The Partner for Resilience (PfR) is an alliance of five Netherlands-based humanitarian, development, and environmental organizations, and our local and national partners. We possess varied expertise: disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, and ecosystem management and restoration. We strive to combine our individual expertise to bring lasting improvement in the lives of the most vulnerable in society – these include the communities who are at high risk of being affected by natural hazards, as well as those who live in conflict areas.

In the full document, you will also be able to read about PfR’s:

 

View, read, and download the full briefer here.

Partners for Resilience

Disasters have strongly increased in both frequency and impact, with climate change as one of the main contributors to more extreme, frequent, and unpredictable weather. Degradation and loss of ecosystems intensify natural hazards. Combined with the high vulnerability of communities in the Global South, this leads to increased disaster risk. Despite these many challenges, there are solutions to create a sustainable future. When provided the necessary resources, communities mobilize to adapt to and prepare for increasing risks. In Partners for Resilience, CARE works to reduce disaster risk by increasing community resilience – enabling people to bend and not break in the face of adversity.
The poorest people in the most vulnerable countries suffer disproportionately from disasters and climate change impacts. Disasters wipe out
hard-won reductions in poverty, and communities are caught in a vicious circle where poverty creates vulnerability, and disasters and climate change impacts increase poverty. To ease this situation, the Partners for Resilience program reduces the impact of hazards on vulnerable communities in the South.

Partners for Resilience (PfR) is an alliance of the Netherlands Red Cross, CARE Nederland, Cordaid, the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre and Wetlands International. The name originates in the fundamental belief of its five members in the central role of resilience as the way to deal effectively with disasters. PfR uses an integrated approach, called Integrated Risk Management (IRM), to mitigate disaster risk and enhance livelihoods, particularly by addressing climate change and ecosystem management and restoration. PfR is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Integrated Risk Management

CARE defines Integrated Risk Management (IRM) as the systematic process of reducing disaster risks through anticipative, absorptive, adaptive, and transformative actions, taking into account the effects of climate change and the role of ecosystems. It addresses the drivers of risk, the capacities and assets of communities and individuals, and their enabling environment.

This Publication

In this publication, CARE aims to highlight how the implementation of an Integrated Risk Management approach leads to social transformation and more resilient communities that are well prepared to deal with a diversity of shocks and challenges. The protagonists are the people themselves, sharing how their lives and the lives of members of their communities have improved. These stories are expanded upon with examples of CARE’s work within PfR in each country.

 

View, read, and download the full document here.

Excerpt: Introduction

Climate change is increasing the risk of extreme events and disasters.1 While disaster risk reduction (DRR) offers an important opportunity to adapt to current climate variability, in order to be successful, DRR efforts must also take into account changing climate‐related risks in the medium to long term. Many national climate change adaptation plans consider the need to plan over various timescales and acknowledge the essential role of local communities2 in addressing these changing risks. The Minimum Standards for climate‐smart disaster risk reduction were created to serve as an essential bridge between national climate policy and local capacities for DRR. The standards are not idealized solutions, but rather practical approaches to implementing climate‐smart DRR activities in a way that is achievable by many communities with relatively limited external support.

The Minimum Standards are presented in two tables: The first table outlines standards meant to guide local leaders, oftentimes selected by their community (e.g. Red Cross local disaster preparedness volunteers), to inform and facilitate resilience building across the wider community. The second table focuses on the role of national and provincial civil society organizations (CSOs) in providing supplemental guidance for improving the flow of information between various types of scientific ‘knowledge centres’ and vulnerable communities, to enable implementation of climate‐smart DRR. For local actors and their counterparts in CSOs, the Minimum Standards are intended as a practical tool, allowing them to integrate changing climate risks into their efforts to support communities reduce risk to extreme events and disasters. When the Minimum Standards are met, local DRR actions can be considered to be climate-smart and contribute to climate change adaptation. This lends importance to the Minimum Standards for national actors as well, who may use the standards to guide integration of community‐level action on DRR into national adaptation and climate risk management strategies. National strategies that consider these standards will be able to go to scale, knowing that they are realistic and achievable. Overall, these standards provide assurance that DRR goes beyond business as usual and truly addresses changing climate‐related risks.

The minimum standards are based on ample local experience and consultation, including lessons learned during the first years of the Partners for Resilience program, the largest program of its kind focusing on local‐level climate‐smart DRR. The Minimum Standards are a living document that should continue to be
discussed, tested, revised and validated through local‐level activities around the world.

 

View and download the full document here.

A couple of years ago, the Philippines made headlines around the world as Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest storm recorded, smashed ashore and tore through the Visayas. Within 24 hours, Haiyan battered and wiped out almost everything along its path, leaving behind its wake millions of people homeless, and thousands lifeless. The full document details how communities were slowly starting to reap the sowed resilience two years after the typhoon.

While the scale and strength of Haiyan is unprecedented even in a disaster-prone country as the Philippines, disasters like this are becoming more frequent, destructive, and unpredictable as a result of climate change and ecosystem degradation. Disaster upon disaster, vulnerable communities are pushed deeper into poverty. They are ones who face the vicious cycle of destruction and reconstruction. Their vulnerabilities are magnified, and their developments stalled. It is therefore not enough for communities to recover from Haiyan’s destruction. They must be able to withstand, adapt to, and recover from disasters. It is imperative that they start rebuilding towards resilience.

In the immediate aftermath of Haiyan, ACCORD in partnership with CARE, drew opportunities from lessons brought by Haiyan to cultivate resilience. From the onset, seeds of resilience were sown where possible, both in the form of material assistance and building local capacities, and embedded in integrated response, recovery, rehabilitation, and risk reduction programmes for Haiyan-affected areas.

Two years on, much remains to be done, but vulnerable communities are beginning to reap the fruits of resilience.

 

View, read, and download the full document here.

This document is a compilation of various inputs to the Sunset Review of Republic Act 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction Management Act of 2010.

The Partners for Resilience (PfR) Alliance has been working since 2011 to reduce the impact of natural hazards on vulnerable people in nine countries globally by the Netherlands Red Cross, CARE Nederland, Cordaid, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre and Wetlands International, and our many local partners.

In the Philippines, PfR is being implemented by the Philippine Red Cross, Assistance Cooperation for Community Resilience and Development (ACCORD), Afri-Aqua DEvelopment Coalition (AADC), Cordillera Disaster Response and Development Services (CorDisRDS), and Corporate Network for Disaster Response (CNDR) in at least 44 barangays across 8 municipalities and 2 cities; in 4 provinces; in 3 regions. Technical support is also being provided by the IIRR, Wetlands International, and the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre.

The PfR approach, methodology, and tools are being applied by implementing partners in other programming initiatives including relief and recovery projects in Yolanda-affected areas and disaster risk reduction initiatives in other high-risk areas in the country.

We are one with the national government and with all our partner communities and LGUs in advancing the national and local DRRM strategy. We are prepared to assist the governing agencies in developing the most appropriate strategy for the country. Together with all those who work for national and community-level resilience, including the community members themselves, we aim that this review will establish the long-term strategy for an integrated DRR in the Philippines.

 

Successes of RA 10121

It helped strengthen the country’s DRRM system and provide a national DRRM framework and institutionalize the national DRRM plan

It has guided the country’s paradigm shift from being reactive towards proactive approaches and strategies in addressing disaster and climate risks

It had spurred local government units to better prepare for emergencies and steered them towards a course that equitably gives importance to response, rehabilitation and recovery, preparedness, and mitigation and prevention.

Read more about key propositions, specific recommendations, and suggested texts in the complete document.

View and download the full document here.

Excerpt: Foreword

The core of our mission is to save and preserve lives. One of the ways to do so effectively is to empower people and communities as well as governments, when feasible, to be better prepared on how to respond and protect themselves in the face of crises. Preparedness for response is a critical element for resilience. And the earlier and the more local a response is, the more effectively it can save lives.

DG ECHO has supported capacity building in preparedness for response for over two decades through dedicated actions and funding. As the sample of so many different experiences in this compendium demonstrates, the variety of our work has been significant – from strengthening mechanisms to alert the population if a cyclone is approaching, to promoting people’s awareness on hygiene measures to prevent the spread of communicable diseases or strengthening the capacity of local authorities to assist people in displacement due to a disaster or conflict.

Through the years, our work has continuously adjusted to the evolving nature of the crises and the needs they generate, preparing to respond to natural hazards but also to violence stemming out of conflict or social tensions. Moreover, as climate change is increasing the severity and frequency of extreme weather events, DG ECHO is increasingly promoting ways of working that help anticipate these events – thus allowing to act earlier, before a disaster happens save more lives and increase resilience.

We have learned and achieved a lot in our long engagement in preparedness, since the start of the Disaster Preparedness (DIPECHO) programme in 1996 until now. We want to build on this experience to increase the coherence, effectiveness and timeliness of our work in preparedness. We want to better address emerging risks from climate, fragility and conflict and fully embed preparedness in our humanitarian mandate. It is in this spirit that DG ECHO is currently renewing its approach to preparedness that will consolidate in a new guidance as of 2021.

Let me conclude by saying that we could not save lives without our partners. Our gratitude goes to them for tirelessly working to put all this in practice and propose innovative solutions. We look forward to continuing our cooperation for a world that is better prepared and hence, more resilient.

Ms Paraskevi Michou
Director General
DG ECHO

The compendium features a relevant collection of stories of or relating to disaster preparedness programs and innovations. The Moving Urban Poor Communities Toward Resilience (MOVE UP) Philippines Project, a constant Resilience and Knowledge Exchange Series (RKES) collaborator and partner, was also highlighted in the compendium. Moreover, the document includes stories and cases from but not limited to Kenya, Mozambique, Niger, Yemen, and Bhutan.

 

Read and download the full document here.

Humanitarian actors around the world are becoming overwhelmed with increasingly destructive, complex, and chronic disasters. Globally, more than 200 million people are affected by natural disasters every year, with those living in low-income countries being three times as much affected as those in high-income nations. Just as people are recovering from one disaster, another one comes along, setting back humanitarian response and development gain. This setback can be avoided by humanitarian assistance and strengthening resilience.

 

Watch the full video below:

 

You may also learn more about CARE Netherlands by accessing their website here. 

Malabon City is in Metro Manila, the National Capital Region of the Philippines. It is part of a sub-region called CAMANAVA (composed of the cities of CAloocan, MAlabon, NAvotas and VAlenzuela) located in the northern part of Metro Manila Bay and situated in the estuary of several river deltas. Malabon is one of the most densely populated cities in the country and its low-lying, flat terrain makes it prone to frequent flooding, especially during high tides, heavy rains and when river and dams overflow. The four
cities in CAMANAVA are commonly affected by interconnected rivers, one of which is the Tullahan River.

The river system used to be navigable and fishing was the major livelihood activity in the area. The river used to be wider, deeper, had better quality water, and was a regular source of different species of fish, which were an important food source for local residents. Also, trees and crops like palay (rice) and vegetables used to be grown along the riverbanks. However, these agricultural plots have been replaced by industrial yards, which also became home to thousands of informal settlers who built makeshift
dwellings without legal claim to the land.

In recent years, floods have worsened, occurring more frequently and reaching levels of several feet deep. Most affected are families in the communities that are along or near the riverbanks. The river has become narrower and shallower over the years, and its capacity to hold water has decreased. With more frequent, intense rains, the riverbanks flood regularly, and flooding reaches farther into low-lying and densely populated areas of the city.

View and download the full Inside Story from the Climate Knowledge & Development Network here. 

To extend the RILHUB’s reach, we launched the Resilience and Knowledge Exchange Series (RKES) last June 2020 – monthly webinars where stakeholders and key decision-makers can share experiences, best practices, lessons learned, ideas, and innovations. 

In this session entitled “Planning for Typhoons During a Pandemic: A Practical Guide”, we held discussions on gaps and challenges of existing Contingency Plans for Typhoons in light of the current pandemic as well as replicable typhoon response practices. We also formulated a practical guide that aims to help communities update their current contingency plans.

A contingency planning checklist was developed from the inputs of more than 600 registrants. The document below was the one used during a special session of the RILHUB Resilience Knowledge Exchange Series for National Disaster Resilience Month. A more detailed and comprehensive checklist will also be uploaded after completion to include additional inputs from attendees and partners.

View and download the full contingency planning checklist here.

Barangay La Flora in the municipality of Talacogon, Agusan del Sur is fully submerged in water three months out of every year. Farming activities are stalled until after the water subsides, and clean drinking water becomes scarce.

But a lot has changed in La Flora since then. They eventually found a clean water source, and with the aid of a cash-for-work program for indigenous people implemented by the DSWD, the laying of water hoses as part of the water system was completed in 10 days through the efforts of 68 people. Recognizing the link between water quality and the state of their environment, the project implementation also required the creation of a village-protected forest park.

“With the cooperation of various government agencies, NGOs, and the ‘Proud of My Purok’ Project, we were able to implement the whole project. The people became active [participants]. Whenever I call for a meeting or a village assembly, they diligently attend because they want to be informed. Before all this… not many would come,” says Romeo Otacan, La Flora barangay captain,

The projects of CARE and ACCORD in Talacogon covered La Flora, along with San Nicolas, Maharlika, Sabang Gibong, and Buena Gracia.