Local
Action,
Global
Ambition

CAPACITY STRENGTHENING &
LOBBYING AND ADVOCACY
FOR RESILIENT COMMUNITIES

Ms. A. Wajera. from Biliqo village, northern Kenya, draws on village risk map she is preparing with the DRR committee in her community

Ms. A. Wajera. from Biliqo village, northern Kenya, draws on village risk map © CARE / Makmende media

Ms. A. Wajera. from Biliqo village, northern Kenya, draws on village risk map © CARE / Makmende media

The frequency of disasters has increased rapidly in recent decades. Population growth, urbanization, climate change and ecosystem degradation are trends that underlie and further exacerbate the risks that often already vulnerable communities face. Conflicts, often of a local nature about access to resources, are a further compounding factor that erodes people’s coping capacities. A strong civil society, in combination with legitimate, effective government and a private sector that does business responsibly, forms the basis for a well-functioning, resilient and inclusive society. The role of civil society organizations to be able to lobby and advocate for the needs of the most marginalized and discriminated is thereby essential.

The Partners for Resilience (PfR) alliance works in areas that are defined by inequality and poverty. Alliance members decentralize power, resources and responsibility to their local partners to enhance local resilience and to support self-managed, locally owned development. Since 2011, PfR has worked with over 50 contracted civil society organizations (CSO), community-based organizations (CBO) and multi-stakeholder platforms to help communities assess risk, as well as plan, implement, evaluate and learn from policy dialogues. 

The formation of strong local networks has also enhanced communities’ social structures that have demonstrated their value in the disaster domain, and beyond. The support to COVID-19-affected communities largely benefitted from the access and capacities that these networks provided.

This flagship report shows the major results Partners for Resilience has achieved in its ten years of working on Integrated Risk Management (IRM), and specifically in the past five years under the programme Dialogue & Dissent of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It shows impact, successes, lessons learned and recommendations from the rich experience of working on community resilience by strengthening capacities of CSOs and influencing practice, policy and investments.

PfR is calling for strong multi-stakeholder participation in development processes of policy and investments, specifically promoting the role of women, youth and the elderly. It is essential to enhance participatory processes, in which stakeholders can contribute and participate meaningfully to optimize risk-informed policies and investments.

A shift from service delivery (2011-2015) to lobbying and advocacy (2016-2020) did not happen overnight, however PfR has shown that through continuous learning and adaptation it delivered a relevant multi-stakeholder programme of scale and impact. Between 2016 and 2020 over 296 CSOs were strengthened in their capacity on IRM and more than 146 CSOs succeeded in influencing the debate and agenda setting from local to global levels. Anchored in the communities, PfR constitutes a critical resource for enabling and shaping the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (UN), contribution to the attainment of the Paris Climate Agreement (UNFCCC), the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and the New Urban Agenda (UN-Habitat).

The start of the ‘decade of action’ also marks a new, critical phase for the alliance. There is a clear niche for PfR to ensure the needs of the most marginalized groups are included in resilient and inclusive development. A need that has been amplified due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we hope and trust the alliance will find new avenues to continue its important work and we look forward to seeking ways in which we can continue to partner in the future. The challenge is simply too daunting for any alliance to tackle alone.   

Sincerely,

Carola van Rijnsoever
Ambassador for Sustainable Development & Director Inclusive Green Growth Department,
Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Pascalle Grotenhuis
Director, Department of Social Development,
Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs

BREAKING THE VICIOUS CIRCLE
OF POVERTY, RISK AND VULNERABILITY

The poorest and most vulnerable people are hit hardest by natural disasters as they tend to live in the most at-risk areas. Many hazards are becoming more frequent and less predictable due to climate change and environmental degradation. The result is that more people are caught in a vicious circle of poverty, risk and vulnerability.

Partners for Resilience (PfR) is a global network of 50-plus civil society organizations (CSO)and their associated networks, working in hazard-prone areas to strengthen people’s resilience in the face of rising disaster risks. PfR believes community resilience is the best way to deal effectively with disasters, and uses an Integrated Risk Management (IRM) approach to empower the most vulnerable people, support risk management interventions, and advocate for IRM-inclusive laws and policies, investments and practices. PfR works in countries characterized by landscapes with high disaster risks and vulnerability to climate change, and areas where ecosystems are important for people’s livelihoods.


A DECADE OF PfR EXPERIENCE

The PfR alliance started its collaboration in 2010 and was founded by five Netherlands-based organizations: the Netherlands Red Cross (lead), CARE Nederland, CORDAID, the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre and Wetlands International. In ten years the alliance has evolved into a global network of 50-plus civil society organizations worldwide – active at grass-roots, district, national, regional and global level.  

The first PfR programme (2011–2015) was implemented in nine countries and funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It focused on reducing the impact of disasters and on strengthening the resilience of local communities through inclusive planning, civil society strengthening, policy dialogue and the implementation of concrete disaster preparedness, prevention, and early response measures. 

The programme was followed by the Dialogue and Dissent programme (2016–2020), also funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This consists of one global programme, four regional programmes (Asia, Central America and the Caribbean, the Horn of Africa and West Africa) and ten country programmes (Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mali, the Philippines, South Sudan and Uganda).  PfR seeks to foster resilient, inclusive growth in the face of rising climate and disaster risks by strengthening civil society so that CSOs can set agendas that prioritize adoption and implementation of policies, practices and investments that are needs-based, risk-sensitive and address the root causes of the disaster risk facing the most vulnerable.  In May 2019 PfR started a third programme with a focus on Upscaling Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR) in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and funded by the European Commission. 


PROMOTING INTEGRATED RISK MANAGEMENT 

Integrated Risk Management examples from around the world

PfR works directly with communities most at risk from climate, environmental, conflict and socio-economic risks. To address these risks PfR promotes an integrated approach aiming for resilience and transformative changes, owned and managed by local communities and stakeholders. PfR promotes the integration of climate change adaptation (CCA) and ecosystem management and restoration (EMR) into disaster risk reduction (DRR) work. With this IRM approach, communities strengthen their capacities to reduce the impact of disasters, withstanding shocks from natural hazards, and sustaining development by securing or transforming their livelihoods. PfR believes a community approach is strengthened for sustainable results and transformational change if the institutional environment can be made more conducive to climate and ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction, and therefore it engages with civil society, the private sector and government stakeholders in multi-stakeholder processes. 


WORKING FROM LOCAL TO GLOBAL TO LOBBY AND ADVOCATE FOR IRM INCLUSION INTO POLICIES, INVESTMENTS AND PRACTICE

The programme’s context is defined by four global policy frameworks: the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the Paris Agreement on climate change (UNFCCC), the Sustainable Development Goals (UN), and the New Urban Agenda (UN-Habitat), which have provided PfR with its legitimacy and context for global-, regional- and country-level engagement.

PfR targets multiple levels (local to global) and their inter-linkages, reinforcing relations between them, and within and between the domains of policy, investment and practice, to optimize synergy and exchange. The programme distinguishes these interrelated levels:

Community-level interventions aiming at locally-led development, for example by, raising awareness, organizing people, facilitating support to concrete resilience measures, and facilitating the formulation of policy asks.

National-, provincial- and district-level interventions which aim at increasing resilience by promoting IRM at community level, as well as with stakeholders at the higher levels of district and province. PfR supports the translation of global policies into national level policies and plans, enables CSO participation in policy dialogues, and promotes the incorporation of IRM into national-, provincial- and district-level policies, laws and development plans.

Regional-level interventions that address cross-border resilience challenges that link to regional policy processes and related investments, initiatives, platforms, networks and institutions, which are established to tackle issues of common concern.

Global-level interventions aiming to influence relevant resilience-related global policy frameworks and funding mechanisms, and investment and development initiatives, to consider IRM adequately and to include the perspectives of, especially, vulnerable communities.

Uganda

Uganda, © CARE Nederland

Uganda, © CARE Nederland

Kenya woman groups

Kenya woman groups © PfR

Kenya woman groups © PfR

Core principles of Integrated Risk management

Core principles of Integrated Risk Management

Core principles of Integrated Risk Management

Core principles of Integrated Risk Management

Core principles of Integrated Risk Management

Core principles of Integrated Risk Management

Children in Guatemala © PfR

Children in Guatemala © PfR

Children in Guatemala © PfR

Where we work in Central America and the Caribbean, Haiti and Guatemala

Where we work in Central America and the Caribbean, Haiti and Guatemala

Where we work in West Africa: Mali

Where we work in West Africa: Mali

Where we work in the Horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda

Where we work in the Horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda

Where we work in Asia: India, Indonesia, Philippines

Where we work in Asia: India, Indonesia, Philippines

Where we work in Central America and the Caribbean, Haiti and Guatemala

Where we work in West Africa: Mali

Where we work in the Horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda

Where we work in Asia: India, Indonesia, Philippines

Where we work in Asia: India, Indonesia, Philippines

WHERE WE WORK

CENTRAL AMERICA &
THE CARIBBEAN

Where we work, Haiti

Where we work, Haiti

Where we work, Haiti

Haiti

Lead: Netherlands Red Cross
Partners: Climate Centre, Haiti Red Cross Society

Partners in Haiti

Partners in Haiti

Partners in Haiti


Where we work: Guatemala

Where we work: Guatemala

Where we work: Guatemala

Guatemala

Lead: CARE
Partners: Caritas Zacapa, Climate Centre, Guatemala Red Cross Society , Wetlands International

Partners in Guatemala

Partners in Guatemala

Partners in Guatemala

WEST AFRICA

Where we work in West Africa: Mali

Where we work in West Africa: Mali

Where we work in West Africa: Mali

Mali

Lead: Wetlands International
Partners: CARE, Climate Centre, Mali Red Cross Society

Partners in Mali

Partners in Mali

Partners in Mali

HORN OF AFRICA

Where we work: Ethiopia

Where we work: Ethiopia

Where we work: Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Lead: CORDAID
Partners: ACPA, CARE, Climate Centre, Ethiopian Red Cross Society, Wetlands International

Partners in Ethiopia

Partners in Ethiopia

Partners in Ethiopia


Where we work: Kenya

Where we work: Kenya

Where we work: Kenya

Kenya

Lead: CORDAID
Partners: ICHA , IMPACT, Kenya Red Cross Society, Kenya Reform Commission, Laikipia Wildlife Forum, MID-P, University of Nairobi, Wetlands International

Partners in Kenya

Partners in Kenya

Partners in Kenya


Where we work: South Sudan

Where we work: South Sudan

Where we work: South Sudan

South Sudan

Lead: Netherlands Red Cross
Partners: Climate Centre, CORDAID, HARD, RAAH, South Sudan Red Cross Society, UNYMPDA,  Wetlands International

Partners in South Sudan

Partners in South Sudan

Partners in South Sudan


Where we work: Uganda

Where we work: Uganda

Where we work: Uganda

Uganda

Lead: CORDAID
Partners: CARE, Climate Centre, ECO, FAPAD, PELUM, PFCC, SOCADIDO, Uganda Red Cross Society, Wetlands International

Partners in Uganda

Partners in Uganda

Partners in Uganda

ASIA

Where we work: India

Where we work: India

Where we work: India

India

Lead: Wetlands International
Partners: Caritas India, Climate Centre, HARC, Indian Red Cross Society, NetCoast, SEEDS, UNNATI

Partners in India

Partners in India

Partners in India


Where we work: Indonesia

Where we work: Indonesia

Where we work: Indonesia

Indonesia

Lead: CARE
Partners: Caritas Indonesia, CIS Timor, Climate Centre, Indonesia Red Cross Society, Wetlands International

Partners in Indonesia

Partners in Indonesia

Partners in Indonesia


Where we work: Philippines

Where we work: Philippines

Where we work: Philippines

Philippines

Lead: Netherlands Red Cross
Partners: ACCORD, Cagayan de Oro River Basin Management Council, CARE, Climate Centre, Cordaid, Diocese of Malolos, East West SEED, ECO-web, Hipada, Hippe, Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, Philippine Red Cross Society, Wetlands International

Partners in the Philippines

Partners in the Philippines

Partners in the Philippines


Global Programme:

Lead: Netherlands Red Cross
CARE, Climate Centre, CORDAID, Wetlands International

Partners for resilience founding members

Partners for resilience founding members

Partners for resilience founding members


Regional Programmes:

CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN

Lead: CARE
Partners: CECC,  CEPREDENAC, Climate Centre, CORDAID, CRG, CSUCA, Netherlands Red Cross, RECMURIC, Wetlands International

WEST AFRICA

Lead: Wetlands International
Partners: CARE, Climate Centre, CRU-BN, Netherlands Red Cross

HORN OF AFRICA

Lead: CORDAID
Partners: CARE, CELEP, Climate Centre, Netherlands Red Cross, Wetlands International

ASIA

Lead: Climate Centre
Partners: CARE, CORDAID, Netherlands Red Cross, Wetlands International 

PfR achievements 

ACHIEVEMENTS IN STRENGTHENING CAPACITY FOR LOBBYING AND ADVOCACY

PfR strengthened the capacity of civil society to engage in lobbying and advocacy leading to the incorporation of Integrated Risk Management in relevant policies, investments and practices, helping vulnerable communities to become more resilient to disaster risk. PfR was successful in enhancing collaboration among stakeholders, increasing their understanding of their own rights and the context of the risks they face.

By strengthening the dialogue capacity of civil society organizations, thereby achieving meaningful results in making communities resilient amid increasing disaster risks. By having a shared IRM approach with common principles whilst allowing for tailor-made implementation based on local needs, the programme was successful in different local contexts. Linkages to global frameworks have helped shape legitimacy for IRM promotion. By linking local and global levels, PfR contributed to localization of global frameworks. Ownership of and leadership in policy dialogues by civil society organizations have increased considerably.


LOCAL CAPACITIES STRENGTHENED TO TAKE THE IRM AGENDA FORWARD

As well as local CSO partners and other stakeholders, alliance members learnt to influence policies, practices and investments to address risks in an integrated way. Partners gained and shared knowledge on IRM and improved their lobbying and advocacy skills in a well-structured manner: they applied a dialogue capacity framework to assess a range of dialogue capacities every six months, setting themselves capacity goals for 2020. They organized activities like workshops, training courses, and field and exchange visits to address skills needed for effective lobbying and advocacy. Across the programme, PfR initiated and guided multi-stakeholder platforms, forums and networks as an effective approach to influence policies, plans and investments. In these, community representatives, CBOs, government, the private sector, and other actors at various levels worked and learnt together about IRM-sensitive policies and plans. Multi-stakeholder platforms are well suited to include actors within a certain landscape, for example the Kinnaite Wetlands Working Group in South Sudan. In such platforms PfR worked with others on strengthening advocacy capacity with government bodies, such as in Guatemala, and other stakeholders like the media, as in Uganda, and the private sector, like in Kenya, to ensure the uptake of IRM measures to the benefit of communities.

PfR achievements

THEORY OF CHANGE

One of the main conclusions from the external evaluation conducted in 2019-2020 was that PfR has been successful in strengthening the capacity of CSOs, and achieving meaningful results in terms of improved policies and enhanced practices, thereby making communities resilient in the face of increasing disaster risks. It was noted that the programme was able to balance coherence and diversity, which allowed PfR to respond to different local contexts. Linkages to global frameworks have helped shape legitimacy for IRM promotion and to a certain extent global frameworks have been localized. Ownership and leadership from CSOs on policy dialogues has increased considerably.


SUSTAINING LOBBYING AND ADVOCACY CAPACITY

PfR was successful in strengthening the capacities of community-based organizations and implementing partners to lobby and advocate for integrated risk management. By adopting an institutional approach, capacities were embedded within organizations and policies, laying the foundations for continued promotion of IRM after the end of the programme. Some examples of great achievements are listed below:

  • Formalization: In Mali in early 2019, the Regional Coalition of Mopti, obtained its official registration and recognition which gives it not only a legal basis to operate and to lobby, but also facilitates partnership development with key stakeholders.
  • Institutionalization: In the Philippines, ACCORD has been a partner organization since the beginning of PfR and building upon its successes of the past ten years, is now comfortably engaging independently in national-level advocacy. In India all front-line Red Cross volunteers in Assam, Gujarat and Uttarakhand are receiving IRM training as part of a social and emergency-response curriculum covering first aid and disaster management. Some national-level Social Emergency Response Volunteer training for Indian Red Cross volunteers incorporated IRM orientation. In Ethiopia, IRM is mainstreamed in the regular BSc and MSc programmes of Semera and Jigjiga universities.
  • Resource mobilisation (for local resilience): In Kenya, local implementing partners MID-P, IMPACT, Laikipia Wildlife Forum and the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) have been able to attract new funding from external donors to leverage PfR resilience activities at grass-roots level in other counties. MID-P coordinates the Isiolo civil society network, has pushed for the approval of the Isiolo County Climate Change Funds Mechanism Act, and is closely involved in getting it implemented.
  • Scaling up of successful models of engagement: In the Philippines, the MSP Climate Change Adaptation Framework, a ten-year strategy first used in rural areas of Guiuan, is being replicated in urban Mandaue, Cebu City, and also in Surigao del Norte.
  • Identifying and supporting IRM champions: To overcome the cultural and social barriers holding back women in Mali from leadership roles in resilience and advocacy, existing women’s groups organized around micro-credit, income-generating activities and other issues were involved in the selection of IRM champions, of whom so far 50 per cent are women – important for their ability to advocate for access to land and gender equity.

REFLECTION ON CIVIC SPACE

Manila Bay Alma community worker © PfR

Manila Bay Alma community worker © PfR

Manila Bay Alma community worker © PfR

Disaster risk reduction, climate change and the importance of ecosystems are generally not very politically sensitive topics. Countries have signed international framework agreements, such as the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, and governments are committed to their implementation. Through building the capacity of CSOs to both critique and support the implementation of international agreements, PfR has good entry points for engagement with governments. In many countries there is good coordination and collaboration between CSOs and the authorities across multiple levels and sectors. However, with the issue of land rights certain drivers of risk and the question of the inclusion of the most vulnerable groups in planning, discussions can become more sensitive, especially in urban contexts where the pressure on land and resources is increasing. PfR found creative ways to continue the discussion, finding that focusing on less controversial topics is a good entry point. Once relations with the authorities are well established more complex issues, like land rights and inclusion, gradually can be discussed.


PfR’S KNOWLEDGE AND EVIDENCE BASE

A strong knowledge and evidence base is essential to equip civil society with the resources they need for effective advocacy. The PfR library provides an open access platform to hundreds of publications covering the work of the partners.

Partners for resilience knowledge base

Partners for resilience knowledge base

Partners for resilience knowledge base

In the PfR Library among other materials you can find: 

Films can be found on PfR’s YouTube channel, among others:

Theory of Change
IRM illustration © PfR
PfR Networking event Global Platform for DRR, May 2019 © PfR

PfR Networking event Global Platform for DRR, May 2019 © PfR

PfR Networking event Global Platform for DRR, May 2019 © PfR

PfR at the World Urban Forum 2020 © PfR

PfR at the World Urban Forum 2020 © PfR

PfR at the World Urban Forum 2020 © PfR

The Global Programme

LINKING INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS TO LOCAL REALITIES

The global programme focuses on lobbying for increased investments in risk reduction measures, strengthened synergy and coherence across international policies, as well as scaled-up implementation of the New Urban Agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. PfR’s influencing entry points centre on lobbying on reflecting local realities in global policy dialogues and vice versa, ensuring global policies are usable at local level. In this regard, global policy work draws many lessons from country and regional teams on opportunities and challenges in pushing the disaster risk reduction agenda through the leading policy frameworks. This on-the-ground evidence strengthens advocacy at the global level where political momentum and financing is being galvanized into local action.

PfR’S CONTRIBUTION TO AN ENABLING GLOBAL POLICY ENVIRONMENT

  • Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction

At the UN Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR), countries meet to renew and accelerate their efforts to implement the Sendai Framework. In the run-up to these meetings, PfR supports civil society organizations and other stakeholders in collaborating with their governments to get IRM principles reflected in DRR strategies and plans.

A networking event, We Bend We Do Not Break, was hosted by PfR jointly with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the Nature Conservancy, and the Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (PEDRR). Furthermore PfR co-organized high-level working sessions at the GPDRR on green infrastructure, integrating risk management, ecosystems and water-related risks, early warning, and leaving no one behind, and organized several side events with high-level political representatives and community advocates. PfR successfully influenced official positions of country governments and the GPDRR formal outcome document, the chairs’ summary.

PfR influenced UNDRR to work on publishing a policy brief on ecosystem-based DRR. This success was sustained through the EU-Devco-funded Upscaling Eco-DRR programme, as well as PfR’s active contributions to policy guidance through the Words into Action Guide on Nature-Based Solutions for Disaster Risk Reduction, published in October 2020’.

  • Paris Agreement on climate change

The Climate:Red Summit, hosted by the IFRC, was a milestone that showed increased commitment and capacity in influencing partners. This virtual conference attracted more than 10,000 participants from all across the world. 

PfR was instrumental in the earlier development of the Risk-informed Early Action Partnership (REAP) which aims to make one billion people around the world safer from disasters by 2025, by bringing the humanitarian, development and climate communities together.

PfR was able to promote Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) for climate risks in the planning of infrastructure development by, among other things, a round table on resilience in the Marrakesh Partnership for Global Climate Action. With the focus on enhancing climate ambition in the run-up to Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) submissions, PfR demonstrated the value of wetlands as a way to achieve climate mitigation targets, while unlocking biodiversity and adaptation benefits through the Talanoa Dialogue, multiple events, and contributions to NBS for NDC policy publications.

To enhance climate change adaptation, PfR promotes climate-resilient agriculture and livelihood diversification at local level. At international level, PfR advocates for climate resilient agriculture in high-level expert meetings at the UN Committee on World Food Security in Rome, and in the Bonn intersessional meetings on climate and agriculture as a part of the UNFCCC Koronivia joint work on agriculture.

  • Sustainable development Goals

At the UN’s annual High-Level Political Forum, governments present and discuss progress on the SDGs. In the run-up to this, PfR engaged with governments to ensure IRM principles are reflected in the national reports and use it as an awareness raising opportunity. This was actively pursued in, for example, Mali and Indonesia. PfR was instrumental in influencing the Malian government to include CSOs in the drafting process of the report. CSOs highlighted security threats and ecosystem destruction as impediments to the achievement of the SDGs. Building on this, PfR spoke at the forum in 2019 to reinforce the message that unless policies, investments and practices are risk-informed, disasters will continue to undermine development achievements. Community resilience, through integrated climate change adaptation and ecosystem management, enables sustainability in the long run.

  • Investments

PfR influenced investments of over US$ 250m in 2019, with partners in and beyond the alliance. Catalyzing IRM-responsive public and private investments requires funders and investors to adapt their policies to make them risk-informed. Spin-offs of the PfR programme contributed to enhanced investments in lobbying efforts through partnerships created with a wide range of actors. Notable is the PfR/UN-Environment Programme on Eco-DRR and the Water as Leverage programme which are jointly implemented with diverse actors including the Dutch government, other national governments, and in the case of Water as Leverage, the private sector. PfR is part of different networks, like the UN-Environment-led Network of African Women Environmentalists, capitalizing on its network with the Africa Development Bank, African Union Great Green Wall Initiative, the UN Technology Centre and the Network and Global Landscapes Forum. The London School of Economics research Building Resilience with Private Sector Engagement (2018) has been a key milestone contributing to strengthening PfR’s lobby positioning with the private sector and business networks in advancing socially and environmentally responsible investments.

  • Urban Resilience

PfR engaged in the policy development of the New Urban Agenda and was part of the Netherlands delegation at the conference in Quito in 2016. PfR shaped position papers that strengthened lobbying on the inclusion of ecosystem management in urban settings, as well as the rural-urban linkages as part of the consideration of landscapes in the final text of the UN-led policy framework. PfR is proud to be among the voices that shaped the framework. Besides this, PfR engaged in the urban agenda under the Sendai and climate framework, stressing the impact of climate change on the urban poor, for whom disaster risks are high but where notable PfR integrated approaches need scaling up (e.g. the Marunda Urban Resilience Programme in Indonesia).

ASIA

“We will deliver finance to local communities, fully involving them. We believe this will be an economically sound investment.”

SRINIVASAN ANCHA,
ADB Principal Climate Change Specialist and Climate
Change Focal Point
for South-East Asia, at the Asia-Pacific
Climate Week 2019, Bangkok, Thailand

Fisherman in Manila Bay, Philippines © CARE/ Makmende Media

For fisherman in Manila Bay, Philippines, resilience means involving multiple stakeholders to develop shared solutions to restore the environment © CARE/ Makmende Media

For fisherman in Manila Bay, Philippines, resilience means involving multiple stakeholders to develop shared solutions to restore the environment © CARE/ Makmende Media

Asia is the largest, most populated and most urbanized continent in the world. It drives the global economy and its political leadership strongly influences global platforms. Yet at least four out of five people affected by disasters between 2000–2018 were in Asia (Asian Development Bank, ADB, 2019). Asia has the largest watersheds, the longest coastlines, and a large number of coastal cities. Civil society is mature and influential and the continent offers successful pilots to learn from and has experienced fundamental shifts that promote locally-driven resilient and empowering action.


IRM REFLECTED IN CLIMATE NEGOTIATION DOCUMENTS 

Due to PfR’s efforts, UNFCCC-related outcome documents, technical papers, COP 25 decision texts at regional fora such as the ASEAN Working Group on Climate Change (AWGCC), the UN Climate Conference (SB50) and the Asia Pacific Climate Week all reflect key messages and examples of IRM, ensuring a stronger focus on community resilience, forecast-based financing, scaled-up climate action, and the humanitarian consequences of climate change.


CLIMATE FINANCE INSTITUTIONS ADOPT IRM APPROACHES

By widely advocating for IRM approaches the fruits are now becoming visible. The Asian Development Bank created the locally-operated Community Resilience Partnership Programme, which targets marginalized people. The contingent2 disaster financing for natural disasters is in line with PfR’s work on early warning early Action (EWEA) and forecast-based financing (FbF). Furthermore the Green Climate Fund is including EWEA and FbF in its technical discussions.  


STRONGER COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN URBAN WATER RESILIENCE 

Due to both national and regional lobbying and advocacy work, New Urban Agenda plans in Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar are using IRM models. For example, community participation for urban water resilience in the Manila Bay Sustainable Development Plan and in NBS in the Water as Leverage programme in Chennai, India, Semarang, Indonesia, and Khulna in Bangladesh.

Asia
Asia
Asia
Asia

INDIA

At least 75 per cent of India is exposed to one or more hazards, especially floods, droughts and cyclones. Climate change has made these disasters more frequent, intense and unpredictable; it has worsened floods, droughts, landslides and heatwaves and caused sea levels to rise, threatening coastal communities. Over the last 50 years, more than half of all disasters were related to water (floods and droughts), affecting almost 17 million people annually (according to the EM-DAT database). Excessive deforestation, poor water management, including the destruction of natural buffers as wetlands, encroachment onto flood plains, and fragmentation of natural water regimes have made communities in rural and urban areas highly vulnerable. Yet India has made significant strides in improving weather forecasts and climate services, nurturing bodies of water, and building local disaster management plans. Civil society is recognized for its huge role in relief, response and reconstruction, and in building local resilience as well as influencing policy through consensus building.

CHANGING MINDSETS AND BUILDING SOCIAL COHESION 

Floods remain a yearly affair in Bihar, especially for communities living within embankments. To reduce vulnerability it is necessary to change mindsets and build social cohesion. PfR brought together community voices by establishing social institutions which have been successful in lobbying with the administration to make funding available for an early warning system, and for reviving wetlands. Resource maps, social maps, and crop and seasonal calendars are regularly drawn up after transect walks with community elders to familiarize them with their situation and to plan accordingly. Real-time data information on peak water-flows is now disseminated by PfR partners to over 200,000 people living in the region. River levels are measured, warning flags are hoisted locally and information is disseminated via WhatsApp. Upstream dam authorities include the information in the water-level monitoring activities of the task forces. In case of high water-levels, community members send out distress signals resulting in the establishment of a community-managed early warning system. Establishing an early warning system involved changing mindsets, and this was achieved by involving affected people, setting up community institutions and strengthening local capacities.

“Involving people in advocacy with local institutions can enable change, and ensures transparency and that funds are leveraged for development other than infrastructure”
Laxmi Chaudhary, Panchayat leader Aryapatti GP, Bihar
PfR-supported early-warning exercise,  Saharsa district, Bihar, India  © Wetlands International South Asia

PfR-supported early-warning exercise, Saharsa district, Bihar, India  © Wetlands International South Asia

PfR-supported early-warning exercise, Saharsa district, Bihar, India  © Wetlands International South Asia

INCLUSIVE RISK-INFORMED GRAM PANCHAYAT DEVELOPMENT PLANS: CHANGE FOR A MORE RESILIENT FUTURE 

The Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) is an essential tool, recognized by the Panchayati Raj department (local government), for enhancing rural development and addressing vulnerabilities of the poor and marginalized. PfR uses the GPDP for mainstreaming IRM measures in local development plans, and conducts hazard vulnerability and capacity assessments (HVCA) to identify gaps, and concerns to be addressed with regard to infrastructure, livelihoods and ecosystems. Because of unequal power relations, certain groups have unequal access to resources and facilities which reduces their capacity to cope with risks. Through the HVCA tools, vulnerable groups have been identified and their vulnerability assessed with regard to physical, social, economic, political and environmental factors. The participatory approach enables communities to voice their opinions and include their ideas within the local development plans. The preparation of the GPDP in itself has been a great learning experience and an opportunity to incorporate risk management measures. This approach enhances involvement in governance by local communities through involvement in the development process. PfR has developed over 50 GPDPs and drafted seven district disaster management plans. The developmental plans are used to leverage resources for implementing risk reduction measures. Between 2011 and 2019, PfR leveraged over 8 million euros. The IRM-informed GPDPs are receiving great recognition and praise from state authorities. A key achievement is that one GPDP was awarded and is now seen as a risk-informed model by other GPs in Gujarat, while another in Bihar has achieved similar status and could be a model in Bihar State.

Flood early warning provides safety to over 200,000 people in Bihar.

The PfR Network partners

(Photo: Community consultation in Chitra Nagar, Chennai © Cynthia van Elk / Water as Leverage)

India key indicators and areas of work
Community consultation in Chitra Nagar, Chennai

INDONESIA

Indonesia is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries. In 2009–2019, nearly 27,000 disaster events struck the islands, most of them hydrometeorological, according to the Indonesian National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB).

In 2018, three major earthquakes hit Lombok, Palu and Banten; they killed 3,094 people, injured 61,000 and led to 249,042 being displaced. Policy transformation on disaster management in Indonesia came to fruition when the House of Representatives passed a new bill relating to disaster management. Law No. 24 in 2007 distributed the governance of disaster management between the central and regional levels and acted as a legal framework to regulate the decentralization of disaster risk governance by establishing two new bodies: the BNPB at the national level and the Regional Disaster Management Authority (BPBD) at the local level.

MULTI-STAKEHOLDERS FORUMS TO PROTECT ENVIRONMENT, LIVELIHOODS, AND GUARANTEE FUNDING 

The Watershed Forum, the Disaster Risk Reduction Forum, and the Mangrove Working Group are three platforms engaging government representatives, universities, CSO, business entities, media, and local leaders. Within the partnerships, PfR facilitated training and workshops, and provided technical assistance and coaching on designing and implementing advocacy on policy. The groups were encouraged to take the lead in voicing their concerns to the government. This led to the following outcomes: 

  • The Watershed Forum, the Disaster Risk Reduction Forum and PfR succeeded in including watershed management and DRR activities in the official mid-term and annual provincial, district, and village government development plans in East Nusa Tenggara Province. Watershed management is a critical factor in averting natural disasters such as floods. As a result, in 2018 and 2019, 20 villages in Sikka District, East Nusa Tenggara Province, allocated up to 50 per cent of their budgets for watershed management, such as land rehabilitation through planting trees, water spring conservation, rainwater traps and infiltration wells, terracing, and disaster preparedness training.
  • The Mangrove Working Group has successfully facilitated the development of regulation of mangrove management in Central Java. It provides a space in the provincial development budget to fund the mangrove management programme, as well as opening up the opportunity for external funding from the private sector to support programme implementation.
  • In 2019, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry and the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning, with the support of PfR, signed a MoU related to the integration of watershed management into spatial planning. This MoU will ensure that all local spatial plans will include consideration of watershed condition and management in planning which, once implemented by local governments, will reduce the impacts of flood, landslide, drought, and extreme weather. 
“Results of policy are important as the basis of evidence and must be pursued through communication and advocacy processes. Thus they can be understood, accepted and implemented down to the grass-roots level.”
Ragil Satriyo Gumilang, Policy analysis and Communication Specialist, Wetlands International Indonesia
Jupiter converted his well into a rainwater reservoir, now having water supply all year long

Jupiter converted his well into a rainwater reservoir, now having water supply all year long © CARE / Makmende Media

Jupiter converted his well into a rainwater reservoir, now having water supply all year long © CARE / Makmende Media

WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT PLANNING AND INCREASED GENDER BUDGETS

When PfR started working in the villages in 2016, the gender budget in village plans was very low with no proper gender perspective. A gender training showed local officials (a majority of whom are men) the importance of seeing things through a gender lens and developing gender-sensitive plans by discussing critical questions, such as which resources are controlled by women and men and who is resource rich or poor. This has led to an increased gender budget: in the first year from five to ten per cent of the village plan budget, building up to 20 per cent in the second year and 30 per cent in the third year. Women’s participation in group meetings was supported by meetings in the local language and using drawings to ensure women’s experiences were shared among those who could not read. For example, women’s farming groups get increased support to purchase equipment and seeds during the growing season. The gender budgets have also been used to construct fencing around new water reservoirs to ensure the safety of women and children.

Gender budgets in village development plans have been increased.

The PfR Network partners

(Photo: Urban farming in Marunda, Jakarta © CARE Indonesia)

Indonesia key indicators and areas of work
Urban farming in Marunda, Jakarta

PHILIPPINES

The Philippines is prone to a range of hazards. On average it experiences 20 typhoons each year, causing flooding, landslides and storm surges that increase risks to urban and rural communities. Its location along the Pacific seismic Ring of Fire makes it susceptible to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The Philippines is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, facing increased vulnerability due to sea-level rise and water scarcity. Its growing population and unsustainable practices and policies have resulted in deforestation and loss of agricultural land. On top of that, rapid urbanization is generating additional stresses, and it is projected that more than 100 million people will be living in urban areas by 2050 – double the number today. These challenges have ranked the Philippines as the ninth most at-risk country in the world, according to the World Risk Report 2019.

NATIVE TREES AND STABILIZED RIVERBANKS IN CAGAYAN DE ORO RIVER BASIN

Deforestation of the watersheds of Agusan river and other major river basins in the Philippines poses risks of landslides and flooding to communities living downstream. To address them, the IRM approach was demonstrated in the Agusan basin. Following the outcomes of the landscape risk assessment and capacity strengthening exercises, nature-based solutions were piloted by farmers in Talacogon and Monkayo at the start of 2016. The solutions included planting native trees at intervals on the slope, and planting grasses and trees to stabilize the river bank. In the past few years, the trees planted have grown successfully and erosion has halted. This approach has been taken forward and is now being combined with investments from Payment for Ecosystem Services in Cagayan de Oro River Basin through the Cagayan de Oro River Basin Management Council. The approaches tested in these localities now serve as models for transformative ecosystem restoration. More information can be found here.

“Local communities are the front-liners to the impacts of climate change. This is something they have taken to heart, how much climate has affected them as a community, how much it will affect them in years to come.”
Isabella Ann Mendoza, Policy Analyst, Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities
Building resilience must involve all sectors, particularly those considered the most vulnerable  © ACCORD Philippines

Building resilience must involve all sectors, particularly those considered the most vulnerable  © ACCORD Philippines

Building resilience must involve all sectors, particularly those considered the most vulnerable  © ACCORD Philippines

COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT AND PARTICIPATION IN SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT: THE WASTE WARRIORS OF BARANGAY POTRERO, MALABON CITY 

Solid waste management is critical in congested, hazard-prone cities. The interconnectedness of ecosystem degradation, disasters, and climate change has not been fully appreciated, and poor urban communities were typically seen as polluters and part of the problem. The experience of Potrero, a flood-prone village in Malabon City, highlights the link between waste management, the cleaning of water flows, and flooding, and how communities are vital to the solution. Through training, community members and partners in local government developed a deeper appreciation of how ecosystem management and restoration helps to address flooding, and why community participation is key. In 2015, the local government improved their solid waste management practices and hired informal waste-sector workers for the Waste Warriors, a group formed to implement solid waste management on the ground. That same year, Potrero won the Best Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction Committee and the Best in Solid Waste Management awards from the national government. Today, the Waste Warriors employ 40 collectors and 15 monitors. Improving waste management has reduced the impacts caused by floods in the Potrero community, likely reduced pollution of water sources, and reduced microplastics in water and fish. In January 2020, Maridel Barbin, Waste Warriors head, community leader, and DRR council member, served as a spokesperson on community-based disaster risk reduction during a senate hearing on a bill creating a separate Department of Disaster Resilience.

Nature Based Solutions can play a key role in disaster risk reduction.

The PfR Network partners

(Photo: Philippine Red Cross volunteer engaging in vulnerability and capacity assessment in Poctoy Surigao City © CARE / Makmende Media)

Philippines key indicators and areas of work
Philippine Red Cross volunteer engaging in vulnerability  and capacity assessment in Poctoy Surigao City

CENTRAL AMERICA
& THE CARIBBEAN

“Investing in knowledge for the application of Integrated Risk Management is the route to Resilience.”

SRINIVASAN ANCHA,
Edwin Kestler, country lead PfR Guatemala 

School children in Guatemala © PfR

School children in Guatemala © PfR

School children in Guatemala © PfR

After Asia, the Americas is the second most-affected region when it comes to natural disaster. It is highly exposed to multiple threats and characterized by often severe storms from the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean, a high level of seismicity, with earthquakes of great force and high frequency, volcanic eruptions and other hazards such as forest fires, as well as a loss of biodiversity, much of which has been exacerbated by climate change. Furthermore the region faces high levels of poverty, inequality and social exclusion, in addition to social insecurity.


FORMAL AND NON-FORMAL EDUCATION FOR AN IN-DEPTH UNDERSTANDING OF RISK

The Sendai Framework, as its number one priority, says that policy and practice for disaster risk reduction should be based on an in-depth understanding of risk in all its dimensions. PfR’s core focus in the region was to approach disaster risk management from the perspective of knowledge management, and make risk management part of formal and non-formal education. Educational modules have been developed in Guatemala and are being scaled up at the regional level, with the support of the regional disaster institution, the Centro de Coordinación para la Prevención de los Desastres Naturales en América Central (CEPREDENAC). Likewise, PfR supported the establishment of the Inter-University Platform in Guatemala, which is now also used as a model in the region. Another focus is access to information to ensure understanding of vulnerabilities among the population most affected by climate change. In Haiti, training young people was an important part of the programme: Y-Adapt was piloted in Haiti, and can easily be replicated in other countries. To give young people the skills to voice their concerns has been another key element of the Haiti programme.


AMBASSADORS TO PROMOTE RESILIENCE BUILDING

A key factor in our success was the identification and capacity strengthening of key ambassadors to raise attention on the importance of investing in the resilience of vulnerable populations. PfR also promotes gender equality and the active participation of young people, CSOs, NGOs and political actors from the region. PfR has led the development and implementation of tools with an integrated risk management approach, which aligns with regional governments’ Central American Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management policy, while a culture of prevention and capacity strengthening is promoted by CSO.

Central America and the Caribbean
Central America and the Caribbean, Guatemala
Central America and the Caribbean, Guatemala and aiti

GUATEMALA

Guatemala is a multiethnic, multicultural and multilingual country, with an estimated population of 15 million people, rich in natural resources. It is also highly vulnerable to extreme weather events and climate change. This is causing cycles of droughts and floods that affect the quality of life of its population, especially those already living in poverty, and increase their vulnerability. The economic cost of disasters also is high: disasters have caused an average loss of 362m euros per year over the past 12 years, according to Economic Commission for Latin America.

GENDER, DISASTER RISK REDUCTION, ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN MUNICIPAL AND TERRITORIAL PLANS

In line with the 2030 United Nations Agenda, the Guatemalan government developed the KATUN National Development Plan, to reduce poverty and to sustain development. Under this, the Presidential Secretariat for Planning and Programming (SEGEPLAN), with technical and financial support of Partners for Resilience, developed the Methodological Guidelines for the Preparation of Municipal Development Plans and Territorial Land-Use Planning in Guatemala. Based on PfR experience, SEGEPLAN incorporates gender, ecosystem management and restoration, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation into planning municipal development and land use. This guarantees that these topics at the heart of the IRM approach will be integrated in municipal and territorial planning across, in turn strengthening the resilience of communities.

“Planning and municipal territorial land-use constitute a basis for safe and sustainable development, strengthening people’s resilience, mainly of the most vulnerable.”
Jorge Ruiz, PfR Guatemala team
Madre Tierra: considering that the destruction of the Earth  is caused by human beings, the solution is in our hands

Madre Tierra: considering that the destruction of the Earth is caused by human beings, the solution is in our hands  © CARE / Makmende Media

Madre Tierra: considering that the destruction of the Earth is caused by human beings, the solution is in our hands  © CARE / Makmende Media

LOCAL VOICES INCLUDED IN DEVELOPMENT PLANS

Since 2010 SEGEPLAN promoted the preparation of municipal development plans with the participation of local actors. In the past there was no proper representation by or consultation with local actors by municipal authorities and their technical teams. SEGEPLAN decided to update the municipal plans with the participation of local actors and the inclusion of territorial land-use planning. PfR provided input to the training manual for municipalities and technical assistance on the IRM approach. SEGEPLAN developed and implemented a national strategy to disseminate the guidelines and methodology for the plans with the participation of the private sector, CSO, governmental and non-governmental organizations, and government specialists. One factor in this success are municipal round tables. Nationwide there are 257 municipal development plans approved and implemented; SEGEPLAN continues supporting all 340 municipalities to have updated plans approved and implemented.

Gender, ecosystem management and restoration, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation are integrated in municipal and territorial planning.

The PfR Network partners

(Photo: Risk and vulnerability analysis exercise of the Municipality of Salamá, Baja Verapaz, during a workshop with SEGEPLAN planning specialists © CARE Guatemala)

Guatemala key indicators and areas of work
Risk and vulnerability analysis exercise of the Municipality of Salamá, Baja Verapaz, during a workshop with SEGEPLAN planning specialists

HAITI

Haiti is one of the countries in the world most exposed to natural hazards. The population is increasingly vulnerable to climate change, environmental degradation and unplanned development, especially in urban areas. The country is subject to a variety of hazards, including earthquakes, hurricanes, landslides, flash floods and drought. Significant environmental degradation caused by unsustainable exploitation of forests, soil, water, minerals and coastal waters makes the Haitian people highly vulnerable to shocks and climate change. This degradation reduces the country’s ability to absorb the effects of extreme weather events. The country is the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, with a GDP per capita of 662 euros in 2019 and a human development index of 169 out of 189 nations. Social and political instability and constant disasters continue to hamper Haiti’s economic and social development.

RESILIENCE IS HAVING ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Agronomy student Jacky Dolcé has seen the dramatic effects of regular flooding on the people living and farming in Haiti’s Artibonite river basin. It is expected that in the next ten years there will be an increase in climate-related events, including river and coastal floods as well as cyclones and wildfires. Through the Open Street Mapping database and satellite imagery, PfR is creating a detailed map of flood risks in the Artibonite basin. Information technologies are crucial for better flood risk assessments and will be used by the meteorology and civil protection departments of the government and other organizations working in disaster management. Jacky participated in the Open Street Map and Mapathon training organized by PfR. He is also learning how to better manage the basin’s changing environment and natural resources and enhance the resilience of farmers. Young people like Jacky are at the forefront of the response to disastrous floods impacting Artibonite communities, where resilience means mastering technologies to better assess flood risk.

“PfR mobilizes financial and methodological instruments in support of strengthening the resilience of communities and we hope to continue collaboration.”
Marcelin Esterlin, Director General Hydro-Meteorological Unit of Haiti
Red Cross youth volunteers have been trained through the Y-adapt programme. They are actively involved in waste management in their communities  ©  PfR 

Red Cross youth volunteers have been trained through the Y-adapt programme. They are actively involved in waste management in their communities  © PfR 

Red Cross youth volunteers have been trained through the Y-adapt programme. They are actively involved in waste management in their communities  © PfR 

YOUTH AS THE AGENT OF CHANGE

The youth of the cities of Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haïtien and the Tiburon commune are important change agents, working on waste management in their neighbourhood, for example. Port-au-Prince is a densely populated capital city exposed to natural hazards such as hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes. Since 2015, through the PfR programme, capacities of the Haiti Red Cross youth have been strengthened through IRM training. The focus was on the mobilizing and training of young people in dialogue and actions to protect the environment and in climate adaptation. Marie Bacheline, a volunteer and coordinator of Red Cross youth at the local committee of the Red Cross Delmas was trained in Y-Adapt and now uses her new skills now to mobilize young volunteers and implement concrete action plans with them. A doctor by training, Marie decided to develop and make use of her leadership skills, putting herself at the service of others. “I think it is really important to get involved in society, in the community where we live, and I manage to do this through the Haiti Red Cross,” she says. Today, she continues to coordinate young people, engaging them in waste management around public buildings and in awareness raising of COVID-19 protection. In the coastal village Tiburon young people presented their climate change adaptation plan to the mayor and set up their own nursery and reforested eroded slopes in the area to mitigate erosion and flood risk.

Young people understand risk in their area and contribute to post-disaster assessments.

The PfR Network partners

(Photo: Resilience is having access to information  © Haiti Red Cross)

Haiti Key Indicators and areas of work
Resilience is having access to information © Haiti Red Cross

HORN OF AFRICA

“We will take the lead in discouraging the culture of violence and revenge killing that exist in our community. Instead our people should use dialogue and to review traditional beliefs.”

KASHMALLA MAJAGA AWET,
Chair of DRR committee, during a community dialogue in Udici Boma,
Jur Rivercounty, South Sudan

Committee member facilitating a community meeting on disaster risk reduction in Uganda

Committee member facilitating a community meeting on disaster risk reduction in Uganda © CORDAID

Committee member facilitating a community meeting on disaster risk reduction in Uganda © CORDAID

Partners for Resilience is active in four countries in the Horn of Africa: Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia. The region faces economic instability, political turmoil and climate change that have huge effects on both crops and livestock, resulting in climate-driven migration and conflict. Other challenges include inadequate market access, especially for the pastoralist community, youth unemployment, and food insecurity. Rapid urbanization and state action to restrict the operations of national and international agencies has further complicated life for the vulnerable populations. 


THE AFRICAN UNION’S CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGY INCORPORATED COMPONENTS OF IRM 

Through consistent policy engagement consisting of a year-long advocacy effort, the Horn of Africa PfR team got components of IRM included within the African Union climate change strategy. A springboard for this process was the push for the integration of IRM in the African position paper during the 2019 Global Platform in Geneva. This is a major step towards shaping the region’s future climate resilience measures, contributing to increased resilience of communities. 


INTEGRATED RISK MANAGEMENT AND INVESTMENT 

PfR has developed an investment database which provides wetlands management plans, and risk-sensitive investment plans for three transboundary wetlands; Sango Bay–Minziro (Kenya and Tanzania), Sio–Siteko (Kenya and Uganda), and Semiliki (Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo). These have been reviewed and accepted by the technical advisers from Nile basin treaty member states. Additionally, the German government and the Nile basin initiative have committed to finance the implementation of community investment plans. PfR’s investment database provides solid evidence to support the lobbying and advocacy work on risk-sensitive investments.

Horn of Africa
Horn of Africa, Ethiopia
Horn of Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya
Horn of Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan
Horn of Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda

ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia has a highly diverse landscape, ranging from highlands to low-level basins and desert or semi-desert conditions. Many regions are prone to drought. Heavily dependent on rain-fed agriculture, the country suffers land degradation, its economy is underdeveloped, and unsustainable practices are shrinking its water resources. In the past 20 years, due to a changing climate, the frequency and severity of droughts have increased, affecting the lives of millions. More than 80 per cent of the population lives in rural areas and depends on natural resources. Especially in the drought-prone areas of Somali Region, smallholder farmers who are dependent on rain-fed crops and pastoralists suffer the most from the declining natural resources. This results in extreme food insecurity and recurrent conflicts. In recent years, the political space for CSOs to operate has improved after a new law in 2019 that replaced earlier legislation barring them from engaging in advocacy on gender, human rights and conflict resolution.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TRAINING FOR BETTER DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT

Ethiopia has a comprehensive disaster risk management (DRM) policy and strategy at the national level, but these are not implemented effectively at the local level. On paper the policy takes an integrated approach to disaster risk reduction, emphasizing climate change adaptation and ecosystem management. But in practice most of the interventions are focused on short-term solutions, failing to develop long-term disaster risk management capacities of the government and communities to bounce back from disasters. In response, PfR Ethiopia has undertaken initiatives to mainstream integrated risk management into DRM implementation strategies and education in the Somali, Afar and Amhara Regions. This has strengthened the capacity of CSOs and government agencies to implement integrated risk management. Consequently, the bureaus of the three regions developed IRM-sensitive and contextualized implementation strategies for the national DRM policy. In addition, Jigjiga University in Somali Region and Semera University in Afar Region have produced a professional training manual and DRM master’s degree curriculum which integrate IRM approaches and principles ensuring sustainability of the approach into the future.

“Now, the community and stakeholders have started working with us to take action against investments affecting the environment and the livelihoods of the community”.
Dr. Belayneh Ayele, Executive Director of the Amhara Region Environment, Forest and Wildlife Protection and Development Authority
 For people In Ethiopia, resilience means being prepared to face periods of drought © CORDAID

For people In Ethiopia, resilience means being prepared to face periods of drought © CORDAID

For people In Ethiopia, resilience means being prepared to face periods of drought © CORDAID

WETLANDS PROTECTION CRUCIAL TO FIGHT DROUGHT

Ethiopian wetlands play a critical role in protecting water quality and access as well as livelihoods. With these multiple roles, the protection of wetlands is key to strengthening the resilience of communities. Yet they are under threat from development and it is now crucial to have relevant policies in place and implement them. Although not a signatory to the Ramsar Convention, the Ethiopian government has several policies for wetlands, but they are fragmented across different departments. PfR Ethiopia convinced the Ethiopian Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission (EFCCC) of the benefits of a national wetlands policy and the Ramsar Convention. The EFCCC then won observer status at the Ramsar COP in 2018, and this was followed by preparations to designate a Ramsar site in Ethiopia, expected to lead to ratification of a national wetland proclamation that provides the legal instruments.

Awareness and action for wetland protection has increased considerably.

The PfR Network partners

(Photo: Through PfR, Kediga and her community received training in irrigation crop production, market accessibility and storage systems for agricultural products © CARE / Makmende media)

Ethiopia key indicators and areas of work
Through PfR, Kediga and her community received  training in irrigation crop production, market accessibility and storage systems for agricultural products © CARE / Makmende media

KENYA

The climatic conditions of Kenya range from the tropical humidity of the coast to the dry heat of the northern plains and the coolness of the Central Highlands. Most regions have two rainy seasons: the long rains between April and June and the short rains between October and December. Kenya’s rapidly growing population, which is now approaching 50 million people, strains the labour market, social services, arable land, and natural resources. Kenya is a lower middle income country with a growing entrepreneurial middle class and steady growth. However, weak governance, domestic tension, corruption, and high unemployment impedes its economic development. The main hazards are floods, droughts, landslides, thunderstorms, wildfires, and windstorms, as well as conflicts over natural resources. The magnitude and frequency of these hazards is increasing, as is the loss of livelihoods, lives, and assets. In addition, the presence of Al-Shabaab militia is a constant threat.

ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES TO ASSIST YOUTH, WOMEN, AND PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES 

The Merti Integrated Development Programme (MID-P), through the support of PfR, engaged the Department of Culture and Social Services and helped 120 members to understand the Isiolo county Youth, Women and Persons with Disability Enterprises Development Fund Act and Regulations, and supported them to develop action plans to access the fund from the county government. In Isiolo including Persons with Disability (PWD) in the resilience building process has been a major challenge. Youth, women and PWD are often not included in policy development, while these groups underutilize the available opportunities they have. In the 2019–2020 financial year, the county government allocated 18m KES for women, youth and PWD. MID-P and PfR shared the notice with the public and requested interested groups to apply for the fund, aiming to provide business loans to new and existing small businesses owned by youths, women and PWD. Meanwhile, PfR continues building capacity where needed to achieve inclusion of PWD in the country’s development agenda. Read more.

“During the 2019 six-day camel caravan trek, we saw communities addressing the environmental secretary cabinet boldly how they wished the river Ewasa Ng’iro protected.”
Abdullahi Shandey, MID-P Executive Director
Local communities participating in planting mangrove during the World Environmental Day 2018 © Wetlands International  

Local communities participating in planting mangrove during the World Environmental Day 2018 © Wetlands International  

Local communities participating in planting mangrove during the World Environmental Day 2018 © Wetlands International  

SUSTAINING THE CAMEL CARAVAN

In recent years, the livelihoods of communities and their livestock and investments along the Ewaso Ng’iro basin have been under threat because of the drying up of the river. The primary cause is the unsustainable use of water upstream, through uncontrolled water extraction, sand harvesting and woodcutting. On top of that, research shows that the Crocodile Jaw Dam proposed by the government is likely to change the flow and seasonal pulse of the river dramatically, reducing the flow downstream, causing ecological destruction of pastures and arable lands. To protect the river and the communities, PfR partners involve upstream and downstream communities, policy- makers and other major stakeholders through a colourful procession called the Camel Caravan. As a result, relevant government stakeholders agreed to create and implement strategies and practical approaches to protect the river. The Camel Caravan campaign is meant to include more communities and to make their voice stronger.

Vulnerable groups and people with disability voices amplified at policy levels and PWDs have access to credit to support their livelihoods.

The PfR Network partners

(Photo: The Camel Caravan in Kenya raises awareness on planned investments and their impact © CORDAID)

Kenya Key Indicators and areas of work
The Camel Caravan in Kenya raises awareness on planned investments and their impact © CORDAID

SOUTH SUDAN

South Sudan continues to face one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world from both human and natural disasters. A government of national unity was formed in February 2020 aiming at ending six years of conflict. In addition, floods, droughts and associated risks significantly have been increasing mortality rates and destabilizing livelihoods. South Sudan ranks 186 out of 189 on the 2019 UNDP Human Development Index. More than half of the population lives in severe poverty and youth unemployment rates are very high. Most rural households rely on rain-fed agriculture as their main source of livelihood. The space available to civil society shrinks, with institutions and policies at national and state levels are in need of strengthening in the face of environmental degradation, unregulated investment, limited livelihoods options, and limited risk-informed development.

YOUTH AMBASSADORS FOR CLIMATE ADAPTATION

Youth in and out of school were engaged through the Y-Adapt programme. The South Sudan Red Cross trained young volunteers to create awareness in the communities and schools around Juba. The engagement of communities and local authorities has led to the commitment of young people to reducing environmental pollution and woodcutting, promoting climate smart agriculture and environmentally friendly activities. Young people are seen as a way of scaling up through development and implementation of adaptation activities.

Quote from a Youth officer who attended the training in Munuki:

“Because of the Y-ADAPT training, we know the important role we have to play in the community and we can now easily engage fellow youth in environment cleaning and opening waterways that were blocked with garbage causing flooding during the rainy season. We really thank PfR for giving us a better understanding on the effect of climate change and how to adapt to calamities.”
Participatory Community risk assessment in Imilai Payam, South Sudan ©  Wetlands International

Participatory Community risk assessment in Imilai Payam, South Sudan © Wetlands International

Participatory Community risk assessment in Imilai Payam, South Sudan © Wetlands International

“The PfR Partnership has been very helpful in supporting me with a diverse level of technical expertise like measures of climate change adaptation.”
Bernice Kitum, Project Coordinator of HARD, PfR local partner

STRENGTHENING WOMEN’S RESILIENCE

PfR supported Hope Agency for Relief and Development (HARD) in IRM and advocacy training, and in organizing training for community members on the production of fuel-efficient stoves and briquettes. This has led to increased capacity among staff of HARD in guiding community groups. Since the start, the community group in Wau has produced and sold 4,300 stoves to households. Growing demand motivated the group to set up a stall in Wau market and they continue producing and selling fuel-efficient stoves – encouraging sustainable resource management by reducing environmental degradation caused by cutting trees, shrubs and roots for fuel and easing tensions over natural resources. The cooking stoves reduce the time and burden of collecting firewood. In addition, they have positive health benefits reducing indoor smoke and the risk of uncontrolled fires and burns to cooks and children. HARD disseminated this best practice to local stakeholders, as the fuel-efficient stoves proved to have sustainable impact, and could be easily replicated elsewhere.

Youth has taken up an active role in protecting the environment.

The PfR Network partners

(Photo: Christine has produced her fuel efficient cookstove for use, and started selling in Wau town to promote energy saving stoves to reduce deforestation © CORDAID)

South Sudan Key Indicators and areas of work
PfR introduced fuel efficient cooking stoves in South Sudan © Cordaid

UGANDA

Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa with a population of 41.5m people. Just over 70 per cent of the population is dependent on agriculture, most of them women whose actual ownership of land is limited. Uganda is prone to multiple hazards including droughts, floods, and landslides with significant consequences for people and their property. Climate change is contributing to more frequent droughts and erratic rains, leading to reduced yields. Although freedom of expression, assembly and association is limited, there are many avenues for constructive engagement with the government that have produced tangible results.

PLACING IRM INTO UGANDA’S CLIMATE CHANGE BILL

PfR worked closely with the parliamentary forums on climate change and the wetlands department under the Ministry of Water and Environment. It also engaged districts in the target areas in fruitful dialogues, including community representatives, marginalized groups, media and CSO. The multi-stakeholder DRR platform for Teso and Otuke districts played an important role in supporting civil society consultations in eastern Uganda. All these stakeholders informed PfR’s advocacy efforts in, for instance, determining the IRM gaps to inform the development of the climate change bill, conduct an IRM gap analysis, and to review the wetlands policy and bill.

As a result:

  • Parliament established a standing committee on climate change.
  • Forty per cent of PfR’s recommendations were adopted in the climate change bill. For example, the term “climate smart practices” was replaced by “climate resilient practices” as not all climate smart practices help address the challenges of climate change.
  • PfR operational areas enacted and enforced environment ordinances, wetlands laws, and ecosystem- based solutions.
  • Gender was made explicit in the wetlands policy and the disaster preparedness and management bill.
“We still have names of seasons, but they do not mean anything due to climate change. However, with the weather information and training we are able to know when to plant.”
Ochen Ismail, Farmer, Soroti
Village saving & loan association members having a  meeting in Napongae North Nabilatuk, Uganda © CORDAID

Village saving & loan association members having a  meeting in Napongae North Nabilatuk, Uganda © CORDAID

Village saving & loan association members having a  meeting in Napongae North Nabilatuk, Uganda © CORDAID

FINANCIAL INCLUSION FOR RESILIENCE BUILDING

Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) are supported by district local governments due to PfR efforts, and have been crucial in resilience building in the communities, enabling:

  • Savings for times of crisis
  • Credit to resilient businesses
  • Savings for early or timely action
  • Savings to invest in health and education
  • Support for social strengthening and empowerment.

The district governments in Teso, Karamoja and Lango sub-regions connected to VSLAs to promote this practice and offer technical support. The success was immediately visible. VSLAs have merged into inclusive savings and credit cooperatives which permit access to larger credit facilities from financial institutions. Thirty VSLA groups in Karamoja with 900 members have increased their monthly income from 7.5 to 12.5 euros, and ten groups in Teso have accessed more than 1,250 euros from different district government programmes. In Otuke district, the number of VSLA groups increased from 204 in 2015 to 257 in 2019, with 65 per cent female members. Among them, six VSLA groups continue to attract revolving government loans up to 2,500 euros.

Uganda is expected to adopt an IRM-sensitive climate change bill.

The PfR Network partners 

(Photo: Community members in Namidkao establish nursery beds for vegetables in Nabilatuk sub county © CORDAID)

Uganda Key Indicators and areas of work
Community members in Namidkao establish nursery beds for vegetables in Nabilatuk sub county © CORDAID

WEST AFRICA

“To be considered by the government, the PfR community should continue to stress the importance of our services and reliable weather forecasts”

MR DAOUDA TRAORÉ,
Head of Division at Malian Hydraulics National Directorate, Meteorological service

Woman in Sourou Basin now have access to land and are being part of coalitions meetings  ©  CARE / Makmende media

Woman in Sourou Basin now have access to land and are being part of coalitions meetings  © CARE / Makmende media

Woman in Sourou Basin now have access to land and are being part of coalitions meetings  © CARE / Makmende media

West Africa is characterized by recurring natural hazards such as drought and flash floods linked to inadequate management of water resources, poor infrastructure development (for example, dams resulting in decreased water flow and fishing downstream), pollution and climate change. Drought is increasing in frequency and intensity, impacting vulnerable rural communities that lose their livestock, fish, fertile soil and forests, and this increasingly leads to conflict. Establishing a new network of 12 West African CSOs in Mali, Burkina Faso and the Republic of Guinea was one of the main achievements of PfR. These CSOs are active in climate forums in the African region and internationally. Bringing these organizations together laid the foundation of a network that can further advance the IRM agenda in Africa.


The West Africa regional programme gained momentum when PfR partners decided to organize exchange visits from Mali to Togo in May 2018 and later the same year from Mali to Uganda. These visits led to new insights and learnings. The Togolese Red Cross shared its experience with flood management, which can be replicated in other PfR communities.

SOME OF THE OTHER MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS FROM THE WEST AFRICA PROGRAMME ARE:

  • Lobbying to have IRM included in the Water Charter of the Niger Basin Authority. The 12-strong West African regional network, comprising the main organizations of farmers, fishers, and pastoralists in the region, will continue after the PfR programme ends in 2020, arguably making up a successful exit strategy.
  • The importance of IRM, ecosystems and community resilience in climate change adaptation is recognized by governments, including in Sahel nations, as a result of PfR participation in high-level dialogue on migration, land use and agriculture (press release).
  • PfR engaged with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to support the implementation of a cross-border contingency plan for Mali, Guinea, and Burkina-Faso. This includes the dissemination of the ECOWAS plan for DRR and discussions on a possible future establishment of an inter-state coordination committee for DRR.
West Africa
West Africa, Mali

MALI

At least 45 per cent of people in Mali live below the poverty-line threshold of US$ 1.90 a day, defined by the World Bank. All regions have been impacted by food insecurity due to the 2012 conflict and associated displacement. The main sectors of Mali’s economy are gold mining and agriculture, and it is vulnerable to price fluctuations. Crops are mainly rain-fed and pastoral farming is widespread. Floods and droughts are increasing in frequency and pose a growing threat to economic development and livelihoods. Climate change, population growth and environmental degradation are the main causes of increased disaster risk. Partners for Resilience worked with rural populations in Niger, Sourou and Senegal river basins, whose combined population is almost 2 million people – farmers, pastoralists and fishermen, among the most vulnerable communities and often hit hardest by floods and droughts.

COALITIONS ENSURE SOCIAL COHESION 

The Sourou, Inner Niger Delta, and Senegal basins are characterized by an abundance of grass-roots organizations with diverging interests, often lobbying the same decision-makers. Motivated by the ideas Walking alone in a fight is not productive and United we move forward, the Sourou, Inner Niger Delta, and Senegal basin populations unified their efforts and aligned interests. Supported by PfR they thought of ways to better organize themselves, which led to the formation of 130 coalitions comprising just over 700 community-based organizations of farmers, fishermen, pastoralists. Several factors contributed to this success: the effectiveness of administrative procedures, the inclusive nature of the approach, the commitment of members, the support of communities, and the relevance of the integrated risk management approach. The model of coalitions contributes to local development, regulating life in society and ensuring social cohesion to save lives. Furthermore, as community groups with different interests are now working together, the risk of conflict has been reduced.

“Following heavy rains and flooding in 2019, the coalition rescued the affected populations by evacuating them from the water and saving what they could from their property. The ability to respond in such a timely manner is thanks to PfR’s capacity strengthening support to the coalition members in the development of a Contingency Plan”
Moussa Diagne, the president of the coalition of the municipality of Kayes
In Fanta’s community, resilience means that women have rightful ownership of land  ©  CARE / Makmende media

In Fanta’s community, resilience means that women have rightful ownership of land © CARE / Makmende media

In Fanta’s community, resilience means that women have rightful ownership of land © CARE / Makmende media

RESILIENCE MEANS ACCESS TO LAND 

Fanta Bocoum is a 41-year-old mother of four living in Ouenkoro, in the Sourou Basin. She is one of the many women that PfR supported with resilient livelihoods. When Fanta became a widow, she was forced to abandon her land. This made her particularly vulnerable as land is the main means of food production. As droughts are expected to increase in frequency in the next decade, access to land will guarantee various underlying rights, such as the use and control of food and non-food resources. A lack of access to land for Fanta equals a lack of control over her family’s well-being. Through PfR, Fanta got involved in a women’s union and a community coalition that has been trained to advocate for land tenure. Fanta lobbied elected officials, traditional chiefs and landowners for changes to tenure and the allocation of land to women. “The land is everything to us. Without it, we cannot live,” she says. The mayor, landlord and the sub-prefect in her district then signed an agreement to transfer property to Fanta and other women supported by PfR in Ouenkoro. Now Fanta is an inspiration to many and is determined to continue her efforts. “I’m using my voice, and it’s working,” she said. In Fanta’s community, resilience means that women have rightful ownership of land. Watch this short film with Fanta.

“The land is everything to us. Without it, we cannot live. I am using my voice, and it’s working,” Fanta Bocoum, coalition member

Coalitions contribute to social cohesion, resilient livelihoods and reduced tensions.

The PfR Network partners

(Photo: Fulani woman selling milk in the Sourou basin © CORDAID)

Mali Key Indicators and areas of work
A Fulani woman selling milk in the Sourou basin © Wetlands Sahel

THEMATIC SECTION

““Bad situations only get worse without good disaster risk governance; COVID-19 has emphasized the importance of disaster risk reduction”

ANTONIO GUTERRES,
UN Secretary General on DRR Day 2020

Communty meeting in northern Kenya © PfR

Communty meeting in northern Kenya © PfR

Communty meeting in northern Kenya © PfR

From local to global level and across the various countries and regions PfR is active, common themes have emerged which are all contributing to building resilient communities. The identified themes are:

Multi-stakeholder partnerships:

  • working together in an integrated manner is essential to create mutual understanding and to create resilient solutions. Bringing stakeholders together across sectors, ensuring mutual sharing and learning, is a very effective way to strengthen peoples’ capacities and voice.

Working across levels:

  • ensuring that national and international policy makers understand what happens in communities, and ensuring that local voices are included in the international development debate is essential to bridge gaps and to ensure impact across scales.

Gender & inclusion:

  • disasters do not strike everyone equally—some groups within society are disproportionally affected due to their already vulnerable position. PfR ensures that a thorough analysis is conducted, to gain a better understanding regarding the specific needs of different groups, which helps targeting the disaster management planning.

Urban Resilience:

  • more than half the world’s population lives in towns and cities, a figure set to increase to around 70% in 2050. Promoting urban resilience, in line with the commitments set out in the New Urban Agenda and in SDG 11, is an increasingly important area of work for PfR.

Conflict:

  • around the world, local communities compete over sometimes scarce natural resources. Conflicts over water and land, between farmers, fishermen and pastoralists and with (foreign) investors are an increasing everyday business for the vulnerable communities PfR works with. Therefore conflict sensitivity is an integral part of PfR’s IRM approach.
PfR countries
Community members in Guiuan are using a risk mapping tool to identify their main disaster risks © CORDAID

Community members in Guiuan are using a risk mapping tool to identify their main disaster risks © CORDAID

Community members in Guiuan are using a risk mapping tool to identify their main disaster risks © CORDAID

Consultation with relevant stakeholders in Uganda regarding the Climate Change Bill © CORDAID

Consultation with relevant stakeholders in Uganda regarding the Climate Change Bill © CORDAID

Consultation with relevant stakeholders in Uganda regarding the Climate Change Bill © CORDAID

WORKING IN MULTI-STAKEHOLDER PLATFORMS

Working on strengthening resilience requires a multi-stakeholder and multi-dimensional approach in responding to the needs and priorities of vulnerable communities. Bringing together expertise, networks and interest groups to jointly work towards lasting solutions requires ambition and long-term investment. Therefore, in many countries, PfR developed and pursued new forms of partnership to respond to rapidly changing contexts and challenges through joint planning, acquiring new skills and transferring knowledge.

Philippines

In the Philippines PfR works with multi-stakeholder alliances in rural and urban areas such as in Manila Bay, Metro Cebu, Guiuan, and Tacloban to build communities’ resilience to climate and disaster shocks. PfR helped establish new platforms such as the People’s Alliance for a Resilient Jagobiao (PARJ) in the city of Mandaue (Metro Cebu). This platform convened over 20 local stakeholders, including community-based organizations (CBO) representing the urban poor, farmers, fisherfolk, church and vulnerable groups such as the elderly and people with disabilities, as well as local and municipal authorities and the private sector, jointly developing a resilience strategy based on risk assessments aligned with village development plans. PfR engaged local stakeholders at city and provincial level to scale up actions into a city-wide resilience strengthening strategy. In Mandaue, PfR strengthened the capacity of civil society to conduct integrated risk assessments, monitor and evaluate progress, and access government programmes and investments for strengthening resilience. PARJ is currently in the process of registration as a formal organization, and PfR supports PARJ’s organizational development.

Kenya/LAPSSET

PfR has become involved in the large Lamu Port, South Sudan, Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET) regional infrastructure project, aiming to facilitate economic growth in East Africa. Investments in Kenya are planned in Samburu, Laikipia and Isiolo counties. PfR has conducted community sensitization and consultation forums and held campaigns to raise awareness on potential implications of the project. PfR organized community groups to share their views and concerns to the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA). Local and national media were used to draw attention to the case. This all led to the halt of the construction of the huge Crocodile Jaw Dam whilst a full review of the impact assessment report is done. PfR has commissioned its own research through the University of Nairobi and is carrying out an investment mapping along the Ewaso Ng’iro river to get a better understanding of investments planned in the region and the possible impacts on the environment. PfR and NEMA agreed on key areas for collaboration and PfR continues to facilitate meetings with the communities and other relevant stakeholders. The ultimate aim is a new design that benefits all stakeholders and that strengthens the resilience of communities rather than undermining it.

WORKING ACROSS LEVELS

Collaboration between countries and across scales is needed to address cross-border issues of climate change, ecosystem management and disaster risk reduction. Ensuring that national and international policy-makers understand what happens in communities, and that local voices are included in the international debate on development is essential to bridge gaps and to make interventions more impactive. This twin orientation feeds practical experiences from countries up to regional and global levels, and conversely supports the implementation of global commitments at regional and country levels.

Country exchanges

In 2018 six of the ten PfR countries – Uganda, Philippines, Indonesia, Kenya, Guatemala and India – hosted exchange visits involving PfR staff and local partners, along with national and local CSO and government representatives. The main purpose of the visits was to promote mutual learning and exchange new ideas for enhancing policy dialogues and capacity strengthening, between key local CSOs and government, and to provide an opportunity for light-touch reflection. More details can be found in this multimedia report.

Bridging global developments to the local level in rural India

The Organization for Development Education (UNNATI) has been working in dry and water-scarce Indian states of Rajasthan and Gujarat since 1989. It has been a valuable partner of the PfR alliance by embracing ideas for better disaster risk management at the policy level. At the same time, it benefited from PfR knowledge after consultations on the Sendai Framework. In the Kutch district of Gujarat, where rainfall is getting more and more unpredictable, PfR inspired UNNATI to promote risk-informed development plans at the local level and to adopt a participatory approach in designing them. Through consultations with local government and communities, annual and five-year plans were created under the Gram Panchayat (local government) Development Planning process, laying out priorities for DRR.

Ensuring local voices are heard at the Africa-Arab Regional Platform for DRR

At the Africa-Arab Regional Platform for DRR in Tunis in 2018, PfR facilitated a dialogue that identified opportunities in the implementation of the Sendai Target E – to substantially increase the number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies by 2020. PfR presented an IRM gap analysis on the state of DRR strategy development in the Horn of Africa. Through field experiences in policy and strategy development, governments were motivated to push the implementation of Target E, while the African Union pledged to work with PfR on implementing it at regional level.

Uganda: from local to global

Kelle was just a child in 1986 when an attack from Karamojong pastoralists forced her and her family to flee from her home in the Lango region to a camp for displaced people. When Kelle’s community returned to their village the once-lush landscape around it had changed. The community had resorted to negative coping strategies like charcoal-making. PfR trained the community on the importance of preserving the swamps and planting trees, and Kelle is now a courageous and strong-willed 40-year-old farmer who grows rice and cassava. But the threat of climate change requires a concerted effort and national will. In consultations about Uganda’s climate change bill, PfR shared the experience of Kelle and her community in dealing with droughts. PfR lobbied for the bill to include gender as a priority and to ensure sustainable use of forests and wetlands, and now global and local knowledge are combined in the bill.

Short film about Kelle’s story of resilience.

(Photo: Uganda Painting shows the work across levels; different stakeholders are involved in consultations on the Climate Change Bill © PfR)

Uganda Painting shows the work across levels; different stakeholders are involved in consultations on the Climate Change Bill © PfR

INCLUSION AND GENDER

Disasters do not strike everyone equally. Natural hazards pose significant threats to all people, but especially the poor and most vulnerable are often hit disproportionally; marginalized groups are often neglected or under-represented within development and climate action. To increase awareness of the importance of including the elderly, people with disabilities, women, girls and children, and to guide practitioners and mainstream their inclusion in IRM practice and advocacy, PfR developed a Step-by-Step Guide to Inclusive Resilience. PfR also adopted various tools like the CARE gender marker and ways to mainstreaming gender-sensitive approaches. These examples of strengthening women’s organizations and working on transforming structures put women and girls at the forefront of resilience activities.

For Avani, resilience means that age and class are not barriers to engaging in and influencing the conversations that impact the future © Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre

For Avani, resilience means that age and class are not barriers to engaging in and influencing the conversations that impact the future © Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre

For Avani, resilience means that age and class are not barriers to engaging in and influencing the conversations that impact the future © Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre

India
Avani Bhojabhai Parmar is a young Dalit girl from Baniyari, Gujarat. In her region, livelihoods are threatened by a changing climate and environmental degradation. In the next ten years, life-threatening river and coastal floods, cyclones, heatwaves and droughts are likely to occur. PfR is active in Baniyari, organizing community meetings to assess risks, vulnerabilities, ecosystem services and capacities. Since 2018, aged 15, Avani has taken part in these meetings. While she began as an observer, she is now taking charge of conversations, mapping the hazards her community faces to help inform risk reduction.

Haiti
Youth are seen as important agents of change, and the Haiti Red Cross youth section mobilized and trained young volunteers on dialogue to protect the environment and adapt to climate change. The training, based on the programme Y-Adapt, is an educational curriculum promoting engagement on climate change adaptation, and young people involved are now active in their villages on environmental protection and climate change.

Guatemala
To ensure gender mainstreaming across all aspects of its work, PfR worked with the gender unit of the National Coordination for Disaster Reduction (CONRED) to introduce a policy for gender equality in 2016. To measure results, the alliance also contributed to the development of a five-year monitoring and evaluation system, with thresholds such as inclusion of a gender approach in 80 per cent of CONRED’s programmes, with 35 per cent participation of women within CONRED’s regional coordination units. The long-term impact is that women, especially from rural and indigenous areas, increase their resilience as gender equality is mainstreamed and evaluated in state policies, plans and strategies.

South Sudan
Discussions led by women were held in the Kinnaite Wetlands Working Group after difficulties in ensuring equal participation by women and men in official meetings. With war widows taking an active role in group, women’s voices are now being heard. In addition, PfR pushed strongly to incorporate gender in the revised disaster risk management policy and in strategic planning.

WORKING IN CONFLICT AND FRAGILE CONTEXTS

PfR works in contexts affected by conflict and violence. Their level and intensity vary across locations, often originating in disputes over natural resources and they
can also stem from factors like power inequalities and the marginalization of specific groups. It does not stop there.
All of these are present to different degrees in many locations where PfR works. Communities cannot achieve resilience without stability. Therefore sensitivity to conflict is an integral part of PfR’s IRM approach. In some situations PfR is directly contributing to conflict resolution by addressing its drivers. In 2019, PfR conducted research on how to address conflict within IRM by the Institute of Social Studies at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. At the same time, PfR recognizes that the link between climate change and conflict should get more global attention.

Mali
To prevent conflicts over resources, PfR invested strongly in coalition forming amongst different user groups of water from municipality to provincial level. This yielded positive results in the life of farmers, fishermen and pastoralists. The coalitions are well connected with the authorities. A reduction in conflicts between the different user groups over land and water can be observed in all areas of intervention. This is due to the creation of land commissions and fishing councils at district and village levels, ensuring collaboration between the coalitions, authorities and users. Usage and distribution of water is governed through, for example, fishing conventions which lay out agreements on where and how to fish.

“Since we established cooperation between user groups, our animals move freely and even stay in the other communities, without conflict.”
Amadou Cisse, Vice-President of the Djenné coalition
“In Baye, conflicts have become memories since the PfR programme arrived here. We solve conflicts between the different user groups out of court, using non-aggression and good neighbourhood agreements.”
Moumouni Sénou, the president of the Fishermen’s Union in Baye, Bankass

South Sudan
Kapoeta East is prone to communal conflicts over natural resources. Through discussions with local communities and authorities, PfR’s local partner Rural Actions Against Hunger detected reduced access of water which made herders seek it afar. Noting the close relationship between climate change, drought and conflicts, local communities were helped to construct a pond harvesting water that reduced shortages and eased the risk of conflict. Further efforts will be undertaken to coordinate with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on cross-border dialogues, promoting water harvesting and facilitating dialogue.
Resource: Enhancing Resilience in Fragile ind Conflict Affected Contexts

(Photo: Sobe village Women doing gardening a best practice, Inner Niger Delta in Mali © PfR)

Sobe village Women doing gardening a best practice, Inner Niger Delta in Mali © PfR

URBAN RESILIENCE IS A GROWING CHALLENGE

Urbanization is on the rise in many parts of the world: by 2050, 70 per cent of the world’s population will live in an urban environment, and the 600 major cities in the world are expected to provide 60 per cent of global GDP. Uncontrolled urban growth concentrates in low- and lower-middle income countries in Africa and Asia, and consists mainly of informal and unrecognized settlements. Uncontrolled urban growth creates pressure on the natural environment, which increases the risk or impacts of disasters like flooding, landslides and droughts, as well as heatwaves, particularly affecting vulnerable groups. PfR is addressing urban resilience specifically in Asia.

Working with multi-stakeholders alliance to strengthen urban resilience

In the Philippines, PfR works with multi-stakeholder alliances in Manila Bay, Guiuan, and Tacloban to build communities’ resilience to climate and disaster shocks.

  • To guide the future growth of Manila Bay, the Philippines and Netherlands governments are developing the Manila Bay Sustainable Development Master Plan. As part of a Dutch team of experts, PfR Philippines advocates for the integration of local voices, as well as social and environmental safeguards within the plan. Watch the movie Voices from Manila Bay to learn more.
  • After Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) devastated Tacloban in 2013, people realized that long-term strategies are needed for greater resilience. Restoring mangroves is one intervention to mitigate the impact of typhoons. To prevent disasters and loss of livelihoods, natural protection is being restored. Watch Building Mangroves in Tacloban to learn how local people contribute to mangrove restoration.
  • Guiuan was also hit hard by Typhoon Haiyan, which left a lasting impact on the community and its natural resources. Guiuan is vulnerable not just to typhoons and other extreme-weather events but also to the impacts of climate change, salt-water intrusion and sea-level rise. As a community, Guiuan recognizes that climate action is necessary to protect development sustainably. The story of Guiuan is captured in Guiuan, a resilient island.

Water as leverage for resilient cities in Asia

To tackle urban water-related challenges in an innovative and inclusive way, the Water as Leverage for Resilient Cities programme was created, aiming to propel Asian cities (and the world) towards climate resilience by delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. The programme includes Chennai (India), Khulna (Bangladesh) and Semarang (Indonesia) and is founded by Henk Ovink, Netherlands Special Envoy for International Water Affairs. PfR is an advisory board member and knowledge partner, working closely in Chennai and Semarang with CSO, communities, designers and other stakeholders to ensure that all voices are included, and that plans align and leverage local, provincial and national policies.

Urban heat and flood risk in India

India flash mob to inform New Delhi citizens about the danger of heatwaves and what to do about it © IFRC India

India flash mob to inform New Delhi citizens about the danger of heatwaves and what to do about it © IFRC India

India flash mob to inform New Delhi citizens about the danger of heatwaves and what to do about it © IFRC India

Heatwaves are an increasing climate risk in India, severely affecting vulnerable urban populations. PfR is improving the capacity of these populations to access and utilize heatwave information through heatwave flash mobs that directly target the vulnerable, especially people who work outside in markets and parks and even Delhi airport. They convey simple but life-saving messages. An instructional video was produced. Heatwaves are surprisingly deadly, killing thousands of people every year. The science is clear: heatwaves are getting worse because of climate change, but they can be forecast days or weeks in advance and action can be taken. Cities can also implement NBS, such as urban wetlands, to reduce urban heat island effects. PfR developed useful resources to ensure heat preparedness in urban areas, like podcasts, a City Heat Guide and an urban wetlands guide.

References and Supplemental Materials:
City Heatwave Guide,
City Heatwave Guide for Red Cross and Red Crescent Branches, 
Appendix on managing extreme heat and COVID-19.

Children playing around their houses In Manila Bay © PfR
People in slum areas in Chennai, India, are consulted for the Water as Leverage programme © PfR

People in slum areas in Chennai, India, are consulted for the Water as Leverage programme © PfR

People in slum areas in Chennai, India, are consulted for the Water as Leverage programme © PfR

Improved agricultural techniques © Haiti Red Cross

Improved agricultural techniques © Haiti Red Cross

Improved agricultural techniques © Haiti Red Cross

SUSTAINABILITY: LASTING IMPACT AND HOW THE WORK CONTINUES

This flagship report shows that the PfR partnership was successful in strengthening the capacities of civil society organizations to lobby and advocate for IRM, laying the foundations for longer-term engagement. Importantly, with its core focus on empowering CSO and community voices, the programme has been created to strengthen and sustain engagement by implementing partners to promote IRM at local, national, regional and global levels.

Adopting the IRM approach

A key determinant of sustainable impact is the extent to which PfR partners have adopted the IRM approach. There are many examples that demonstrate that local partners have not only adopted the IRM approach but have gone a step further and institutionalized it. One of the local partners in the Philippines, ACCORD is now comfortably engaging independently in national level advocacy on IRM. In India, all front-line Red Cross volunteers in Assam, Gujarat, Uttarakhand are receiving IRM training as part of the regular Social and Emergency Response Volunteers (SERV) curriculum. To date there are around 1,500 SERV trainees, including master trainers. In early 2019, the regional coalition in the Malian town of Mopti obtained its official registration and recognition which gives it not only a legal basis to operate and to lobby, but also facilitates partnership development with key stakeholders. In Ethiopia, IRM is mainstreamed in the regular bachelor and master of science programmes of Semera and Jigjiga universities.

These examples are supported by the final evaluation (Page 66), which concluded that

“the evidence shows PfR support has planted important seeds for sustainable engagements to promote IRM at different levels. This has created ownership and mobilized [local] actors to increasingly take leadership over lobbying and advocacy efforts for IRM.”

Continuation of financial contributions

According to the evaluation: “A key indicator of successful sustainable impact will be the ability and willingness to mobilize and allocate financial resources for IRM-related strategies and objectives.” PfR has successfully contributed to mobilizing resources at the national and regional level. In Kenya, local implementing partners have been able to attract funding from USAID, ECHO, the World Bank and the Christensen Fund to leverage grass-roots PfR resilience activities in additional counties. In the Philippines, PfR has supported a partner network to secure €2.2m from the National Climate Change Commission’s People’s Survival Fund to address food security, water management and coastal protection. In India, 90 villages in six districts in Bihar have been successful in leveraging more than €3m from government schemes for community-level disaster risk reduction measures. In 2019, PfR partners and the UN Environment Programme have started a three-year programme in Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Indonesia and Uganda worth more than 4m US dollars to focus on scaling-up eco-DRR interventions and promote its large-scale implementation.

These examples show that partners have adopted the IRM approach and that they are mobilizing funding, aiming to continue the work and build on the significant successes of the Partners for Resilience programme. Nevertheless, influencing policy and societal change generally requires a much longer time frame than five years (often decades), and the PfR team is now actively looking at how other programmes can support the IRM legacy.

LESSONS

PfR has invested in strengthening community resilience over the course of its life from 2011 to 2020, as this report shows. Its work on disaster risk reduction (DRR), climate change adaptation (CCA) and ecosystem management and restoration (EMR) resulted in concrete improvements to people’s lives at COMMUNITY LEVEL, STRENGTHENING THEIR RESILIENCE, all the way up to breakthroughs in overarching agreements contributed to on the GLOBAL STAGE.

This was done through input to coherent policies and regulations on disaster risk and development at national and provincial levels, in towns and cities, in river basins and watersheds, in Ethiopian woredas and Malian cercles, in gram panchayats in India, in Philippine barangays, with interventions that have improved the lives of millions in all ten PfR countries. Equally important are the MANY NETWORKS AND OTHER ALLIANCES of civil society, government and other stakeholders that PfR has contributed to under the IRM agenda. We call on all our partners to make use of these lessons:

  1. A long-term, consistent approach can break the vicious circle of poverty, risk and vulnerability, for millions of people living in areas most prone to disasters. For ten years, PfR comprehensively shaped its approach by applying a powerful concept and guiding principles, informed by local contact and stakeholders, to achieve direct improvements to people’s lives through to changing global policy directions to reduce disaster risk now and in future.
  2. Integrated Risk Management is the powerful concept that is now embraced far beyond PfR, taking root in national policies, sub-national strategies and local development plans, in knowledge, research and training institutes, and in civil society organizations and networks. It maintains focus on communities vulnerable to natural disasters (DRR), in future-proof natural landscape (CCA) and healthy ecosystems (EMR). It is applicable to large urban communities and small rural communities alike.
  3. Practical measures and the gathering of empirical evidence are instrumental to mobilizing communities and key stakeholders to take charge in the face of disasters, to inspire advocacy efforts for policies, plans and investments, and to turn development partners into trusted IRM protagonists.
  4. Civil society as third sector along with government and private sector is essential and able to play a pivotal and constructive role in influencing relevant stakeholders towards integrated risk management. We have found that this is most effective when:
  • CSOs and their partnerships have a solid constituency at community level with a reputation for contributing to concrete changes and empowering the most vulnerable people in communities.
  • CSOs develop competence in lobbying and advocacy suited to the goals they pursue through a combination of structured capacity strengthening and conscious learning-by-doing.
  • CSO partners at international, national and sub-national levels join hands and work across these levels, carrying community-level evidence to national and global policy debates, ensuring that global agreements are impactive to community level.
  • Government bodies and representatives are approached as allies. IRM champions are found and supported within their ranks, and their information and capacity needs are accommodated alongside those of civil society.

Continuous learning: nobody is perfect. Continuous analysis, learning and reflection is essential to further advance local ownership and leadership. The conclusions and recommendations from the external end-evaluation provide important directions for future work, especially in relation to the PME system, government stakeholders, the role of field staff and strengthening of the linkages across various programme levels.

PfR wants to carry its work forward with interested stakeholders to create a critical mass in addressing the environmental and climate crises the world faces. At the same time, we seek your support in addressing the challenges when it comes to:

  • Hearing the voices of the people most vulnerable to disasters and honouring their rights to life and livelihood in the face of population growth, increasing competition for and even conflict over land and water, and vested and unhelpful corporate interests.
  • Playing the civil society role in countries and areas where civic space is limited, and backing Communities’ claims to natural resources can be met with threats and insecurity.
  • Engaging with private and public sectors to ensure an Integrated Risk Management approach to investments, be it large-scale infrastructure affecting large numbers of people, or small and medium enterprises (SMEs) interacting with their natural environment.
Kids want to play, always and everywhere. However the sewer is broken, Cebu, Philippines  © PfR

Kids want to play, always and everywhere. However the sewer is broken, Cebu, Philippines  © PfR

Kids want to play, always and everywhere. However the sewer is broken, Cebu, Philippines  © PfR

RECOMMENDATIONS

For the major global policy frameworks, the following recommendations and calls to action are proposed:

Sendai (UNDRR)

  • Managing risks is key to strengthening communities’ resilience. While integration of the different fields and frameworks are being discussed at national and global level, there is a need for more efforts to find transnational synergies and ways to replicate success stories and good practices to deal with cascading risks, limit trade-off effects, and strengthen risk-resilient development.
  • The Convention on Biological Diversity should include a clear reference to nature-based solutions and eco-DRR and be integrated better in the SDGs, the Paris Agreement and the Sendai Framework. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration should be approached in an integrated manner and taken as opportunity to address the global environmental and climate crisis, thereby contributing to reducing disaster risks.

Sustainable Development Goals (UN)

Specifically SDG1, Target 5 and SDG17, Target 1

  • Governments, investors and donors should ensure that any development initiative is risk-informed and seeks to eliminate risks.
  • Governments, investors and donors should create politically and economically viable environments to enable the voices of the poor and vulnerable to be heard in processes that shape policy, investments and practices.

Paris Agreement (UNFCCC)

  • To implement the Paris Agreement, investments (financial and technical) must be strengthened to localize adaptation and resilience. This means ensuring the role of local actors in climate action is enabled, and that the people most at-risk are prioritized and included in decision-making.
  • Investment in disaster risk reduction and resilience building must be scaled up to tackle the climate crisis. Managing risk across timescales is critical; this includes better support for anticipatory approaches such as forecast-based financing, as well as investment in longer-term measures such as social protection. All actions must be aligned with national adaptation and mitigation and help build back better after COVID-19.

New Urban Agenda (UN-Habitat)

  • Perpetuating the concept of “informal settlements” leads to short-term and inappropriate interventions and reduces government accountability for inadequate social services in poor urban settlements. These conditions exacerbate poor living conditions for vulnerable people. Fostering and listening to leadership from the urban poor is critical for justice and for resilient cities.
  • Upgrading interventions should include the full participation of residents who bring their perspectives on what is needed for their community. Greater emphasis on nurturing local leadership and fostering this through community engagement and accountability, which is capacity strengthening in itself, can build strong collaborations with government as part of the new governance arrangements needed for cities facing risk and ongoing poverty.

ACRONYMS

AU African Union 
AWGCC ASEAN Working Group on Climate Change
CBO Community-based organization
CCA Climate change adaptation
CONRED (Guatemala) Coordinadora Nacional para la Reducción de Desastres
COP Conference of the Parties (UNFCCC)
CSO Civil society organization
DRM Disaster risk management
DRR Disaster risk reduction
ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States
EFCCC (Ethiopia) Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission
EMR Ecosystem management and restoration
FAO UN Food and Agriculture Organization
G12 Group of 12 (industrialized countries)
GFDRR Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery
GPDP Gram Panchayat Development Plan
GPDRR Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction
HVCA Hazard, vulnerability and capacity assessment
IFRC International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
IMPACT (Kenya) Indigenous Movement for Peace Advancement and Conflict Transformation
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
IRM Integrated Risk Management
KRCS Kenya Red Cross Society
LAPSSET (Kenya) Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport Corridor
MFA (Netherlands) Ministry of Foreign Affairs
NAP  National adaptation programme
NBS Nature-based solutions
NDC Nationally determined contribution 
NEMA (Kenya) National Environment Management Authority
PEDRR Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction
PfR Partners for Resilience
PWD People living with disability
REAP Risk-informed Early Action Partnership
SERV (India) Social Emergency Response Volunteer
SFDRR Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction
SME Small and medium enterprises
UNDRR United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 
UNNATI (India) Organization for Development Education
VSLA Village savings and loans association

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many people have contributed to this publication. 

A special thanks go to: Aditi Kapoor, Annisa Srikandini, Ayichalim Zewdie, Bart Weijs, Carina Bachofen, Dushyant Mohil, Edwin Kestler, Ibrahima Sadio Fofana, Indigo Janka, Jeroen Jurriens, Joséphine Meerman, Julie Capelle, Karen Stehouwer, Kim Ogonda, Linda Janmaat, Lucas Schott, Mahamuda Rahman, Maren Striker, Marlou Geurts, Merciline Oyier, Miriam Castillo, Rachel Kyozira, Raimond Duijsens, Rubeta Andriani, Sabrina Marquant, Sandra Cats, Sanne Hogesteeger, Stella Munyi, Thandie Mwape and Zeituna Roba Tullu. Final editing by Alex Wynter Design by Eszter Sarody

Published by Partners for Resilience, November 2020

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