RESILIENCE THROUGH EMPOWERMENT Suranjana Gupta Huairou Commission Consultative Meeting: Global...
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Transcript of RESILIENCE THROUGH EMPOWERMENT Suranjana Gupta Huairou Commission Consultative Meeting: Global...
RESILIENCE THROUGH
EMPOWERMENT Suranjana Gupta
Huairou Commission
Consultative Meeting: Global Network of NGOs on Disaster Risk Reduction
ISDR
Geneva, Switzerland
October 2006
Huairou Commission
Created in Beijing 1995 Experimental partnership entity of grassroots
women’s organizations, NGOs, Donors, Local Authorities
Focus: Grassroots women and settlements 5 Global Campaigns: Governance, Secure Tenure,
HIVAIDS, Peace and Resilience Building Groots International taken the lead in this thematic
campaign
Key Elements of Our Approach1. Casting women in the role of partners2. Mobilizing community based organizations 3. Putting information in the hands of women.4. Creating safe spaces for women and children5. Making institutions responsive and accountable
to communities. 6. Restoring, diversifying and upgrading
livelihoods to collective enterprise7. Transferring innovations through peer exchange
How do we build resilient communities? Social networks, community based organizations
are strengthened Improved access to basic services eg. ASHAA Sustained participation in development:
continuous and refining of skills and knowledge enabling them to mobilize these in a crisis.
Institutional accountability to communities
Challenges in risk reduction programs Community resilience building is seen as
emergency response; one-time training Women are bypassed because social barriers
prevent them from public spaces and planning. Community involvement ends when projects end Capacities left behind in communities are usually
confined to “hardware” Difficult to get communities interested in disaster,
particularly where disasters are infrequent.
Groots-AJWSGlobal Initiative to Strengthen Community Trainers
1. Global network of women trainers in Asia and Latin America and Caribbean with expertise in :
Organizing and training disaster response teams Building federations of livelihoods groups to access credit
and markets Disaster safe construction teams Improving institutional accountability and access to basic
services Teaching other communities2. Refining community tools and methodologies for
transferring innovation
Why is this initiative exciting?
Recognition to grassroots women leaders as experts.
Opportunities for communities to reflect on and articulate practices and develop methodologies to transfer these.
Located on the disaster-development intersection, thus relevant to communities even when disaster is not an immediate concern
The potential to rapidly scale up community innovations in recovery and resilience
Using grassroots expertise to support
women’s participation in Sri Lanka 2007
Partnering with International Center for Sustainable Cities with funding from CIDA to mobilize women to plan and manage 3 women and children’s centers
Partnering with UN Habitat to enhance women’s participation in 5 cities
How can policy makers support community-driven, women centered resilience?
Set standards and operational guidelines for women’s participation in DRR.
Provide resources to integrate DRR with ongoing development processes and priorities of grassroots women.
Create a demand for community trainers pre and post disaster.
Convene forums which provide opportunities for communities to convey lessons learned to policy makers.