Concern Worldwide’s Approach to Disaster Risk Reduction

Concern Worldwide

CONCERN Worldwide is an international humanitarian organization dedicated to the reduction suffering and

working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in

the world’s poorest countries.

Concern implements both emergency and long- termdevelopment interventions with poor communities in 30 of the world’s least developed countries.

Concern Worldwide in Bangladesh is the part of CWW and is guided by its policies and principles.

Concern and Disaster Risk Reduction

• On average 60,000 people are killed by ‘natural’ disasters each year and 250 million people are directly affected.

• There is a strong link between poverty and vulnerability to the impact of hazards.

• The countries where Concern works are particularly prone to hazards – many of them cyclical and of regular occurrence.

• The organizational Strategic Plan for 2006-2011 has highlighted the centrality of DRR to Concern’s mission to contribute to the eradication of poverty

• In 2005, Concern’s Emergency Unit prepared its Approaches to DRR paper.

Disaster Risk Reduction

• DRR is essentially about managing risk

• Risk is defined as the frequency of an event happening and its impact

• Magnitude of an impact is related to vulnerability

• To reduce risk you need to reduce the frequency, scale or intensity of an event happening…

• or reduce its impact

DRR measures

DRR measures seek to protect the assets and

livelihoods of communities from the impact of hazards by implementing mitigation, preparedness and advocacy measures that are based on a comprehensive risk analysis.

It is seen as key to underpin sustainability

of long term development programme.

.

Explicit Link to Livelihoods

• Livelihoods model provides a framework where DRR can be seen as part of long-term sustainable development work

• DRR needs to be mainstreamed into concept notes, programme design, monitoring and evaluation

Principles of DRR- Risk Assessment & Risk Reduction

Wider Context:

SocialEconomicPolitical Environmental

Wider Context:

SocialEconomicPolitical Environmental

Sustainable Livelihood Options

 Emergence of new livelihood activities;

Broadening of sources of food and income

Sustainable Livelihood Options

 Emergence of new livelihood activities;

Broadening of sources of food and income

Improved Livelihood

Security

Improved Livelihood

Security

Shocks & Stresses:

inter-acting

natural and man-made

hazardsThe Six

Capitals:

Human Social

Political Financial PhysicalNatural

The Six Capitals:

Human Social

Political Financial PhysicalNatural

   

  

  

   

   

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment are carried out to identify which hazards are more likely to occur and to have the biggest impact on a community’s or individual’s assets.

It has two distinct components: Hazard Analysis

Vulnerability Analysis

Risk Reduction

Preparedness activities seek to strengthen the capacity of:

– communities to withstand, respond to and recover from the impact of hazard

– governments, implementing partners and Concern to establish speedy and appropriate interventions when the capacity of a community is overwhelmed

Mitigation activities seek to reduce the frequency, scale,

intensity and impact of hazards

Advocacy seeks to favourably influence the social, political, economic and environmental issues that contribute to the causes and magnitude of hazards and their impacts

DRR Strategy of Concern in Bangladesh

• Community-based initiatives for

DRR in programme areas.• Mainstreaming DRR measures with

all development programmes. • Enhance capacity of partners for

effective and rapid response to emergencies.

Community-based initiatives

• Interventions will focus on climate-change related hazards (flash floods, seasonal floods and tropical cyclones).

• Aligned to national PRSP and aims to strengthen the capacity of existing local government institutions, specifically Disaster Management Committees.

• Implemented through six local partner organizations.

• Provide ‘micro-to-macro’ linkages.( for e.g., strategic partnership agreement with CDMP)

Mainstreaming DRR

In all the projects, DRR has been considered

during project design by identifying activities that will help to reduce risk from potential hazards.

Examples of project includes Haor Livelihoods,

Char Livelihood and Education. The examples of interventions are community –based preparedness & mitigation activities, contingency planning, training partners on DRR and emergency response, etc.

Emergency Response

• Intervention envisages to enhance capacity of the

partners for effective and rapid response through:

• Emergency contingency plans.• Organising trainings and workshops-need

assessments, humanitarian practices, principles and standards and DRR approaches.

• Facilitate partners to collaborate with the local DMCs for any emergency response.

• Technical support, mentoring and monitoring during emergency response

• Establish information systems on DMC functioning.