PROGRAM BRIEFEMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & RESPONSE IN AFGHANISTAN

Cultural and Religious-friendly Approaches to Building Community Resilience

Sensitization and Training for Emergency Preparedness, Response and Proactive Disaster Risk Reduction in the Nuristan and Kunar Provinces of Eastern Afghanistan

Given their considerable influence in shaping moral values and social practices, it is critical for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to work closely with local civil-society organizations (CSOs), religious leaders and religious institutions to enable the social and behavioral change necessary to effect proactive disaster risk reduction. Deliberate targeting of male religious leaders and female religious school teachers in awareness sessions, resulted in:

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> Increased acceptance and community participation in International Medical Corps emergency preparedness and response programs

> Increased physical security and safety of International Medical Corps trainers and project staff

> Further relaying and amplification of International Medical Corps-conveyed awareness messaging and knowledge transfer

> Community access for International Medical Corps to undertake transfer of capacity building in life saving skills

> Opportunities to pilot school safety activities in three religious schools in Kunar and Nuristan provinces, respectively

> Increased training of women and girls in Women’s Action Committees and girls schools

> Increased opportunity to develop trained frontline female First Responders

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Since 2011, with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA), International Medical Corps, in successive annual phases of its Emergency Response and Preparedness in Afghanistan (EPRA) Program, has contributed to the building of sustainable response capacity among at-risk communities and emergency First Responders.

BACKGROUND

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The EPRA program trains male and female citizens and youth (e.g. religious leaders, school children and women’s groups) at the community and district levels in pre-positioning, mobilization and distribution of non-food items (NFIs) and shelter supplies for life-saving activities during natural disaster and/or armed conflict related emergencies. EPRA also raises community awareness for disaster risk reduction (DRR) by increasing community preparedness and by enabling communities to be their own best First Responders. This brief documents the successes, challenges and knowledge gained from EPRA implementation.

Communities located in the remote and seismically active mountain valleys in the eastern provinces of Nuristan and Kunar are vulnerable to landslides and other hydrometeorological hazards such as avalanches and floods. Preparedness and response capacities at these provincial, district and community levels are generally low. This vulnerability is a consequence of a number of factors including but not restricted to: low levels of personal and community awareness of self-preparedness and readiness actions, inferior shelter construction, poor transportation and communication infrastructure, lack of critical health facilities, low availability of trained professionals, poverty, limited access to resources and ongoing insecurity.

This vulnerability is further complicated and compounded by prevalent and constraining social norms, cultural taboos, religious values, and men’s attitudes demonstrated by conservative traditionalist and radical fundamentalist communities. Under such circumstances, women and girls who make up 50% of the population of these communities, are often restricted in their mobility and access to basic resources. Furthermore, these communities typically have limited to minimal contact with local urban centers and neighboring

countries. When emergency response is required, isolated and stranded communities often cannot be easily reached to deploy relief resources. As a result of this vulnerability and inherently low community preparedness and response capacities, even small to medium scale occurrences of natural hazards result in high mortality.

Islam is the predominant religion practiced by 99% of Afghans and is a significant factor influencing daily life. Traditional associations, such as local councils (shura/Jirga), religious institutions (mosques), religious seminaries (madrassas) and religious leaders (mullahs and ulema) are influential entities that have historically played an important role in society and politics. Although both formal and informal institutions eroded during the war, and the political opinion of local civil society organizations (CSOs) is not homogenous, their influence on communities continues to be significant.

The Quran offers narratives and accounts of how Prophets and people of their time coped with diverse calamities such as earthquakes, floods, and landslides. International Medical Corps recognizes that the prescriptions of Islam are subject to diverse interpretations amongst reformists, traditionalists and ultra-conservatives.

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Plate 1: A participant shares his views during a training session for religious leaders at International Medical Corps’ field office in Kunar Province, December 2014

Plate 2: A religious leader explains disaster and preparedness from an Islamic perspective at an EPRA session, December 2014

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PROGRAM DESIGN AND APPROACHES

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During Phases I and II of the EPRA project, International Medical Corps successfully developed a linkage between communities, their leadership, governmental line agencies with the International Medical Corps Afghanistan team. Gradually building on this foundation, without challenging religious and cultural norms and values, International Medical Corps explored how best to develop interventions in isolated communities. These projects aimed to educate women and girls and students attending religious schools about the importance of disaster emergency preparedness and response. The project took a two pronged approach, by (a) introducing the EPRA to selected religious leaders through frequent and close dialogue and (b) engaging and building the capacity of female leaders at the district level e.g. Women Action Committees (WACs) and girl schools.

Under (a), 90 of the top district and local religious leaders were invited to the provincial center in Asadabad and were thoroughly oriented to EPRA’s program goals, rationale (why capacity building was needed in the eastern region), community benefits and prospective envisaged role for local religious leaders. Consultations were interactive and restricted to 30 participants per session. Participants offered constructive suggestions and were supportive, emphasizing that if the project’s activities were executed from an Islamic perspective, communities with deep-seated beliefs would also benefit.

Under (b), WAC members and girls in schools participated in training sessions in emergency preparedness and response, first aid, search and rescue, damage and loss assessments and dealing with persons with disability. These sessions generated high interest and were also well received. Trainings were undertaken from an Islam-sensitive perspective, and facilitated by female trainers in venues where female privacy was assured.

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SUMMARY RESULTS

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EPHRA Phase I July 2011-October 2012

EPHRA Phase II November 2012-October 2013

EPHRA Phase III November 2013-June 2014

EPHRA Phase IVJuly 2014 – July 2015

120 girl volunteers trained in 4 girls

schools on a pilot basis

210 girls volunteers trained in 7 girls schools

190 women trained in 13 training sessions in targeted districts

of Kunar and Nuristan provinces

330 women trained through 11 training

sessions in targeted districts of Kunar and Nuristan provinces

_ 120 girls received refresher trainings in 4

schools

60 male religious leaders were engaged

and sensitized in awareness sessions

on emergency preparedness and

response perceptions in Islam

60 male religious leaders were engaged

and sensitized in awareness sessions

on emergency preparedness and

response perceptions in Islam

Two years of brokered dialogue, interaction and confidence building

to facilitate acceptance and trust with communities and government and to pave the way for pursuit of inclusive programming specifically

targeting women and girls and religious leaders. Prior to this period, no female volunteers in schools, women’s action committees and religious leaders were considered due to cultural and religious

sensitivities

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> Future EPRA programs should give specific consideration to the design of capacity building interventions targeting family-level emergency preparedness in which women and girls are able to participate in community-based search and rescue (SAR); damage, loss and needs assessments; and cultural/religion-friendly first response for female disaster victims.

> Religious leaders can be important in bridging traditional knowledge (based on faith, beliefs, culture and history) with modern knowledge (based on science and evidence) and should be engaged in this context.

> Local religious institutions and leaders as well as communities can be instrumental in disaster response and recovery and can play a vital role in breaking down myths and fatalistic attitudes held by communities.

> Future phases should seek to focus on and further increase female participation in capacity building interventions and awareness campaigns. Specific attention should be placed on engaging teachers and students in female-only religious schools. Future phases should consider establishing separate relief distribution points for female-headed households under the supervision and facilitation by dedicated female field officers.

> An agency that intervenes in a community that is ignorant of local cultures and religious sensitivities can provoke extreme reactions. Early involvement of religious leaders can serve to mitigate tensions, improve relationships and assist in de-escalating, reducing and/or resolving potential for future conflicts.

> There is often overlap and similarity in the objectives of both secular and religious organizations e.g., in the objective “to save lives and reduce suffering”. Such commonality can, and indeed should, be explored in prospective program design for mutual benefit. This common objective can be realized by highlighting the elements of shared interest e.g. “Humanity is like a body and discomfort in any part can cause pain in the whole body”.

LESSONS LEARNED

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> Start with conducting awareness raising initiatives and familiarization and trust building exercises with religious leaders and faith-based civil society and educational organizations.

> Develop a participatory, faith/religious and culturally sensitive approach to program design and implementation.

> Consider acting as the focal point for facilitating and/or brokering multi-stakeholder dialogue between communities, their religious leaders, governmental agencies and other key stakeholders.

> Develop considered, phased, graduated, and incremental program development and implementation approaches.

> Work with religious leaders, faith-based civil society and educational organizations to determine the preferred and most effective communications, messaging and social behavioral change delivery mechanisms to reach their client populations.

> Better understand the role of local mosques as trusted religious institutions influencing public opinion, how they work and the opportunity to leverage their influence in connecting with and convincing communities of the need to strengthen disaster risk management at the ground level.

> Explore the opportunity to partner with or leverage faith based charity financing (e.g. Zakat) for community-based DRR and resilience projects. Such resources are known to have been significant in humanitarian donor pledging for the 2004 Indonesia tsunami and the 2005 Pakistan earthquake.

> Working with religious leaders, develop unambiguous messaging based on local religious texts to highlight the importance of sustainable disaster management and explanations of the disaster risk management cycle and its phases.

> Work with religious leaders and their institutions to develop and strengthen committees with specific roles and responsibilities based on needs identified in pre-, during and post disaster phases. Such committees can play a pivotal role in disseminating early warnings, alerts, engaging volunteers in awareness campaigns, preparedness, relief responses, evacuation and reconstruction activities.

International Medical Corps is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs. Established in 1984 by volunteer doctors and nurses, International Medical Corps is a private, voluntary, nonpolitical, nonsectarian organization. Its mission is to improve the quality of life through health interventions and related activities that build local capacity in underserved communities worldwide. By offering training and health care to local populations and medical assistance to people at highest risk, and with the flexibility to respond rapidly to emergency situations, International Medical Corps rehabilitates devastated health care systems and helps bring them back to self-reliance.

www.InternationalMedicalCorps.org

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