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Characteristics of a Disaster-resilient Community

The Project

DFID’s Conflict and Humanitarian Fund is funding six international agencies (ActionAid, British Red Cross, Christian Aid, Plan UK, Plan International, Practical Action and Tearfund) to work on disaster risk reduction (DRR) initiatives. The agencies collaborate with each other wherever possible to avoid duplication and ensure good use of resources and combined learning.

One area of collaboration is the development of a common approach to monitoring and evaluation (M&E), particularly at community level. Little work has been done on this, although national-level indicators of progress in DRR are being formally developed by UN agencies within the Hyogo Framework of Action 2005 – 2015 approved at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction in 2005.

The agencies therefore commissioned work to develop a set of ‘characteristics of a disaster-resilient community’ that can be used to help plan and measure the impact of community DRR projects.

Outputs

The project’s main output is ‘Characteristics of a Disaster-resilient Community’: a guidance note for government and civil society organisations working on DRR initiatives at community level.

The guidance note shows what a disaster-resilient community might consist of, by setting out the many different elements of resilience. It also provides some ideas about how to progress towards resilience. It can be used at different stages of project cycle management, particularly in planning and assessment, and monitoring and evaluation. It can also be linked to other tools used in DRR projects and research (e.g. vulnerability and capacity analysis). The guidance note is designed to support processes of community mobilisation and partnership for DRR but the findings of reviews and assessments carried out using the note may also have some value in advocacy work at local and higher levels.

• Characteristics of a Disaster-resilient Community: the resource
• Version 1 English (PDF)
  (low resolution: 0.4MB ¦ high resolution: 2.1MB)
• Version 1 Spanish (PDF)
  (low resolution: 0.5MB ¦ high resolution: 2.1MB)
• Version 1 Bahasa Indonesia (PDF)
  (high resolution: 2.2MB)
• Version 1 French (PDF)
  low resolution: 0.8MB
  
• Other project outputs
• Presentation: using the Characteristics to develop M&E indicators [0.3MB]. May 2008, by Jose Luis Penya.
• Presentation: introduction to using the Characteristics [0.5MB]. February 2008, by Jose Luis Penya.
• Hyogo and other indicator frameworks: convergence and gaps - Note to the DFID DRR Interagency Group [0.9MB]. Annexes [0.2MB]. November 2006, by John Twigg.
• A critical review of the Knowledge and Education Indicators of Community-Level Disaster Risk Reduction for the Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre [0.3MB]. April 2007, by Marianne Liebmann and Sara Pavanello, London School of Economics and Political Science.
• Bibliography on resilience and disaster reduction indicators [0.1MB]. Draft: June 2007, by John Twigg.

Phase 2: Field Testing the Characteristics

The first edition of the guidance note, published in 2007 in English and Spanish, is a pilot version, which is now being tested in the field by the project partners and many other international and national NGOs, government agencies and research institutions. It will be revised in the light of these experiences and an updated second edition, including new guidance on ways of using the ‘Characteristics’, will be published in the spring of 2009.

Everyone is welcome to download and use the ‘Characteristics’, and feedback is similarly welcome (see contact information below).

• Use of Characteristics in teaching (MSc and MA students). By John Twigg, Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre. Draft, February 2008 [0.3MB]
• Introducing Characteristics to DRR practioners working in rural Bangladesh villages . By Oenone Chadburn, Tearfund. Draft, January 2008 [0.4MB]
• Assessing capacity, skills and gaps of partners in Malawi. By Oenone Chadburn, Tearfund. Draft, February 2008 [0.5MB]
• Use of ‘Characteristics’ as part of a Disaster Risk Reduction Assessment in Pakistan/Afghanistan. By Maira Zahur, Church World Service. Draft, May 2008 [0.6MB]