The FedEx Award for Innovations in Disaster Preparedness Submission Form

Transcription

1 The FedEx Award for Innovations in Disaster Preparedness Submission Form I. Contact Information Organization: Food for the Hungry (FH) II. Basic Information on Project Title of Project: Comunidades Resilientes: Locally driven Disaster Preparedness and Risk Reduction in Peru Location (please include all relevant information: regions, countries, districts/provinces, cities, etc): San Juan de Lurigancho district, Lima, Peru Scale (choose one): Local/Community State/Provincial/Sub national Regional International National Target Population(s): The target population is 15 marginal communities in San Juan de Lurigancho (SJL) district in Peru s capital city of Lima. These communities are built on the sides of steep hills, with homes precariously built with plywood, corrugated aluminum roofs, and brick with no reinforcement. Most families livelihood consists of temporary labor as construction workers, bus fare collectors or street vendors. These characteristics make these communities extremely vulnerable to earthquakes, which are common in the region. Before FH entered the communities, local leaders had limited preparedness training and no experience developing in depth disaster risk reduction plans for their communities. Number of Beneficiaries: 16,618 Partners: Potential partners include the district municipality, Community Medical Posts/Centers, the Municipal Civil Defense Committee, National Civil Defense Institute and the Peruvian Red Cross. Funders/Donors: Private individual donors through FH s Child Sponsorship Program. Target communities and the partners listed above also provide resources including training, medical supplies and awareness materials.

2 Total Funding: USD$32,260 Website: III. Project Details 1. Intervention background and goals and objectives (maximum 250 words) Please describe the intervention and its goals and objectives. Include details on the intervention s timeline. Peru was hit by three major earthquakes in the last decade, including a 7.9 magnitude earthquake in 2007 that caused $300 million in economic losses 1 and destroyed more than 80,000 homes. The coastal area of Peru, located along the Ring of Fire and where FH operates, experiences frequent seismic activity. Operating in Peru since 1982, FH has focused largely on disaster response. In 2010, FH took a more proactive approach with communities and developed a global strategy for community driven disaster risk reduction (DRR). FH began implementing Comunidades Resilientes in SJL district in Peru in The UN s latest Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction praised Peru for being a leader in DRR with its national, regional and local government level measures. However, those measures do not effectively reach the community level. Comunidades Resilientes complements Peru s national level measures, but puts the power in the hands of community leaders to take action. The project is particularly innovative because it helps community leaders identify their own skills and resources to reduce their communities vulnerability to hazards or disasters and increase their capacity to prevent or cope with such adverse events. Goal: To increase the capacity to reduce disaster risks in 15 communities in SJL district. Objectives: % of communities in SJL trained in DRR assessment and planning tools by % of DRR plans developed by local leaders socialized with communities by % of communities in SJL create DRR committees that oversee all DRR activities by American Society of Civil Engineers.

3 2. Please describe the project s key activities (maximum 250 words) Please describe the intervention s main activities. FH has provided development support to communities in SJL district for more than 10 years. Through Comunidades Resilientes, FH helps community leaders develop DRR plans using a manual of participatory DRR assessment and planning tools based on international best practices and developed by a team of DRR experts within FH. The manual consists of nine tools: Disaster Timeline; Seasonal Calendar (Disaster Focused); Analysis of Control; Hazard Map; Institutional Venn Diagram (Disaster Focused); Vulnerability and Capacity; Idea Analysis and Ranking; Risk Management Plan Prevention and Mitigation, and; Disaster Management Plan Preparedness and Response. Project activities: 1. Community leaders attend workshops using the DRR manual. 2. Leaders use the first six tools to identify disaster risks and available resources in their communities. 3. Leaders use the last three tools to identify goals and activities to reduce risks in their communities and develop community DRR plans. 4. Local DRR committees made up of community members are created to provide plan oversight. 5. Leaders share the plans with their entire communities so they can be held accountable to plan implementation. 6. FH staff provide ongoing support as communities carry out DRR activities, providing appropriate training, finances or linkages to local partners. 7. Every two years, FH will facilitate a community review process to monitor progress and update plans if necessary. Leaders from all 15 target communities are attending the DRR workshops and will complete them in New to its context, the training has been well received by leaders who never received such training before. 3. Please explain why the intervention is an innovation. Provide evidence in the following areas: (maximum 750 words) Effectiveness/evidence of success: Evidence is provided demonstrating the impact of the intervention to increase awareness; build capacity and knowledge; promote community involvement; foster collaboration between civil society, local governments and the private sector; and/or mainstream disaster preparedness activities. Comunidades Resilientes draws on international DRR objectives from the Hyogo Framework as well as more than three decades of participatory development programming in Peru. The project specifically: Increases awareness Community leaders learn that DRR plans can be driven at the community level rather than only at national or regional levels, as traditional DRR projects in Peru have been led. This is a new idea in DRR in Peru and local community leaders have eagerly latched on to it, with all 15 target communities actively participating in the project. Builds capacity and knowledge Using FH s DRR manual, community leaders discover their own capacities, skills and resources to lead efforts in both disaster prevention and mitigation as well as preparedness and response, safeguarding and improving the lives of people in their communities. Promotes community involvement Community leaders are encouraged to share their DRR plans with community members, who help carry out planned activities and hold leaders accountable to plan implementation.

4 Fosters collaboration between civil society, local governments and the private sector Based on the communities DRR needs, FH can link them with their district municipality for support in creating participatory budgets for DRR activities, Community Medical Posts/Centers and the Peruvian Red Cross for first aid training and the Municipal Civil Defense Committee for disaster preparedness resources and trainings sponsored by the National Civil Defense Institute. Mainstreams disaster preparedness activities Best practices from this pilot project will be shared and replicated in other FH communities in Peru as well as other operational countries yet to participate in FH s DRR programming. Sustainability: Information is provided describing the steps taken or mechanisms put in place to ensure that the intervention will be socially, financially and environmentally sustainable in the long term. Sustainability is critical to this project. Child sponsorship funding provides a stable funding source until FH fully equips community leaders to be able to assess, plan and implement activities to reduce disaster risks facing their communities, using local resources and collaborating with local partners to do so. The role of FH is principally one of facilitation and capacity building, encouraging communities to carry out their own plans with their own resources, thereby empowering them to be financially and socially sustainable in the long term. Equitable outcomes for women and men: Evidence is provided to document that the intervention enables or facilitates the participation of, and results in, equitable benefits for both women and men. Comunidades Resilientes requires the participation of a diverse representation of the targeted communities. Community leaders are encouraged to solicit the participation of both men and women, young and old, in order to include different perspectives in each stage of the risk assessment and DRR planning process. FH s DRR manual also encourages community leaders and other participants in the process to identify the most vulnerable in their communities and consider their special needs with regards to DRR. In these ways, men and women both participate in DRR activities as well as equitably benefit from them. In each of the 15 target communities, there is at least 50% participation by women in the DRR workshops. Efficiency/cost effectiveness: Evidence is provided demonstrating the cost effectiveness of the intervention compared to traditional disaster preparedness interventions. Traditionally, disaster preparedness interventions have focused on implementing infrastructure projects aimed at reducing physical risks in a community. These types of projects rely heavily on costly outside technical expertise in order to carry out assessments and project planning, and it is the project donor who covers the cost of these community infrastructure improvements. The focus of Comunidades Resilientes is to increase the social and leadership capacity within the target communities so that they can take advantage of their own skills and resources to assess and plan DRR activities for their communities. Rather than planning and funding DRR interventions for the communities, FH mentors them in their own efforts to identify funding through local government offices, local NGOs like the Red Cross or other agencies like the Peruvian National Civil Defense Institute. In addition to DRR work, FH has successfully supported communities in Peru to identify and negotiate local funding from municipal governments and other agencies for development projects including community center construction, retaining wall construction and first aid training.

5 This has proven to be an efficient, cost effective method to community development. Replicability/adaptability: Information is provided documenting how the intervention has been or could be replicated or adapted in other settings; or how the intervention could expand operations based on demonstrated success in its pilot or phase one areas of operation. In 2013, FH is piloting use of its DRR manual in SJL district with plans to expand the project to Villa Maria de Triunfo district, also in Lima, in Lessons learned from these interventions will be used to update the manual and improve implementation for potential large scale replication to FH s 23 remaining operational communities in Peru as well as other FH operational countries that have not yet received DRR training. 4. Challenges & Lessons Learned (maximum 250 words) Please describe the main challenges or obstacles you faced or are facing in this intervention and how they were addressed. What are the most important lessons that a reader should take from this experience? Each of the nine tools in FH s DRR manual is designed to be developed during a two hour workshop in the Comunidades Resilientes project. The length and frequency of the workshops has proven to be a challenge as leaders and other community members do not have time to devote to all the workshops, city commute times are long and women do not feel safe enough to attend workshops that are held at night. To address these challenges, FH plans to hold one or two all day workshops where several tools are covered at one time. While community interest and involvement in the project has been high, an important lesson to be learned is that FH must work around the needs and capabilities of participating communities if effective community involvement and ownership of project activities is to take place. 5. Have you held or do you plan to hold a consultative process with target groups in which you gather feedback? If yes, please explain. (maximum 150 words) FH began working in the target communities in SJL more than 10 years ago after conducting quantitative and qualitative baseline evaluations to assess the needs in the communities. In 2012, FH collected baseline data related to the DRR needs of the communities. Once the current workshops are completed, FH will organize evaluative focus groups to gather community feedback. FH will also conducted annual evaluations to measure progress towards meeting project objectives. Also, the communities themselves will carry out a review and update of their community DRR plans every two years, providing further feedback to FH on progress in accomplishing project objectives and activities.

6 6. Please provide a testimonial from someone who has benefited from this intervention. (maximum 200 words) I and the other leaders of the community think that the DRR training we are going through with FH is very important for our community. During other workshops with FH we have developed the vision, mission of our community and later a community development plan to help us realize our vision. Now with the DRR trainings we are adding to our community development plan things to help protect our community and be prepared for disasters that could occur. As leaders we have also realized that we need the involvement of the entire population, so we are working to involve as many as possible. This year we have about 80% of the community involved in different activities, and we hope to share with our community the things we are learning in the DRR workshops. Diomedes Isuiza Leader of Ampliación Primero de Mayo community, San Juan de Lurigancho district 7. If selected, how will your organization use the funds? (maximum 150 words) If selected, FH will use the award funds to replicate the Comunidades Resilientes project currently in SJL district to a marginal cluster of five communities in Villa Maria de Triunfo district, directly benefiting 1,850 people. These funds will cover personnel costs for one community level FH staff who will use FH s DRR manual to facilitate risk assessment and planning workshops in the target communities. Funds will also be used to cover costs associated with the workshops, including training materials and transportation. Some funds may also be used to motivate communities in development of their DRR plans by providing a cash prize to the community with the best proposed DRR action or activity. Results and lessons learned from this project expansion will be used in widespread replication to 23 operational communities in Peru as well as other countries where FH operates in Latin America, Africa and Asia. completed applications to: mappinginfo@interaction.org.