WUNRN
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GROOTS |
Saving Lives and Livelihoods: Women Working
Towards Solutions for Disaster Resilience and Climate Change Adaptation Through
the Community Resilience Fund
In the face of climate change and increased
natural disasters, money has been pledged from governments, mulitlateral
agencies, and large NGOs to reduce risk an vulnerabilites and protect
livelihoods. Disaster risk policies have been drafted and initiatives
developed to help inforce early warning systems, building codes and standards
for safer schools and hospitals but conmmunities are continually left out of
the planning and implementation of these policies and are denied acesss to
funds to implement their own initiatives.
There are few mechanisms that address how
organized groups of poor men and women on the ground can particpate effectively
in national policy and programming. Yet, reducing risk and adapting to
climate change requires cooperation between community
based organizations and local authorities to implement the innovative
and effective solutions collective grassroots organizing.
At the UNISDR meeting in 2007 determined to
set standards for community inclusion in DRR, Huairou Commission and GROOTS
International joined with the ProVention Consortium to hold a high level workshop
that culminated in establishing targets for securing community funds for DRR
and facilitating resilience and advocacy networks that would fight for policy
support forthese approaches. This approach -- the Community Resilience Fund--
enables groups to access resources streams through a decentralized financial
mechanism, allowing groups to identify their own priorities and take actions to
reduce risks and vulnerabilities from disasters and climate change, and fast
track local HFA implementation in partnership with communities, local
governments and disaster management authorities.
The Community Resilience Fund (CRF) is
financially supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UNDP Gender
and the World Bank GFDRR, and is a mechanism to channel funds directly to
community based organizations and women's groups living in disaster prone areas
to support them to: a. Initiate and scale up strategies to reduce
vulnerabilities to disaster and climate change that empower women and promote
their leadership in development and decision making. Collaborate with local and
national governments to scale up and mainstream their solutions for disaster
risk reduction.
The Fund counters poor women's lack of
access to funds to create change in their community and puts resources directly
in the hands of grassroots women. With these funds, local community based
organizations exemplify good practices, link across communities and press
national programming to incorporate local initiatives.
The CRF is currently underway in 19 countries:
Multiple Entry points
·
Mapping risk and vulnerability (mobilizing,
negotiating tool)
·
Addressing food security
·
Securing livelihoods
·
Securing markets
·
Improving health and sanitation
·
Improving community infrastructure
eg.
·
Hand pumps, foot bridge, etc.
·
Upgrading / securing housing
·
Negotiating with local / national authorities.
·
Facilitating and training peers on
community risk mapping
·
Mobilizing communities
·
Raising resources
·
Managing and accounting for funds
·
Supervising construction of housing/ new
infrastructure
·
Transferring practices through training and
exchanges
·
Negotiating with local authorities
·
Training government / local government
·
Facilitating information flows
·
Partnering with government to design /
evaluate programs
·
Activities led by grassroots organization
such as mapping provide a knowledge base for dialogue, engagement and
action planning
·
Processes of grassroots women's
organizations are lifted up and streamed into government funded programs
·
Networking between grassroots
organizations, local authorities, and national ministries creates a critical
mass of leaders fostering community focused resilience building
·
Recommend Groups. Suggest an experienced
grassroots women’s group or community-based organization to participate in the
fund.
·
Become a Partner. Fund locally led,
pro-poor Disaster Risk Reduction and climate change adaptation mechanisms that
reduce vulnerabilities, poverty and close the gap between national programming
and local realities
·
Commit to Action. Call on policymakers and
institutional programs to designate a percentage of funds to community-led
action engaging CBOs to demonstrate the capacity and strength of locally led
DRR.