Women’s Leadership in Risk- Resilient Development: Good Practices and Lessons Learned

Purpose

This publication aims to shed some light on women’s capabilities to take leading roles in building disaster resilience. It features women as drivers of change in different socio-economic contexts, and under various gender conditions.

The publication includes case studies from 14 countries in Africa, Asia and Oceania. For each case study it looks at the initiative, its impact and results, the good practices, lessons learned and potential for replication.

Overview

  • Based on the success of the Girls in Risk Reduction Leadership (GIRRL) Project of the African Centre for Disaster Studies (ACDS), a project is under way in Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, adapting GIRRL to local contexts. Trained as leaders and resource persons, participating school girls have gained better social status and taken up leadership roles, serving as key Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) informants. The girls also identified potential hazards and encouraged DRR measures. Through them, gender equity is introduced into DRR work.
  • Following the Black Saturday bushfires in Australia on Saturday 7 February 2009, research was conducted to throw some light on what actually happens to women during a disaster and its aftermath in Australia. Based on its findings, a series of women-led actions and events took place, leading to many Australian ‘firsts’, of which the creation of Australia’s first Gender & Disaster Taskforce, a key body for advancing gender and disaster issues in Victoria.
  • Some remote coastal villages in southern Bangladesh are not yet reached by the country’s national disaster management system. In light of the above, Action Against Hunger (ACF) implemented a Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) pilot project in 10 villages, establishing a Village Disaster Management Committee (VDMC) and a Women’s Committee (WC) in each of them. When a tropical storm struck, shortly after the end of the project, the women put in practice the disaster preparedness measures that had been explained to them. They protected their lives and livelihoods, on their own initiative, without the intervention of the national disaster management system.

Usage: Learning from experience

Audiences: Technical staff, Gender and diversity practitioners, Volunteers

Reference: United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015). Women’s Leadership in Risk- Resilient Development: Good Practices and Lessons Learned (pp. 1-96). Available from: http://www.unisdr.org/files/42882_42882womensleadershipinriskresilien.pdf [Accessed: 23 December 2015].

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Lives Saved in Vietnam by Involving Women in Disaster Planning

UN Women (2014). Lives Saved in Vietnam by Involving Women in Disaster Planning. Impact Story (pp. 1-2)

Purpose

This document looks at the impact achieved by a UN Women programme that strengthens the role women play in disaster-risk reduction and disaster-reduction management in Vietnam.

Overview

  • Prior to the project, there were few women on the Committees for Flood and Storm Control (CFSC). Through the training of women in disaster management, as well as national lobbying – supported by UN Women, UNDP and other stakeholders – the contribution of women has been recognised. A government decree, issued in September 2013, provides an official space for the Women’s Union in decision-making boards of the CFSC at all levels.
  • Beneficiaries stated that due to good preparation and the detailed mapping that was developed in meetings before each storm, nobody in the village was killed or injured severely in the last storm season. They also discussed at meetings how to encourage people to harvest earlier before the storm season started.
  • A four-year-old boy was saved from drowning because his mother performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on him. She and another 120 women and girls learned this life-saving technique from the rescue and first aid training provided by the project.

Usage: Learning from experience

Audiences: Technical staff, Gender and diversity practitioners, Volunteers

Reference: UN Women (2014). Lives Saved in Vietnam by Involving Women in Disaster Planning. Impact Story (pp. 1-2). Available from: http://www.unwomen.org/~/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2014/un%20women_vietnam_us_web.pdf [Accessed: 23 December 2015]

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Download: http://www.unwomen.org/~/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2014/un%20women_vietnam_us_web.pdf

Audio Visual: Building Capacities – Gender & Diversity in Asia Pacific

Purpose

This video is one of five documentaries created to illustrate best practice in building community and Red Cross and Red Crescent capacity in a variety of cultural contexts in Mongolia, Australia, Nepal and Cambodia.

Overview

  • The capacity-building process involves communities identifying their needs, volunteers offering their time, staff coordinating resources, and domestic and international partners providing support where necessary. It ultimately helps the vulnerable better manage their lives, reduce the risks they face and improve their long-term health, well-being and livelihoods.
  • In Mongolia the Red Cross strives to ensure that the voices of groups such as the elderly, disabled and women-headed households, which will usually not be heard, are included in planning and branch activities.
  • In Nepal, involvement with Red Cross programmes have improved the lives of Nepalese women, especially in terms of challenges faced by them in the community, which limit their participation in discussions about decisions affecting them.
  • Many Cambodians have experienced social isolation, exclusion or discrimination in different forms as victims of the AIDS virus, war or sexual assault. The Red Cross empowers such people as volunteers to achieve new and appreciated roles in their communities.
  • In Australia, the Red Cross has increased its attention to the needs of groups who have been marginalised socially, economically and culturally.

Usage: Training; Guidance for project implementation

Audiences: Volunteers, youth, technical staff

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Download: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrkKBOPj2gg

Audio Visual: Let’s Talk about it – Gender Based Violence in Dzaleka Refugee Camp, Malawi

Purpose

This film describes Malawi Red Cross (MRCS) leading efforts, in partnership with UNHCR, to rally the Dzaleka Refugee camp community against Gender Based Violence (GBV).

Overview

  • Some of the challenges faced by women include abuse by their spouses, and unwanted pregnancies. Malawi Red Cross carries out GBV activities in two areas: prevention and response. In terms of prevention they conduct open days where they sensitise communities to the dangers of GBV. They also train committees to conduct education on GBV in the camp, in the languages spoken there.
  • The Malawi Red Cross tries to mediate cases of GBV, provides counselling to survivors and empowers women economically to earn a living. Upon sensitisation on GBV people are more open to reporting cases.

Usage: Learning from experience, Training

Audiences: Technical staff; Youth

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZItAqH_ntk

Reference: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. (2009). Let’s talk about it- Gender based violence in Dzaleka refugee camp, Malawi. Duration: 8.47 minutes [Online] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZItAqH_ntk [Accessed: 20th September 2015].

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Guidance on Including Older People in Emergency Shelter Programmes

Guidance on including older people in emergency shelter programmes

Purpose

These guidelines recommend five key action points for including older people in shelter programmes.

Overview

Understand the needs and capacities of older people: programme staff must be aware of the importance of collecting data on older people. They should be aware of issues such as demographic change, international commitments, good practice and lessons learned from other projects on the vulnerabilities and contributions of older people.

Ensure that older people participate and are represented: an age-friendly shelter programme provides older people with choices about how to live, chances to participate in society, and the ability to live in a community where their needs can be addressed affordably.

Target vulnerable older people: focus on older men and women who are single, isolated or abandoned; are caring for children; are the main family breadwinners; living with chronic diseases, disability, or mobility or mental health problems; belong to the “oldest old” group; older widows; older men and women who rank as the poorest.

Incorporate age-friendly features in both household and community shelters: to build suitable shelters for older people, a blend of modern technology and traditional preferences is recommended. To ensure that the technical requirements are met, adhere to national and international standards for durable and environmentally-friendly shelter construction

Promote coordination, cooperation and sharing: to ensure that older people’s issues are not neglected or forgotten, it is crucial to include older people, along with other vulnerable groups, on the agenda of shelter cluster meetings.

Usage: Guidance for project implementation

Audiences: Technical staff

A two-page summary of these guidelines is also available at this link.

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Download: http://www.helpageusa.org/download/4d7f5a8b98378

All Under One Roof – Disability-Inclusive Shelter And Settlements in Emergencies

Purpose

This document offers technical guidance for disability-inclusive shelter and settlement support in emergencies. Developed by IFRC, Handicap International and CBM, it draws upon guidelines from these and other institutions, relevant national and international standards, and the expertise of practitioners.

It aims to be a key reference for planning and implementation of shelter and settlements projects to ensure fully inclusive humanitarian action.

It includes case studies from the Caribbean, Asia and Africa.

Overview

Some barriers that prevent participation and equal opportunities for people with disabilities include physical, informational, organisational barriers and attitudes or stigma.  Pre-existing barriers can be compounded by crisis, while other barriers are created by an emergency and can result in new disabilities.

A checklist on preparedness can be found on pp. 36-37; emergency response, pp. 50-51; early recovery, pp. 64-65; standards for settlements, pp. 82-83; standards for shelter, pp. 98-99; emergency items distribution, pp. 112-113; inclusive beneficiary communications, pp. 130-131; and assisted self-settlement, p.139; and cash and vouchers for people with disabilities, pp. 152-153.

Usage: Guidance for project implementation

Audiences: Technical staff

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Download: https://www.rcrc-resilience-southeastasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/All_Under_One_Roof_-_Disability-inclusive_shelter_and_settlements_in_emergencies.pdf

South Asia Earthquake – Pakistan: Ensuring Gender Equity and Community Participation in Watsan Programme

Purpose

This case study looks at some of the activities and interventions that took place in communities affected by the earthquake in Banian Union Council in Battagram district, in northern Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province on 8 October, 2005.

Overview

Activities and interventions undertaken aimed to improve hygiene practices and behaviour while encouraging gender equity and community participation. They were based on the minimum SPHERE standards for emergencies and the Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation (PHAST) process. PHAST is a participatory approach that enables service providers to work with communities, helps people feel more confident and empowers them to make decisions on key hygiene practices and behaviour within the family and community.

Some of the challenges faced, in terms of providing sanitation facilities in Pakistan, were related to cultural practices. Lack of community consultation at the beginning of the intervention led to limited results. This situation radically changed when the community participation element was developed through the PHAST process.

Usage: Learning from experience

Audience: Technical staff

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Download: https://www.rcrc-resilience-southeastasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/2006Pakistan-casestudy-EN.pdf

Audiovisual: Older People and Disaster Risk Management

Purpose

Vietnam is one of the countries in the world most vulnerable to natural disasters. The country suffers from many disasters including floods, storms, tropical depressions, droughts and forest fires. This video looks at the challenges older people face in disasters.

Overview

  • In any disaster older people are among the most vulnerable. Many old people develop chronic illnesses such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and dementia. Many become disabled and dependent on help, and others become poorer and more isolated. These factors lessen the chance of survival for older people during disasters.
  • It is, however, not right to think of older people only as victims of disaster, they can also be resources. They are resourceful for their long experience, influence on decision-making and control of economic assets. Their knowledge of the pattern of disasters, traditional survival systems, appropriate technologies, and alternative medicines can be vital to the development of community coping strategies in and after crises.
  • The Red Cross tries to address the needs of older people in disasters in its Community Based Disaster Risk Management programme (CBDRM). It does this by involving them in all stages of the programme, from analysis to implementation. Involving them has led to positive changes in attitude, knowledge and practices of the community and leaders.

Usage: Guidance for project implementation, Training

Audiences: Technical staff; Volunteers

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhJgQ_wOOko

Note: The video is in Vietnamese subtitled in English

Reference: Netherland Red Cross Veitnam (20 December 2011). Older People and Disaster Risk Management. Duration 12.17 minutes [Online]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhJgQ_wOOko [Accessed: 22nd July 2016].

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Protecting Older People in Emergencies: Good Practice Guide

Purpose

This briefing draws on 14 field projects to highlight common challenges of supporting older people. Eleven of the case studies summarise the key challenges and most effective responses that the experts identified during their visits. The three remaining case studies – from Darfur, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Zimbabwe – draw on HelpAge’s own work in the field.

All the case studies demonstrate practical approaches that will help agencies increase the age-friendliness of their programming and make sure older people play an active role in their responses.

The overall aim of this good practice guide is to communicate ‘what works’, within a range of contexts, in order to promote protection initiatives for older people in emergencies that are truly inclusive.

Overview

  • This guide focuses on working practice in the following areas of humanitarian response: accessible shelter and latrines; livelihood support; access to food and accurate registration; strengthening family and community structures; better use of disaggregated data; appropriate healthcare; and mainstreaming age across clusters.
  • The examples of good practices shown in the guide have two key common elements: consultation with older people themselves and an appreciation that older people can play a vital role in developing and implementing their own solutions to the challenges they face.

Usage: Guidance for project implementation

Audiences: Technical staff

Reference: HelpAge International (2012). Protecting older people in emergencies: good practice guide. Pp. 3-8. Available from: http://www.globalprotectioncluster.org/_assets/files/tools_and_guidance/age_gender_diversity/HelpAge_Older_People_Best_Practices_EN.pdf [Accessed: 21st September 2016]

 

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Download: http://www.globalprotectioncluster.org/_assets/files/tools_and_guidance/age_gender_diversity/HelpAge_Older_People_Best_Practices_EN.pdf

Voices of Ethnic Minority Children – Participatory Video on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change in Vietnam

Purpose

This publication introduces the Participatory Video (PV) methodology as a tool to amplify the voices of traditionally excluded groups who are greatly affected by disasters. The publication outlines the steps involved in carrying out the PV process held in Vietnam in late 2010. It also highlights the lessons learnt from the project and provides recommendations.

Overview

The PV was held with the participation of 12 children (six boys and six girls) from two communes – Thuan and A Ngo. The resulting films were to be used in those communes and in 10 additional Quang Tri communes that are part of the DIPECHO-funded project for community and government awareness and advocacy.

The PV methodology supports an empowering process whereby community members become drivers of change and are empowered to act on local knowledge by creating information videos that can help them prioritise and express their needs. The participatory video methodology involves awareness-raising, capacity-building and people-centred decision-making processes which can be built from the local level, to district, national and international levels.

Usage: Training, Learning from experience

Audience: Technical staff; Volunteers

Reference: Tamara Plush & Nguyen Trong Ninh. Voices of ethnic minority children: Participatory video on disaster risk reduction and climate change in Vietnam. Plan International in Vietnam, European Commission Humanitarian Aid. Pp. 1-10. Available from: http://www.preventionweb.net/files/26509_26509planparticipatoryvideoindrrpro.pdf [Accessed: 19th September 2015].

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Download: http://www.preventionweb.net/files/26509_26509planparticipatoryvideoindrrpro.pdf