This section summarises evidence of what has and has not worked in aid for disaster resilience. A number of references suggest these findings have relevance to aid for resilience in fragile or conflict-affected states (DFID, 2011a, p. 10; GFDRR, 2010, p. 13; Harris et al., 2013, pp. vii-ix; Turnbull et al., 2013, pp. 92-96).
Turnbull, M., Sterrett, C.L., Hilleboe, A. (2013). Toward Resilience: A Guide to Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation
This 194-page operational guidance is based on consultation and lesson-sharing among member organisations of the Emergency Capacity Building Project and on a review of policy and practitioner literature on disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and resilience-building.
It covers principles, approaches, and the enabling environment for building resilience, and considers risks and impacts for multiple vulnerable groups within society. It includes guidance on programme cycle management, developmental and humanitarian measures for resilience in food security, livelihoods, natural resource management, water, sanitation and hygiene, education, health, and protection. The guide addresses resilience in conflict settings, early recovery, urban environments, and slow-onset disasters.
DFID (2013) provides a set of minimum standards to embed resilience to one-off, regular or ongoing disasters in the work of its country offices. The standards recommend carrying out a multi-hazard risk assessment, developing ‘a country/regional disaster resilience strategy’, ‘disaster-proofing’ new business cases and developing ‘an emergency humanitarian response plan’. They also advise developing new programmes and adapting existing ones to support disaster resilience. Internally, DFID recommends that offices designate a champion for disaster resilience and report to ministers on disaster resilience.
In many cases, work on disaster resilience is disconnected from issues of political economy, power and inequalities, including gender inequalities (OCHA, 2012; Oxfam, 2013; UNISDR, 2011b). Oxfam (2013, p. 6) therefore recommends a political and equity-focused lens for aiding resilience, which focuses on:
- Sharing risk across society through social insurance and other actions targeting disadvantaged groups who require greater support and services to have equal opportunities
- Building pro-poor institutions at all levels, which represent and respond to the needs and capacities of the most vulnerable
- Ensuring rights and accountability, and the ability of women and men to assert their rights and hold power-holders to account through participation in decision-making at all levels
- Providing free essential basic services for health and education, and social protection
- Progressive tax regimes and tackling corruption, in order to fund these measures.
Advancing disaster resilience at the international level
Creating an enabling environment implies that humanitarian and development actors work on international governance and advocacy for resilience (DFID, 2011a, p. 16; Turnbull et al., 2013). Oxfam (2013, pp. 5-7) recommends reflecting risk and resilience in the post-2015 development framework and strengthening the Hyogo Framework for Action. The organisation also advocates for donors and high-income countries to act in line with their international responsibilities to build resilience and reduce risk for the poorest – for example, by providing funding to multilateral agencies and developing countries – and by cutting emissions which contribute to climate change.
- DFID (2011a). Defining Disaster Resilience: A DFID Approach Paper. DFID.
See document online - DFID (2013). Minimum Standards for Embedding Disaster Resilience in DFID Country Offices. DFID.
See document online - GFDRR. (2010). Natural Hazards, UnNatural Disasters. The Economics of Effective Prevention. United Nations, World Bank.
See document online - Harris, K., et al. (2013). When disasters and conflicts collide: improving links between disaster resilience and conflict prevention. ODI.
See document online - OCHA (2012). OCHA Gender Toolkit 7. Gender and Resilience. OCHA.
See document online - Oxfam (2013). No accident. Resilience and the inequality of risk. Oxfam International.
See document online - Turnbull, M., et al. (2013). Toward Resilience: A Guide to Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation. Catholic Relief Services.
See document online - UNISDR (2011b). Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015. Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters. Mid-term review. 2010-2011. UNISDR.
See document online
- The study by Djalante (2012) covers action for disaster resilience at regional, continental and multilateral levels. The UNISDR (2011b) mid-term review of the Hyogo Framework includes similar assessments. A few references also cover resilience-building at the scale of regions and continents, for example on Africa (UNISDR, 2011a), Asia and the Pacific (UNISDR, 2011c) and the Arab world (Verner, 2012).