a level up | radar Report SHOWS raised resilience
Our review of a four-year disaster risk management (DRM) programme in Bangladesh’s north-western district of Gaibandha shows that flood-prone communities have moved ‘a level up’.
On the resilience radar, the overall resilience score increased from a medium-level 0.57 in 2017 to a high-level score of 0.75 in 2021. Major improvements were observed in disaster preparedness (+86.8%), water & sanitation (+43.8%) and connectedness (+34.5%).
The new report for Swiss Red Cross (SRC) is based on base- and endline radar surveys as well as many qualitative tools. The longitudinal comparison of resilience patterns through resilience radar and resilience star is a global first, and shows that resilience can be measured as part of base- and endline surveys with relative ease.
The results highlight the effectiveness of the DRM programme: with robust needs assessments, close relationships of trust with communities, and a strong concept to better link communities with authorities and government agencies, the team of SRC and Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) succeeded in elevating resilience.
The report highlights numerous technical achievements, such as the making latrine coverage (99.2%, up from 56.1%) and the reach of early warning systems (97.5%, up from 61.1%) almost universal.
Considering implications for wider resilience programming, the team’s approach to connectedness is particularly promising: it successfully promoted participation in democratic engagement processes as well as the utilisation of government social safety nets (recipients of benefits more than doubled). Institutionally, it improved both vertical and horizontal linkages.
Read the full report here to learn more.
DRR & Covid-19 in africa | GUIDANCE from the field
How can you pursue DRR efforts in times of a pandemic while also addressing new needs? This was one of the key questions at the Africa Regional Workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction that we facilitated in late 2020 for German Red Cross (GRC).
Funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, the workshop was brought to life by practitioners from 10 countries. Their answers to practical challenges were inspirations, and showed their ingenuity at quickly adapting to the changing context.
After covering common challenges and issues in week 1, participants presented case studies of their approaches in week 2. They selected the top six studies, which are included in the report. They include the roll-out of soap and mask production, tippy taps as well as ways to reduce risk and adapt to climate change (for instance by creating the half-moons pictured on the report cover), and many others.
Have a look at the report and learn from six successful practices of participants.
The Blue Guide | Reduce risk with nature
To reduce hazard exposure and the risk of escalating disaster losses amongst coastal communities, the scale and scope of future DRR needs a boost.
Nature-based solutions (NbS) — such as the preservation and rehabilitation of reefs, seagrass and mangroves — are well-suited to reduce exposure, while bringing many other benefits for communities at the same time. In most contexts, they are also more cost-effective than ‘grey measures’ such as dams and seawalls.
Asked by The Nature Conservancy to develop the Blue Guide for Coastal Resilience, we had the DRR practitioner in mind.
The Guide is short and structured in eight practical stages that align with the DRR project cycle. We kept the main text to the essentials, and added many tools and case studies in a rich appendix. These help you with stakeholder mapping, the identification to the most suitable solution for your context, and offer all required resources to train others. The Guide is also interactive - you can easily ‘jump’ through the different sections via the top menu bar and other navigation features.
See for yourself. Go to www.natureprotects.org and download the Blue Guide via the bottom of that page.
Start reducing risk with nature.