A presentation about important sources NS can use to help their work in Urban Disaster Risk Reduction

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Programmatic directions for the Red Cross and Red Crescent in
building urban community resilience in the Asia Pacific Region
FINDINGS AND KEY RECOMMENDATIONS.
Submitted by
Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative, Inc.
(EMI)
30 April 2012

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Strategies and practical
recommendations
 A number of issues that define the daily struggle of
the urban poor determine their priorities. They
include lack of land title and proper documentation
to have access to public services such as health,
education, water, electricity, sanitation, safety and
security, and most importantly securing a daily
income.

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Strategies and practical
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 All these issues cannot be addressed by any one
organisation. Therefore, each NS must identify and
align locally with the ones that are most relevant to
their institutional capacities and mandate.
Knowledge sharing between National Societies is a
strong overall competency in problem solving and
strategic intervention. The Federation can support
the membership to build in-country capacities,
adapt the tools, and facilitate alliances with key
national institutions that can accompany them in
this process.

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Strategies and practical
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 Some National Societies are inadequately
equipped with knowledge and resources to identify,
connect with and maintain relations with urban
communities and urban actors. The urban
communities were often described as “difficult to
identify”, “not homogeneous and stable” and
“lacking social support”. In cities, an organisation’s
capabilities to understand the nature of this
complexity will help determine its success.

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 Most NS in the region implement programmes in
urban areas but require the skills to document their
experiences and translate such experiences into
tools and guidelines that capture and replicate
good practices.

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Table 8: Summary of proposed strategies, roles and value propositions
Strategy
RCRC Role in Urban Disaster Risk Reduction
Value Propositions
Multi-stakeholder Partnerships: Adopt a
participatory and inclusive approach and
reinforce partnerships with local authorities.
Define RCRC role in Urban Risk Reduction
based on country contexts and NS structure and
solidify partnerships/coordination with urban
stakeholders.
Leverage working partnerships with national and local disaster
management authorities for greater access to decision-making
processes for vulnerable populations.
RCRC should explicitly position itself as informed and
neutral advocates for vulnerable and marginalized
populations in the overall planning, implementation and
evaluation of urban development programmes.
ISDR Essential #1 on Institutional and Administrative
Framework
Institutional Capacity: Improve existing
institutional knowledge and capabilities on risk
profiling and risk mapping.
Adopt simple self-assessment and indicator tools
that can quickly build knowledge and skills in the
urban context.
Establish linkage with global initiatives such as the Making
Cities Resilient Campaign.
Build institutional capacities on risk profiling and mapping to
link risk parameters to the conditions of vulnerable
populations.
Partner with technical agencies and scientific organisations to
transform scientific knowledge into simple planning and risk
communication tools.
National Societies are well positioned to serve as a
bridge between the most vulnerable communities and the
institutions that govern and serve them.
ISDR Essentials # 7 on Training Education and Public
Awareness and #9 on Effective Preparedness, Early
Warning and Response

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Table 8: Summary of proposed strategies, roles and value propositions
Strategy
RCRC Role in Urban Disaster Risk Reduction
Value Propositions
Emergency Response and Preparedness:
Build on existing core competencies in
emergency response and preparedness and
expand them to the urban context through a
campaign to recruit/mobilise and train
volunteers, especially the youth.
Further develop Community-Based Action Teams. Link
these with the Disaster Preparedness programme of the local
government to ensure sustainability.
Focus training activities on strength areas such as
emergency management and build partnerships for
undertaking drills for highly vulnerable urban communities.
National Societies can optimise resources and increase
their impact in urban areas by forging partnerships with
technical agencies especially on multi-hazard risk
assessment to inform their emergency response and
preparedness planning.
ISDR Essential #3 on Multi-Hazard Risk Assessment
Tools Adaptation and Knowledge Sharing:
Select from existing RCRC tools and
experiences and adapt them for use in the urban
context.
Focus on adapting tools that have applications on Multi-
Stakeholder Partnerships, Institutional Capacity and
Emergency Response and Preparedness.
There is a wealth of urban programming experience
within the domestic section of NS in developed
countries that should be shared with sister National
Societies.
ISDR Essentials #1, #3, #7 and #9

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Value proposition # 1: RCRC should explicitly position itself as
informed and neutral advocates for vulnerable and marginalized
populations in the overall planning, implementation and evaluation
of urban development programmes.
 1)Invest in researching the development processes of cities, the
budgetary allocations, and the key programmes for poverty reduction,
slum rehabilitation, sanitation improvements, educational access, and
others. Typically, the local government authority is the main actor
where some of the programmes such as slum rehabilitation are run by
local branches of national authorities. These organisations often have
stakeholders’ committees and/or public hearings.
 RCRC can be members of these committees and work with local and
district authorities to participate in the planning and review processes.
National Societies serve as an efficient bridge between local authorities
and the marginalized communities. At the policy level, RCRC can
intervene as a partner of the government in the development of the
national strategies and programmes.

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 2) To be effective National Societies must acquire the knowledge
on how urban development programmes are set up, funded, managed
and evaluated. Without such information, NS run the risk of operating
in a vacuum. In practical terms, the RCRC needs to—
 • Investigate and document the working processes of these
programmes and to hold meetings, workshops and trainings to ensure
that such understanding is validated and becomes part of the
competencies of the NS.
 • Develop simple guides, brochures and short training courses to
explain the inner working of the local and national programmes that are
intended to serve the urban poor and the marginalised: poverty
alleviation, informal settlement, support to the elderly, disaster risk
reduction, etc. The selection should be relative to the most relevant
local issues. The documentation would constitute an integral part of the
knowledge base on urban risk and urban risk reduction.

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GLOBAL and REGIONAL REFERENCE
DOCUMENTS

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Management IFRC REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

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REFERNCE DOCUMENTS FROM
AMERICAS

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