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.