A global review of disaster reduction initiatives - Welcome to the ...

ter. By working together with communities,CDRN has developed strategies to enhancepeople’s capacities through community organizing,forming village-level disaster response committees,developing local early warning systems,organizing rescue teams and diversifying localsources of livelihoods. Receiving little externalsupport from donor agencies, it has reachedhundreds of villages and initiated communitybaseddisaster mitigation initiatives.Case: BangladeshTo reduce the vulnerability of flood-prone communitiesin the Tongi and Gaibandha municipalitiesof Bangladesh, CARE Bangladesh hasadopted a community-based approach workingin collaboration with partner NGOs in themunicipalities and with the Disaster ManagementBureau of the Government of Bangladesh.This urban disaster mitigation project, fundedby OFDA/USAID and managed by ADPC’sAsian Urban Disaster Mitigation Programme,began by motivating community volunteers toconduct baseline surveys and vulnerabilityassessments. Through this initial activity, differentcommunity groups recognized the importanceof their joint community participation andhow each could contribute to practical riskreduction activities. This project emphasized theimportance of promoting hazard and riskawareness among community groups andsought to involve collaborators in other subjectareas by placing community-based disaster riskmanagement issues on the political agenda.Since 1998, in order to promote communityawareness about the value of disaster risk reduction,the government of Bangladesh has designatedthe last working day of March as NationalDisaster Preparedness Day. In 2001, thisnational day was organized jointly by the Tongiand Gaibandha Municipality Disaster ManagementCommittees, CARE Bangladesh andother partner NGOs.Case: ZimbabwePolicy and public commitment: the foundation of disaster risk reductionstrengthen drought mitigation in Zimbabwe.The current members, ENDA, ORAP,ZFFHC, World Vision and Zimbabwe Projectsstrive to implement joint communitybasedrisk reduction projects, conduct publicdebates on drought mitigation, and produceand distribute the Living with Drought newsletter.These efforts seek to share lessons that havebeen learned and recent scientific researchresults related to disaster reduction. Meetingsare also convened between rural farmers, scientistsand innovative farmers.A similar regional network is the anticipatedSouthern African Drought Technology Network. Itwill work to facilitate the sharing of informationamong small-scale farmers, NGOs and community-basedorganizations working with ruralfood security, agricultural research institutions,agricultural extension work, and agribusinesson drought-coping strategies that are responsiveto the needs of the rural poor. Communitybaseddisaster risk reduction initiatives are welldeveloped in Zimbabwe, but documentation ofsuccessful practices must still be improved. Itwill be important to complement this with furtherresearch to feed into the national disastermanagement plans and strategies.Case: GermanyThe Community Action Group for Floodwater inthe Old Community of Rodenkirchen (BürgerinitiativeHochwasser, Altgemeinde Rodenkirchen) isa non-profit association in a district ofCologne, founded after the severe flooding ofthe Rhine River in 1993 and 1995. This self-“We are convinced that protection against flooding canonly be successful in the long-term if all inhabitantsalong the river perceive themselves as a communityworking in solidarity with each other. As we ourselveshave experienced with our own considerable efforts andthe many setbacks we have suffered, acting togetherdoes not come naturally but, rather, it is a product ofknowledge, experience and conviction, mediatedthrough communication – and this is best achievedthrough personal contacts.”3The Community Drought Mitigation Partners’Network is an NGO network chaired by thelocal NGO SAFIRE and aims to promote andSpeaker for Community Action Group for Floodwater in theOld Community of Rodenkirchen, Cologne, Germany145