Screen 1 of 20 Vulnerability Vulnerability Assessment LEARNING OBJECTIVES Define the purpose and scope of vulnerability assessment. Understand how vulnerability

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VulnerabilityVulnerability Assessment

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Define the purpose and scope of vulnerability assessment.

Understand how vulnerability assessment relates to early warning monitoring activities, food security response planning and national policy and programme development.

Identify the criteria to select among the tools available for conducting vulnerability assessments.

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INTRODUCTION

• how the concept of vulnerability is applied in practice to conducting Vulnerability Assessments (VA); and

• how the assessment results can be useful in decision making.

This presentation explains:

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INTRODUCTION

VA -> emphasis on the constantly changing conditions faced by households.

Vulnerability analysis is not a single or standard measurement system.

It brings together different data sets to investigate causes of food insecurity and predict changes over time.

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From analysis to action

THE VULNERABILITY FRAMEWORK

VA methods share a common conceptual framework.

Vulnerability analysis

Situational Analysis

Assessment of risks/hazards

Assessment of Risk to food insecurity

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THE VULNERABILITY FRAMEWORK

There is no single way to undertake a vulnerability assessment.

Many different methodologies have been applied to the task.

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Administrative zone

LEVELS OF ASSESSMENT

Vulnerability Assessment can be conducted at multiple levels:

Community

Household

Individual

Within a livelihood zone

National or global level

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LEVELS OF ASSESSMENT

There is also a considerable amount of interaction between the different methods.

The methods used for data collection and analysis will be adapted according to the level of assessment used.

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VULNERABLE GROUPS

A common feature of many vulnerability assessments is the identification of vulnerable

groups.

Groups of people with shared characteristics:• of demographic nature;• location specific; or• occupation specific

Who and how many people are vulnerable. Where they are. Why they are vulnerable.

•

•

Such vulnerability profiles indicate:

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VULNERABLE GROUPS

Understanding these variations plays a key role in identifying interventions and targeting those that are most vulnerable and excluding the less vulnerable.

The nature and extent of vulnerability varies amongst social groups.

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VULNERABLE GROUPS

We have found that not all members of the defined vulnerable group are equally vulnerable. Some women-headed households have far greater assets than the poorer male-headed households...

The criteria used to determine inclusion in our programmes excludes many of the newly vulnerable. For example the farm workers who have lost their jobs do not qualify for assistance.

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USES OF VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT

The main situations where vulnerability assessment can be usefully applied are:

• Early Warning System (EWS)

• Emergency Programming

• Risk & vulnerability reduction

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Primary purpose of an EWS -> to monitor the incidence of shocks in order to give timely warning to decisions makers.

Early Warning System

Establishing an EWS to monitor the incidence of the large number of shocks that could negatively affect FS would be expensive.A risk and vulnerability assessment can provide an estimation of the most important shocks and hazards for a location or population group.

This information will help an EWS manager to prioritize which hazards and shocks to monitor in a specific area.

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In the context of emergency programming, VA is closely related to strengthening ex-post coping mechanisms.

A VA can provide the context to predict the impact of shocks and hazards, and forecast the probable FS impacts.

In this case the emphasis is on predicting the FS outcome.


Emergency ProgrammingIt helps to prepare an emergency response to a specific shock.

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This analysis can be used to formulate, fine tune or review either programme or project level activities or strategies and policies.

It primarily supports recommendations for medium and longer-term interventions to strengthen ex-ante risk management, in both development and emergency programming.

In this context the emphasis is on analysing the causal factors underlying vulnerability to food insecurity. The focus is on present livelihood characteristics, risks and interventions.


Risk & vulnerability reduction

It guides the design of interventions to reduce people’s long-term vulnerability.

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RISK MANAGEMENT TERMS

Risk management terms:

Prevention

Mitigation

Coping

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There is no such thing as a standard “vulnerability assessment methodology”. A multiplicity of purposes for VA has resulted in a multiplicity of VA methods.

SELECTING THE RIGHT METHOD

Within vulnerability assessment there is an enormous diversity of objectives and analytical approaches.

• VA is not a single method

• VA is not is not necessarily a distinct analytical process

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In conducting a VA, the starting point should be clarity on the purpose or objective, of the analysis.

From this it is possible to identify a typology of approaches to VA and the methods that can be used.

EARLY WARNING SYSTEM

EMERGENCY

PROGRAMMINGRISK &

VULNERABILITY REDUCTION

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Ultimately the choice of vulnerability assessment method will depend on a variety of institutional and technical considerations.

Technical issuesInstitutional issues

• Institutions participating in and responsible for the assessment.• Their organizational mandate and response capacity.• Decisions to be taken as a consequence of the assessment

• Data and information available.

• financial resources available.

• skills possessed by the analysts.

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Within the USAID FEWS Project, VA was initially used to help place its famine early warning indicators in their proper socioeconomic context, as a means to improve the interpretation of those indicators.

However, the purpose of VA has evolved from:

Case study: How methods are adapted to institutional needs

• developing a more informed basis for predicting severe episodes of food insecurity; to• targeting the most food insecure and vulnerable populations and monitoring their situation over time.

Methods were explicitly chosen/developed to answer these questions.


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SUMMARY

Vulnerability Assessment can be used to describe an analysis of different parts of the overall problem of why people may become food insecure in the future.

Vulnerability analysis starts by assessing the current level of food security, and then incorporates the elements of risk and risk management into an analysis that is more forward-looking and dynamic.

The main applications of vulnerability analysis are to:• provide a context for early warning;• improve emergency response planning; and• lead to long-term reductions vulnerability and food insecurity through development interventions.

There is no one analysis approach or method, and the selection of an appropriate technique will depend on a mix of institutional and technical considerations.

Documents

Screen 1 of 20 Vulnerability Vulnerability Assessment LEARNING OBJECTIVES Define the purpose and scope of vulnerability assessment. Understand how vulnerability