TURNING PRACTICE INTO POLICY Linking Good Practice Communitybased
TURNING PRACTICE INTO POLICY: Linking Good Practice Communitybased Disaster Risk Management with Government Policy and Practice
What is it? § An information resource to be used for advocacy in Disaster risk reduction (DRR) § It introduces the idea that there are Principles of good practice in community based disaster risk management that can be used by decisionmakers for DRR § It identifies the challenges facing governments in incorporating good practice into DRR policy and planning
How can it be used? § The information can be used to shape advocacy strategies § It can help in influencing government officials § It can help NGOs understand the government perspective in shaping DRR policy § It can help governments understand the NGO perspective in influencing DRR policy
How is the research presented? In two Phases. Phase 1 - Identifying good practice Community-based disaster risk management (CBDRM) Phase 2 -Identifying challenges in linking CBDRM with government policy and practice
How was the research done? Phase 1 - Spoke to communities in Asia and Africa, and questioned international DRR experts for their views on good practice in CBDRM. Phase 2 – Interviewed governments in 6 countries – Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Niger, Zambia
Phase 1 found that: § Good practice CBDRM is based on important ‘principles’ that are applicable in most contexts § Examples of CBDRM fall into a list of topics § Good practice CBDRM operates in a loop where the principles of CBDRM are applied to make improvement in the implementation of topics resulting in specific examples of CBDRM.
Phase 1 Diagram of Good Practice CBDRM
Phase 1 Conclusions § Understanding the context in which a particular CBDRM activity takes place is crucial. § Commitment to valuing the principles of good practice within the different topic boundaries leads to examples of good practice CBDRM § If the process is right, the examples of good practice will follow. § Principles of good practice can be applied globally § Country governments, donors, NGOs and communities can use the Phase 1 research to identify what good practice CBDRM looks like.
Examples of Principles: § DRR Integrated with Recovery Activities § Mainstreaming DRR with Development plans and Policies § The Involvement of Local Government § The Participation of Local Stakeholders in Decision-making § Involvement of all government departments and other stakeholders in DRR planning § Multi-stakeholder engagement when designing DRR policy
Phase 2 § In 2006, Tearfund issued a questionnaire to expert DRR academics and practitioners around the world to identify why CBDRM is not better supported by governments. § In 2007, Tearfund also sought local and national governments’ perspectives on CBDRM through semi-structured interviews facilitated by Tearfund staff and partners in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Niger and Zambia
Phase 2: Examples of questions asked “Can you explain the reasons behind your government’s current level of expenditure on disaster risk reduction? ” “What would cause your government to allocate more resources to it? ”
Phase 2 diagram of Challenges linking practice and policy
Phase 2 Conclusions: Phase 2 found that there are: § Government-related issues that can hinder the allocation of resources for CBDRM eg lack of capacity § Community-related issues that can hinder the flow of information on CBDRM to government eg. Lack of influence at govt level § Government AND Community-related issues that can act as a barriers t linking CBDRM with government policy and practice eg. Lack of trust
Phase 2 conclusions continued… Suggests methods to overcome the challenges facing: § Governments for example: Providing regular, ongoing training for key staff § NGOs for example: attending govt meetings and consultations § Governments and NGOs for example: Set aside assumptions about each other
The way forward: Governments, donors and NGOs all have an important role to play in addressing these challenges. Tearfund recommends that: § NGOs use this information resource to improve their advocacy § Govts use this information resource to engage better with DRR perspectives from civil society § Govts work in consultation and partnership with civil society and other stakeholders § Donors develop their institutional capacity for DRR
Where to find the research? It can be found on the Tearfund Website under Disaster Risk Reduction reports: http: //tilz. tearfund. org Or for a hard copy of the CD Rom, please email mairo. retief@tearfund. org
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