8 Community Based Disaster Risk Management

Dr. Lubna Siddiqui

Objectives

1. To develop a conceptual understanding of CBDRM
2. To explore the important frameworks and tools for CBDR
3. To understand the CBDRM guidelines and initiatives in India

Rationale

In Community based Disaster Risk Management , the participation of community is essential in order to make disaster risk reduction efforts successful and sustainable at the local level.This concept led to the development of community based disaster risk management (CBDRM), which aims to encourage community involvement (in the forms of participation, partnership, empowerment and ownership) for disaster risk reduction. The module discuss in details about different aspects of CBDRM. In the first section, the basic idea of CBDRM is explained. In the second section the procedures, components and tools utilised in CBDRM are discussed. In the third section the approaches to CBDRM in India is elaborated

    Source – TIWN

Unit 1 – Community Based Disaster Risk Management

Definition–The process of actively involving community in all phases of disaster risk management is termed as Community Based Disaster Risk Management. Involvement of communitiesmay be in the form of participation, partnership, empowerment and ownership through various activities. Community based disaster risk management is often loosely termed as community based disaster management.

Description– The term ‘Community’ is defined as “a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.” (Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, 2005) They can also share a common criterion like social/political identity, professional group, age group etc. Communities often lie within a defined boundary and has authority to adopt and enforce laws and provides services and leadership to its residents. (Jones, Critical Incident Protocol, 2000). Community members are united by a sense of belonging. It is noteworthy that the behaviour of the members of a community are often regulated by customs and traditions and not by force. In the context of disaster management, a community can be interpreted as a group of people inhabited in a particular location and are exposed to and /or affected by disaster/disasters.

CBDRM aims to put communities at the centre of disaster risk reduction. The approach focuses on the process to make communities “fully aware, trained, and practiced on how to prevent, protect/mitigate, prepare for, and respond to all threats and hazards.” (DHS, TCL, 2007) This requires building on “personal preparedness, conducting exercises and volunteer programs, surge capacity response” etc. It requires knowledge of all probable hazards (technological, natural, and terrorist incidents) and related protective measures, skills, and supplies. It is determined through a collaborative process between the community and the facilitating agency.

Why CBDRM is required?

Effective response –In most of the disaster situations, communities are not only affected primarily but they are automatically geared up as the first responders. The capability of the community in delivering prompt response post disasters can be developed through planned and coordinated CBDRM. Thus, when disaster strikes, a prepared community can deliver efficient response in the golden hour which will help in saving lives and minimizing impacts on human and livestock. Also, during the first few hours or days after a disaster strikes, the essential services are unavailable. A community must be able to act on its own and have the ability to quickly return to work, reopen business, restore essential services and assist intervening agencies. Such communities are in a position to witness swift economic recovery and minimal losses.

Local knowledge –Community has the inherent traditional knowledge of common hazards, potentially affected areas and vulnerability and are often having rich indigenous knowledge of the coping mechanism. The implications disasters are shaped by the socio economic conditions and cultural tradition of a community which can be understood only through community interaction. The community perception and assessment of risks can be analysed through the process and methodologies of CBDRM .The community is also the best assessor of disaster

impacts and recovery processes. These data can be easily gathered using CBDRM process. Also it reduces the chance of missing out on essential information which might happen in analysis by external agencies(that might be unaware of the contextual setting).

Development of acceptable plans –In many cases, state and local emergency community management plans are developed without direct community involvement. As a result, community people tend to have little faith in these plans. “On the other hand, disaster planning that includes input from the community produces not only higher quality outputs/strategies, but also far higher levels of community approval and confidence in the plans.” (Carafano, Grassroots Disaster Response-Harnessing Capacities of Communities, 2007) It also helps in imbibing a sense of individual responsibility for community safety, not only post disaster but in all phases of disaster.

Awareness –Often the community itself unknowingly generates risk or exposed to the prevailing risks. CBDRM involves members of the community in the risk identification and assessment. It makes the community aware and also makes DRR solutions easily acceptable and thus sustainable.

   Unit 2 – Process of Community Based Disaster Risk Management

There are several guiding principles of CBDRM, which are directly or indirectly linked with each other.

Guiding Principles

1.     Multi stakeholder participation

2.     Participatory approach with community leading the process

3.     Involvement of informed facilitators

4.     Time and Resource budgeting

5.     Forum for convergence – of governmental schemes and programs with CBDRM processes

6.     Inclusive Approach

7.     Implementation of CBDRM requires a decentralised bottom up approach with active participation of local Panchayats/ Municipal Bodies and non-governmental bodies.

Components of CBDRM

The objectives of CBDRM are to make each and everyindividual of the community to get awareness of the risks they are facing, provide basic knowledge on how to prepare for or mitigate the risks and identify the capacities existing within the community. The following components form the backbone to attain the aforesaid objectives of CBDRM.

A. Development of plans – This refers to the development of community based disaster management plans (CBDMP). A CBDMP generally includes:

1. Area profile, which contains

a. the geographic, socio-economic, environmental and institutional profile of the area

b. Village maps with critical information about the community. These maps are rough and not to scale but serve as a good tool to represent geographical data

Source – https://tamannakalim.wordpress.com/2013/12/02/95/

2. Hazard, Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment, which is conducted with the help of the community. It is based on the community perception and assessment of risks.

a. For each hazard the location, spatial dispersion, intensity, duration, frequency and probability of occurrence is analysed with the help of community participation especially the elderly or knowledgeable people. It is done using

Seasonal calendars – used to identify time of occurrence of hazards

Hazards maps – these are not to scale but helps identifying the area which might get affected in a disaster or has been affected in disasters

Historical profile – used to understand the past hazards that the region has witnessed and their nature and characteristics. It enables community youngsters to understand the evolution of risks and the emerging risks

Event tree – helps identifying secondary hazards

Hazard matrix – used to prioritize the hazards based on their probability and extent of impact

b. The process of vulnerability assessment sensitizes a community about the vulnerable individuals and helps in generating public awareness. The tools to carry out vulnerability assessment are:

Transect walk – Involves systematic walk through the community area identifying the characteristics and building rapport with the community. It enables future discussions and better participation

Source – Slideshare

Seasonal mapping – Food and resource availability variation etc. across seasons in a year

Vulnerability mapping – the vulnerable infrastructure and population

Livelihood analysis – It is used to identify the livelihood pattern and strategies of the community; the livelihood vulnerability due to impact of hazards across the year and mechanisms utilised by the community to deal with these.

Problem tree – helps identify the issues in the community and map the effects of these issues. It is used to identify the relationship between the various aspects of vulnerability, where the root represents the issue and the leaves represent the effects.

Vulnerability Assessment –based on the above tools, the composite vulnerability index can be developed

c. The process of capacity assessment involves identifying the available assets, resources and strengths of the community that can be utilised before during and after disasters. Social, infrastructural and institutional analysis can be utilised in this.

d. Based on the hazard vulnerability and capacity analysis the risk profile of the region can be developed and risk priorities are identified.

The area profile and risk assessment helps in developing the response, preparedness and mitigation plans

3.   Response plancontains

a. Standard Operating Procedures for efficient utilization of resources in the aftermath of disasters

b. Mapping of material resources which can be utilized when disaster strikes.

c. Mapping ofavailable human resources, their skills and contact details to enable quick communication and minimising response delays

d. Formationof Village Level Disaster Management Committees (VDMCs), teams and task forces

o The VDMCs are groups of 3 to 5 members, with the village head or village level representative of the revenue department leading the team

o  The VDMC is assisted by teams and task forces of various kinds

o The teams generally perform back office work viz. administrative support, resource management etc.

o Enthusiastic individuals are chosen to form task forces, generally of 3 to 10 members o These groups are assigned tasks related to specific sectors based on their skillset, e.g.

§ Early Warning Team – inform the community about the impending threat through local means like “drum beat”, “conch” sounds; utilise the vulnerability analysis to convey warning messages to the most vulnerable etc. When the hazard threat weakens, the team conveys the same to the community after verification from competent authorities.

§ Evacuation Team – Evacuates vulnerable areas after receiving message from early warning team, Arranges for vehicles/boats to take the victim to nearest hospitals etc.

§ Search and Rescue team – Searches for missing people, rescues people in dangerous locationsetc.

§  Shelter Management – Guides the evacuees moving to the relief shelters (e.g. tocarry food stuff and water, location of relief shelters), Registers them, Conveys missing information to the Search and Rescue Team, Provides support to people residing in relief centres, Co-ordinates with other teams etc.

§ First Aid and Medical support Team – Provides first aid and medical support till specialized help arrives, Assists specialized medical team

§ Food, Water and Sanitation Team – Stores and maintains required relief, Arrangesfor food and other assistance, Manages the distribution of food and

water, Assists damage assessment teams, Ensures proper sanitation and solid waste disposal near shelters etc.

§ Damage Assessment Team– Prepares authentic list (of people affected and the magnitude of impact on individuals), Ensures hassle free compensation process for affected families

§  Dead  Body  Management  and  Carcass  DisposalTeam–  Collects  bodies,

o   A definite hierarchy is mentioned in each of the teams and there is a group head and assistant group heads

e. Guidelines related to the roles and responsibilities of different members

f.  Contact details of administrative officials, members of the village disaster management committees, teams, task forces and any other key resource.

4.  Mitigation and Preparedness Plan which contains

a. Detailing of community roles and responsibilities to minimize risk exposure, vulnerability and creation of further risks

b. Guidelines for risk conscious developmental and natural resource management at the community level

c.  Guidelines for the village disaster management committees, teams and task forces to conduct and support disaster mitigation and preparedness activities

B. Capacity Building – It helps in enhancing the in-built capacities of the community. It includes the following,

1.  Trainings – to impart knowledge and build

a) functional capacities like assessment, planning, implementation capacities, capacity for multi stakeholder engagement, capacity to mobilize resources etc. within the community.

b) technical capacities like linking DRR with developmental programs, addressing underlying risks, develop social safety and protection network, risk transfer etc. Specialized training can be provided to help develop disaster response skills as also daily life skills which can help in mitigation and prevention of disasters.

2. Mock drills – to be arranged to test the efficiency of the community response, rehearse the roles and responsibilities of each member and test the practicality of the village disaster management plan

3. Documentation – involves development of illustrative manuals and guidelines for the community to carry out CBDRM activities both in pre and post disaster scenarios.

4. Community Contingency Fund – involves development of an emergency outflow fund. The purpose is to maintain a dedicated fund to carry out disaster management activities in different phases of disaster management life cycle and also to have a readily available lump sum amount in case of emergency. It can be generated by token contribution from each member of the community and maintained by the village administrator or self-help groups. Based on discussions in the community annual meeting, the fund can be utilised.

5. Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation – Follow up of planned works is one of the key activities of the VDMCs.

C. Awareness Generation – aims to promote public awareness about risks and create a community understanding of disaster risk reduction. The awareness generation campaigns should be oriented towards the community, designed to strike a chord with every section within the community (e.g. both literate and illiterate people) and conducted through both formal and informal channels. Local language and culturally appropriate methods can be utilised in awareness generation campaigns. Print and audio visual media along with community based art forms, rallies, street plays etc. can be used to generate awareness.

Key tools utilised in development of all the components of CBDRM

Observation

Focus group discussions Interviews

Source – ICIMOD

Unit 3 – Community Based Disaster Risk Management in India

Community based traditional practices, for safeguarding environment have been prevalent in the indigenous societies since time immemorial . For instance, in India the first major case of community involvement in disaster risk management can be traced back to 1977 when a cyclone struck Andhra Pradesh and community was mobilised to develop CBDRM capabilities. But it was functioning primarily in silos till the importance of community involvement was recognized formally in the Hyogo framework of Action. It specifically mentions the necessity to strengthen local DRR capabilities. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction emphasizes the need for CBDRM in some components of all fourpriorities of action. For instance under Priority 1, it mentions the need to ensure use of “traditional, indigenous and local knowledge and practices, as appropriate, to complement scientific knowledge in disaster risk assessment”, “promotion of national strategies to strengthen public education and awareness” through community mobilization and enhancement of “collaboration among people at the local level to disseminate disaster risk information through the involvement of community-based organizations”.

National Guidelines

At national level, the following three policies / guidelines can be referred:

a)  The National Disaster Management Act 2005 mentions the requirement for association with the community and the civil society. It calls for the establishment of local authorities at village or municipality level. But it does not lay down guidelines for CBDRM as a process.

b) The National Policy on Disaster Management 2009 take it forward and lays down the following guidelines:

Conceptualization of community based DM systems at national level through consultative processes

States and UTs should put efforts to encourage community participation where vulnerable communities are to be given special attention

Community based plans to be dovetailed in the Panchayat, District or Block level .

Regional diversities and multi hazard vulnerabilities to be considered while developing community based disaster management systems

Responsibility of the community to manage relief camps and drive reconstruction; community effort in animal care post disasters

Training of communities in various aspects of response like first aid, search and rescue, community shelter management etc. as well as skill development

Civil Defence, NCC, NSS and local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to be encouraged to generate awareness within the community and empower them

To provide weightage to the indigenous knowledge on disaster management and coping mechanisms adopted by different states; and putting in a concentrated effort to catalogue this rich legacy of indigenous technical knowledge

Building a well informed and prepared community which can mitigate the disaster impacts

    c) NDMA guidelines for ‘Community Based Disaster Management’ released in 2014 serve as a comprehensive guidebook for CBDRM in India.The guidelines introduce the below-mentioned framework for CBDRM:

(Source – NDMA, 2009)

The framework aims at creating a resilient community through the process of CBDRM. A resilient community is a community which can “absorb, respond, adapt, and transform if necessary” to resist being impacted by a disaster.

To develop a resilient community the four key stakeholders are:

a) People at- risk of disasters – These are the people who are directly exposed to the risks of disasters. In CBDRM these people drive the transition towards resilience thereby minimizing their vulnerability.

b)  Existing Institutions – are basically governmentresources that provide developmental support to the community who are at risk. If these governmental resources have to be pooled in and integration of DRR and CCA in the developmental work needs to be carried out to prevent and mitigate disasters.

c) Facilitators – Grass root level non-governmental organizations and agencies that help bind the above two stakeholders. The facilitators help in participatory planning, learning and action.

d) Local actors – These are the village level institutions like ward committees, village committees, SHG members etc. Engaging the local actors, the effectiveness sustainability of CBDRM processes can be enhanced.

When interactions of People at- risk of disasters and existing institutions are facilitated by Local Actors and Facilitators, resilient communities are formed.

Based on the framework the guidelines provides detailed methodology to conduct each of the CBDRM processes. It contains dedicated sections on

i) institutional framework

    ii) process of capacity development and

iii) community based urban disaster management

Status of CBDRM in India

In India, the CBDRM activities are led by actors like the concerned communities , NGO’s and CBOs or governmental bodies.

1. Community driven initiatives – In this type of initiatives, communityis involved in every stage.The strengths of this approach are

§   Strong local ownership

§    Local resources and locally applicable financial strategies

§    Sustainability

§    Community led and community driven

2. NGO/INGO driven initiatives – In NGO driven initiatives, the NGOs function as an interface between the community and the government to push DRR agenda and aid in CBDRM processes. The strengths are

§   Considerable time spent to understand the community processes

§    Wide variety of participatory risk assessment tools and techniques utilised

§    Rapport development with community before the agendas are pushed

§    Well-structured and flexible approach

§    Technically sound

§    Focus on vulnerable communities

§    High community mobilization skills

§    Awareness generation and capacity building using folk media and innovative methods

§    Function as a very effective interface between the community and the government

3. Government driven initiatives – The government led CBDRM processes focus on minimizing social and economic development loss from hazards by reducing vulnerability and exposure and thus minimize developmental losses due todisasters. The UNDP and Government of India partnership in 2002 demonstrated a suitable model for mainstreaming disaster risk management with emphasis on the community level activities. The strengths of such initiatives are

§   Support from institutional mechanisms

§    Capability to undertake macro projects and enable multi stakeholder approach

§    Less issues of resource constraint

Challengesof CBDRM in India

1. Community driven processes are

a) influenced by culture

b) the inequalities and power structures existing within a community often get re enforced

c) these are often not structured very well

d)  socio economic issues inherent in the community hinder the development of the community led initiatives

e) When the magnitude of disaster is very large, the community based initiatives fail to perform significantly.

2. NGO/INGO driven processes –

a)     Are dependent on donor response

b)     Are specific to project deliverable specific

c)     Often the phasing out is not proper and the projects become unsustainable

d)     CBDRM is among the many agendas of NGOs working in developmental sector and it often loses focus

3. Government driven processes –

a)     Are having centralized and a top-down approach

b)     Often lacks drive and enthusiasm

c)     Lacks convergence at the grass-root level

Thus disaster risk cannot be reduced through government initiative alone. Rather all sectors of society – service providers, business communities, civic and volunteer groups, industry associations and neighbourhood associations, and specially every individual citizen need to contribute towards disaster risk reduction. (FEMA).Thus CBDRM plays a significant role in these context.

Case study

Sophisticated hydrological and meteorological stations were established in Honduras and Nicaragua to generate flood early warning systems. But the stations could not sustain for more than three years due to lack of maintenance or vandalism. Even when it was functional, the information was not used effectively to generate flood early warning systems. To address the issue, the Organization of American States (OAS) developed low cost simpler and community based flood warning systems in four watersheds of Honduras and Nicaragua. The community was involved to maintain the daily readings and analyze the information. When Hurricane Mitch hit, the communities using these early warning systems had evacuated their houses and no lives were lost in these communities.

   Summary

In this chapter, we have tried to understand –

1. The process of involving community through participation, partnership, empowerment and ownership, in all phases of disaster management.

2. The definition of community as a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.

3. Aims of CBDRM to put communities at the centre of disaster risk reduction and follows a decentralised bottom up approach.

4. Various components of CBDRM

a)  Development of Community based plans like Area profile, Response Plan, Mitigation and Preparedness Plan

b)  Capacity Building through Training, Mock drill, Documentation, Community Contingency Fund and Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation

c)  Awareness Generation

5. NDMA guidelines for ‘Community Based Disaster Management’ released in 2014,which serve as a comprehensive guidebook for CBDRM in India.

6. CBDRM processes led by local community dwellers, NGO’s and CBOs or other government bodies

References

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• https://training.fema.gov/hiedu/docs/terms%20and%20definitions/terms%20and%20definitions.pdf
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