Vulnerability Assessment

1. Facilitated By:
Muhammad Qadeer
Vulnerability Assessment
Date: 17 October 2009
Courtesy:
Falak Nawaz (ADPC)

2. "O my Lord! Open for me my chest
(grant me self-confidence,
contentment, and boldness).
"And ease my task for me;
"And make loose the knot (the
defect) from my tongue, (i.e.
remove the incorrectness from my
speech)
That they may understand my
speech.

3. Vulnerability
A set of prevailing or
consequent
conditions which
adversely affect the
community’s ability
to prevent, mitigate,
prepare for or
respond to hazard
event

4.  Vulnerability "is insecurity, the reverse of security";
 It reflects "the characteristics of a person or group in
terms of their capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist,
and recover from the impact of a natural hazard. It
involves a combination of factors that determine the
degree to which someone's life and livelihood is put
at risk by a discrete and identifiable event in nature
or in society" (Blaikie et al).
Vulnerability

13.  Vulnerability has two components:
 Exposure to hazard
 Difficulty (through lack of resources) to cope with,
and recover from them
 The two components reflect:
 an 'external' side of risks, shocks and stress to
which a structure, individual, household, community
or nation is subject, and
 an 'internal' side of lack of resources to cope
without damaging loss (from Robert Chambers).
Vulnerability

14. Source: Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment Toolbox, October 1996, Page 5

15. Vulnerability Assessment
• A process to
identify what
elements are at
risk per hazard
type, and to
analyze the root
causes of why
these elements
are at risk

16. Categories of Vulnerability
• Physical /
Material
• Social /
Organizational
• Motivation /
Attitudinal

17. Physical / Material Vulnerability
 Hazard-prone location of
community houses,
farmlands, infrastructure,
basic services
 Design and construction
materials of houses and
buildings
 Insecure and risky
sources of livelihood

18. Physical / Material Vulnerability
• Lack of access and control over
means of production (land, farm
inputs, animals, capital)
• Inadequate economic fall-back
mechanisms
• Dependence on money-lenders
• Occurrence of acute or chronic food
shortage
• Lack of adequate skills and
educational background
• High mortality rates, malnutrition,
occurrence of diseases, insufficient
caring capacity

19. Physical / Material Vulnerability
• Lack of basic
services: education,
health, safe drinking
water, shelter,
sanitation, roads,
electricity,
communication
• Exposed to violence
(domestic, community
conflicts ,civil conflicts
or war)

21. Social / Organizational Vulnerability
• Weak family / kinship structures
• Lack of leadership and initiative to solve
problems or conflicts
• Exclusion of certain groups from decision-
making about community life or unequal
participation in community affairs
• Absence or weak community organizations (in
formal, governmental, indigenous)

22. Social/Organizational Vulnerability
• Conflicts: ethnic, class,
beliefs, caste, ideology
• No or neglected
relationship with
government,
administrative structures
• Isolated from outside
world

23. Motivational /
Attitudinal Vulnerability
• Negative attitude towards change
• Passivity, fatalism, hopelessness, dependency
• Lack of initiative or “fighting spirit”
• Dependence on external support

24. TOOLS FOR CAPACITY & VULNERABILITY
ASSESSMENT
 Hazard and vulnerability map
 Transect walk
 Seasonal calendar
 Institutional / social network analysis
 Problem tree
 Semi-structured interviews
 Ranking
 Community drama

25. CDRC - CDP
Brgy San Juan
Brgy Council
Multipurpose
Coop
Church
People’s Organization
RHU
Health NGO
Disaster
Response
Agency
Coop and Credit
Foundation
Regional PO
Alliance
DENR Representative of
Mining Company
 Resources map
 Historical profile
 Gendered resource
mapping
 Focus group discussion
 Livelihood / coping analysis
 Institutional and social network
analysis
TOOLS FOR CAPACITY & VULNERABILITY
ASSESSMENT

26. Vulnerability Assessment
•We should recognize that vulnerability
assessment is complex
•Vulnerability is specific to location, sector,
interest group, etc.
•Vulnerability and poverty are strongly linked

28. Setting Elements
At Risk
(EAR)
Effects on
Different EARs
Characteristics of EARs That
Contribute to Vulnerability
Urban Example:
People
Injured, died,
starvation, trauma
Age, Gender, physical health,
Social, economic &
demographic
Group Exercise
Vulnerability Assessment (Hazard Specific)

29. Setting Elements At
Risk (EAR)
Effects on Different EARs Characteristics of EARs
That Contribute to
Vulnerability
Rural
Vulnerability Assessment (Hazard Specific)

30. Setting Elements At
Risk (EAR)
Effects on Different
EARs
Characteristics of EARs
That Contribute to
Vulnerability
Urban People Injured, died,
starvation, trauma
Age, Gender, physical
health,
Social, economic &
demographic
Buildings
(houses, others)
Partial damage/fully
damage
Construction materials,
design, location, height
Infrastructure
(roads, bridges,
telecommunicat
ions, electricity)
Partial damage/full
damage
Size, height/depth, design,
materials, level of exposure
Industry Damage to building,
products, raw
materials,
machinery, (labor,
management)
size, type of products, type
of raw material,
Vulnerability Assessment (Hazard Specific)

31. Setting Elements At
Risk (EAR)
Effects on Different EARs Characteristics of EARs
That Contribute to
Vulnerability
Rural Crops and
fodder
Destroyed, put on fire, Height, water dependent
/ non-dependent
Environment Damage to vegetation,
harm to flora and fauna,
damage to water ways,
mountains, etc
Terrain type, nature of
flora and fauna
Land Erosion, salinity, deposits,
desertification,
Location, elements of soil,
terrain
Irrigation
system
Deposit of silt, breaking
of channels, damage to
machinery (tube-wells,
tractor)
Location, design,
construction materials
Animals Injured, died, disease, Location, characteristics
of specie, health
Vulnerability Assessment (Hazard Specific)

32. Any
Question???
Good Question!!!
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