimed at building capacities of the mostvulnerable communities in flood-prone areas in seven select districts.

The principal objective of the DIPECHO project in West Bengal was toreduce disaster risk by empowering vulnerable communities in disaster-

prone areas to be better prepared to cope with and take action toeffectively reduce the adverse impact of floods. The specific objective

was to assist vulnerable rural families in seven chronically flood-

"UNICEF believes that

promoting traditional coping

mechanisms is the sustainable

way forward to reduce

vulnerability and mainstream

community-based disaster

risk reduction."

Traditional drum beating is associatedwith various religious and socialcelebrations. It was effectively used bythe early warning task force.


Key LearningThe CBDP concept has

consistently demonstrated

its values, including in real

time crisis. It empowered

communities, helped them

inculcate confidence, and

ultimately contributed to

saving lives - especially

of vulnerable women and

children - as well as assets,

during 2008 floods and tidal

waves in West Bengal.

affected districts of West Bengal to be better prepared to effectivelyface the flood hazards.

The project managed to help communities become more resoluteand organised in coping with floods, at the same time promoting theimportance of traditional coping mechanism as survival techniques alongwith mitigation and prevention measures. Over 1,487 task force members

were trained in seven districts. NGO partners shared technical knowledgethat brought conceptual clarityin identifying the linkages between disastercycle and disaster risk reduction in response. Capacity building trainingwas provided to 42 senior staff officer instructors (SSOIs) as key officialsfrom the state Department of Civil Defence, and 103 key staff membersfrom 11 NGO partners.

The project helped communities to re-define vulnerability assessmentsand capacity analysis (VCA) through seven steps:i. Agreements with stakeholders and implementing partners;ii. Selection of vulnerable communities with social inclusion;iii. Integrating VCA with participatory learning and action;

iv. Identifying task forces members and providing training;v. Mainstreaming family survival and child survival kits;

vi. Preparing village plan of action and get it endorsed by local councils;vii. Regulate mock simulations and ensure "high recall" in communities.

The project envisaged reducing loss of livesand related risks by makingpeople self-resilient and helping in strengthening community copingmechanisms through capacity building at the grassroots level. Aspart of this programme, a VCA through community participation wasmade, which, in turn, is used to develop the village plan of action. Theproject used participatory learning and related actions as a process, inwhich the practical and strategic needs of women, men and childrencould be viewed more in focus. Women, in particular, were veryactive participants in the project; the project served a multi-purposein empowering women in a traditional society far beyond the projectobjectives.

The DIPECHO-funded CBDRR project, supplemented by UNICEF's fundsto augment the critical activities, reached over 1 million people in 1,600villages. It has effectively demonstrated it can save lives, especially ofvulnerable women and children; it helped reduce incidence of water-borne diseases, minimised loss of important documents, ensuredimmediate food security during disaster, and inculcated confidence.

ChallengesScaling up concepts and replicating comprehensive CBDRR across the state

is one of the major challenges. Constant efforts are needed to ensuresystem strengthening, inter-sectoral collaboration of traditional and

creative thinking, institutionalising livelihoods withrisk reduction, establishing State IAG secretariat, andleveraging available state resources.

Despite UNICEF's primary commitments to children, thecurrent CBDRR model is not child-focused enough. It

remains a challenge for next generation of CBDRR howto ensure meaningful children's participation.

Best Practices

The project constantly advocated for building thecapacities of the key stakeholders through creating anenabling policy environment. Through demonstrationprojects implemented jointly with self-help groups(SHGs), Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI), and NGOs, theprogramme reached the most vulnerable communities,including affected women and children, and enhancedtheir abilities to cope with natural disasters.

UNICEF believes that "promoting traditional coping

mechanisms" is the sustainable way forward to reducevulnerability and mainstream CBDRR to accountabilityto address immediately the genuine needs of themost vulnerable communities. In order to mainstream

CBDRR, the project identified and adapted natural

mitigation measures as means to traditional copingmechanism, and internalised the practice into process

in the local context. For example:

i. Promoted natural swimming skills as means to

save lives during floods;

ii. Encouraged women to make banana rafts (bhela)as traditional rescue boats;

Motivated communities to make small-scale metal

boats (shalti) for mitigation;

Provided low cost training skills to SHGs to makeand market adult/baby life jackets;

Involved communities in raising hand pumps and

reduce water born diseases;

Promoted communities bamboo structures

("machan") for emergency evacuation;

vii. Preserved traditional dry foods, promoted grain

banks with SHGs.

in.

IV.

v.

VI.

The CBDRR project in West Bengal has become asuccess story in India. The Government of West Bengal

has now incorporated CBDRR in its developmentplanning and has budget provisions for the project. As


one of the flagship programmes of the Government

of West Bengal, coupled with the commitments ofother stakeholders, CBDRR has ensured a degree ofreplicability and sustainability.

Interactive Discussion• In future, UNICEF will continue to work with

the state government in order to leverage funds,update contingency plans, revitalise formationof state IAG Secretariat, and further promote

paradigm shift from response to risk reductionas an integrated development strategy inthe state.

• UNICEF is making constant efforts in influencing

state-level policies to institutionalise and sustainCBDRR in the state.

• Addressing its own CBDRR challenges, UNICEF

will be working towards child-focused CBDRRinterventions and will be looking at new

partnerships to start working for the benefit of thechildren in the next year.


Temporary bamboo flood-shelter erected on stilts before the monsoon, which has a raised hand-pump (on the extreme left) at the levelof the first floor.


Taking delegates to thefieldgenerated a very conducive spacefor discussion andinteraction. First-hand experience of theCBDRR process helped tofurther discussions in the conference in Kolkata.

148 CBDRR Conference,Kolkata, India, November2008

Rowingcompetition using improvised boats.

Professor Vinod Chandra Menon observed that the choice of the theme of

the conference was most appropriate and contemporaneous, as the success

of any effective disaster management strategy essentially rests on centre-

staging communities in all phases of disaster management, especially in

the process of disaster preparedness, mitigation and improved emergencyresponse. He complimented the organisers for bringing together experienceddisaster management practitioners from various humanitarian organisations

from within the country and abroad. He felt that the conference provided aplatform for experience-sharing by delegates from abroad and hoped that

all delegates would have found the field visits to the flood-prone villagespracticing community-based disaster risk management (CBDRM) verypromising and inspiring. He reiterated the need for involving policy-makers

and implementing officials in institutionalising CBDRM and in disseminating

the positive aspects of centre-staging communities for consolidating the

lessons learnt to other flood-prone districts within the state and to flood-prone communities in other parts of the country.

Professor Menon pointed that in all major disasters, it has been found that

the neighbourhood community is always the first responder to offer help insearch and rescue of the trapped victims, their evacuation and in shiftingthem to temporary relief camps. He discussed the evolution of the processes

in centre-staging communities, starting with community-based disaster

preparedness (CBDP), which has evolved into a more comprehensive

community-based disaster management (CBDM) covering all phases of

disaster management and later transformed into community-based disaster

risk management (CBDRM) and currently dealing with the concerns of

community-based disaster risk reduction (CBDRR) as envisaged through the

Hyogo Framework for Action (2005-2015) implemented through various

"The bottomline in disaster

management is the need to

be always prepared to face

both high and low probability

events, which are likely to

happen anytime, anywhere in

the country."


regional platforms, national platforms and international,

national andgrassroots-level humanitarian organisations

under the aegis of the United Nations International

Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN ISDR).

Professor Menon gave a brief overview of theparadigm shift in disaster management in India from apost-disaster relief-centric regime to a more proactive

pre-disaster preparedness, mitigation and improved

emergency response capabilities as envisaged in theDisaster Management Act 2005. He explained the roles

and responsibilities of institutional mechanisms like

the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA),chaired by the Honourable Prime Minister of India,

the State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs),

chaired by the respective State Chief Ministers,and the District Disaster Management Authorities

(DDMAs), chaired by the respective district collectors

and co-chaired by the elected representative of the

Zilla Parishads. He briefly described the process ofmainstreaming disaster management in the Eleventh

Five-Year Plan through the Planning Commission. He

also mentioned about the various mitigation projectscurrently being developed to address disaster risk and

vulnerability of the country.

Elaborating on the importance of the Disaster

Management Act 2005, he stated that the Act provides

an opportunity to institutions like Zilla Parishad

(district board) and local DM authorities to work

directly with the government. He stressed the need

to create institutional resilience in governance, so

that positive things happen because of the systemsand processes, and are not influenced by the

personality of individual officers. Unfortunately, in the

government, things happen because of individuals

rather than the institution. Prof. Menon mentioned

the UN ISDR publication, "Let Our Children Teach

Us", written by Ben Wisner, which illustrates the

need for investing in children and youth to be change

agents for social transformation. He advocated

the need for creating a greater awareness among

children as they can influence their peers, families

and neighbourhood communities.

He mentioned the successful experience of 100 per cent

universalisation of sanitation by constructing toilets in

homes to stop open defecation in one of the districts

in West Bengal under a UNICEF project, which laid thefoundation for a national programme. Contrary to thegeneral misconception that women are the weaker

sections of the society, women play an extremelysignificant role in social transformation in the field of

disaster management by reducing risks and helping the

community at large. (E.g. in Kerala, high female literacy

has led to a decrease in infant mortality.) He highlighted

that in West Bengal, women's grassroots-levelorganisations are spreading the message of disaster risk

reduction after the devastating floods in 2000. Urban

disaster risk management is also important, especially

because of the increasing urbanisation and the largeinvestments in urban infrastructure proposed to be

built in the coming years. It is necessary to build this

critical infrastructure as disaster resilient structures

to prevent them from getting damaged or destroyed

when disasters strike.

Climate change may adversely affect the lives and

livelihoods of several households among the 400million people in the coastal areas in India, and hence

there is an urgent need to engage district authorities inrisk communication while being sensitive to the impact

of climate change on the livelihoods of vulnerable

communities.

He concluded that the creation of the National NGO

Task Force on Disaster Management and State Level

NGO Task Forces on Disaster Management by NDMA,

with the help of SPHERE India, RedR India, UNDP and

UNICEF along with 20 other eminent humanitarianorganizations, has provided the platforms for interface

with government. He argued for greater interaction

by humanitarian organisations with the SDMAs and

DDMAs to take forward the objective of centre-stagingcommunities in disaster management at the local

level. He thanked the organisers for giving him an

opportunity to attend the concluding session and listen

to the feedback on the conference and complimented

the organisers for a very informative, educative and

valuable interaction.

On behalf of UNICEF India and co-organisers of the conference on

CBDRR in Kolkata, Srdjan Stojanovic expressed his sincere gratitude to

all participants - almost 150 persons who came from all over India and

from several countries in the region, i.e. South Asia and South East Asia.He highlighted that the participants represented a variety of principal

CBDRR stakeholders, including government officials, donor community, UNagencies, NGO community, Red Cross and Crescent Society, academicians

and, importantly, members of local West Bengal CBDRR NGO projectpartners and beneficiary communities.

During the three days of intensive interaction, the conference participantshad a rare opportunity to exchange their rich experiences and lessons learnt

on the policy and practice of CBDRR, including from a regional perspective.

It was a special pleasure for UNICEF that the participants had a chance to

interact directly with project beneficiaries in the field and witness some

key achievements of communities' empowerment in DRR.

Further, it was an occasion for UNICEF, as well as for most participants,including the Ministry of Civil Defence of West Bengal and the National

Disaster Management Authority of India, to reaffirm their policycommitment to disaster risk reduction efforts, of which CBDRR is a critical

component.

UNICEF will ensure that the presentations and core discussions at the

conference are documented and disseminated to all participants, and thento a wider audience of all interested parries.

Finally, he expressed hope that the practice of CBDRR conference withregional participation will continue in the future with more regularity. It

is with joint concerted efforts of all of us to improve our implementationand advocacy capacity that we can bring sustainable benefits to the most

vulnerable and marginalised communities.

"I hope that the practice of

CBDRR conferences with

regional participation will

continue in the future with

more regularity."

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Notes:

Athree-day conference on Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR) was organisedby UNICEF in partnership with the Government of West Bengal, Sphere India. United NationsDevelopment Programme (UNDP), Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre and RedR India, in Kolkatafrom 26-28 November 2008. Around 150 participants including representatives from the government,UN agencies, Red Cross Society, donors and NGOs from 7 South Asian countries, i.e. Nepal. Malaysia.Indonesia. Bangladesh. Pakistan. Afghanistan and Thailand, and 13 states of India participated inthe conference.

The event provided an opportunity to share experiences and good practices in implementing CBDRRprojects in India and in the region. It also aimed at providing a platform for networking among practitionersworking on CBDRR. In view of recurring disasters in Asia, many mitigation interventions have beenundertaken by various stakeholders in recent times, resulting in reduction of deaths and losses.The Hyogo protocol and Millennium Development Goals enunciate the need for CBDRR approachand mainstreaming disaster management in development.

As a part of the conference, participants visited UNICEF CBDRR project areas in the South 24 Parganasand Nadia districts of the state of West Bengal, India and interacted with NGO partners and communities.Community members shared their disaster risk reduction learning and demonstrated seven steps forreducing risks to cope with natural calamities. Thisdocumentation of the conference proceedings hasbeen developed with the purpose of sharing CBDRR practices among the conference participants aswell as with a wide audience among CBDRR policy makers and practitioners in India and globally.

For further information please contact:

UNICEF

India Country OfficeUNICEF House, 73. Lodi Estate

New Delhi- 110003. India

Telephone +91-11-24690401Website: www.unicef.org/india

chapter 2: inaugural function j3 ii · chapter 6:climate change glof-glaciallake outburst floods...

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