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  Last update: November 1, 2007
Building community resilience
to natural disasters through partnership:
Sharing experience and expertise in the region

 

The tsunami disaster of 26 December 2004 caused an unprecedented human catastrophe in affected UNESCAP member states, destroying lives and livelihoods. Today, rehabilitation and reconstruction processes developed by governments, with the support from the international community, are promoting sustainable and coordinated approaches to reduce the impact of the tsunami disaster and enhance the resilience to potential future natural hazards among vulnerable communities.

In these national and regional efforts UNESCAP is supporting government work towards strengthened disaster resilience and the overall objective of this post-tsunami initiative is to support affected and vulnerable communities by sharing experiences and expertise on community resilience in the region. Three pilot projects are conducted in objective areas that have been identified through needs assessments in the target countries and consultations with national counterparts and key UN partners. The objective areas are (1) Development of integrated early warning systems, (2) Livelihood recovery and (3) Infrastructure recovery including human settlements. Lessons learned are derived from the three pilot projects and are complemented with other experiences from the region.

In order to promote regional partnerships and enhance replicability of good practices a final regional report and workshop will be conducted to discuss and share the outcomes of this UNESCAP initiative. Each pilot project is described below and further information can be found on the respective project websites.

Pilot A: A community early warning system for multiple-hazards in Sri Lanka
The objective of this pilot project is to introduce good practices in community-based warning terminals for national disaster information monitoring. This is achieved by documenting the introduction and utilization of three multi-hazard warning towers in Sri Lanka.

Pilot B: Creating new sources of livelihoods in Tamil Nadu, India
This pilot project explores the potential of public-private partnerships as a means for new sources of livelihood in disaster struck and vulnerable communities. By deriving lessons and policy recommendations on the capacity of such partnerships the aim of the project is to support the national Government, local government counterparts and community based NGOs to effectively engage public-private partnerships in livelihood programmes for vulnerable communities.

Pilot C: Capacity building to support OSCY in family and community settings in Aceh, Indonesia
The objective of this pilot project is to strengthen the social support of orphans, separated children and youth (OSCY) and enhance the protection they receive in Indonesia. The aim is to help Tsunami-affected communities adopt and apply strategies, which are tested and implemented under the project, to care for OSCY and promote their development in community settings.

Related Links
International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) 2007
Natural Disaster Reduction
Regional Initiative on Community-based Disaster Risk Management for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP-ROK-ISDR Asia Partnership)
Partnership for Disaster Reduction in South-East Asia (PDR SEA)
Tsunami Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction

For more information contact

Dr. Le Huu Ti
Chief, Sustainable Development and Water Security SectionEnvironment and Development Division
UNESCAP, UN Building,
Rajdamnern Nok Ave.
Bangkok 10200, Thailand
Tel: 66-2-288-1450, 66-2-288-1533
Fax: 66-2-288-1059, 66-2-228-1048
E-mail: escap-esdd-wrs@un.org