MODULE 4: INCLUSIVE DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND

MANAGEMENT
Module Objectives

Upon completion of the module, you will be able to:

1. Discuss the impacts of culture towards disaster risk reduction.
2. Discuss child- centered, gender- sensitive and culturally- inclusive approaches to DRR.

TIME FRAME: Week 6- 8

INTRODUCTION:

This module aims to explain the relevance of inclusiveness in disaster management and its implications in
building resilient communities. It discusses the impacts of culture towards disaster risk reduction, as well
as child-centered, gender sensitive and culturally- inclusive approaches to disaster risk reduction and
management.

ACTIVITY:

How can disaster risk reduction and management efforts be made more inclusive and accessible for vulnerable
groups?

ANALYSIS:

How does the activity motivates you in learning CBDRM?

ABSTRACTION:

INCLUSIVE RESILIENCE

The impacts of disasters do not affect all people equally. Groups such as women, girls, persons with
disabilities, ethnic and racial minorities, Indigenous Peoples, youth, and other marginalized communities
are often disproportionately affected by shocks. Yet, empowering citizens and communities, particularly
those most excluded, and supporting community participation can result in improved resilience to disasters,
better development outcomes, and more sustainable solutions.

Ongoing Efforts to Address Social Inclusion in DRM

Globally, there has been a greater recognition of the need for DRM interventions to address issues of social
exclusion. For example, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 calls for disaster-
related decision making to be inclusive as well as to promote gender-equitable and universally accessible
approaches throughout the DRM cycles (UNDRR 2015).
Yet, the need remains to translate these concepts and commitments on inclusive resilience—already
expressed in high-level policies and plans—into actions. A sound approach would be to first identify and
differentiate the needs of various vulnerable and marginalized groups and then to proactively empower and
integrate their perspectives into DRM activities and interventions that ensure inclusive resilience for all.
Key Principles for Inclusive Resilience

 Acknowledge and discuss social exclusion issues in the context of DRM.

 Understand the differential needs and experiences of excluded groups.
 Mainstream social inclusion into the DRM legal and policy frameworks.
 Develop the knowledge and evidence base required for effective policymaking and programming.
 Strengthen the capacity of relevant authorities engaged in DRM activities.
 Engage communities at every stage of DRM projects and make decision-making processes inclusive.
 Leverage emerging technologies to explore opportunities for advancing the inclusion agenda in DRM.
 Join the cause to raise awareness of inclusive resilience.

High- level Entry Points for Inclusive Resilience

Data from: World Bank 2021. Inclusive Resilience: Inclusion Matters for Resilience in South Asia. Washington, DC: World Bank.

CHILD- CENTERED DISASTER RISK REDUCTION

Impacts of Disasters on Children

Disasters and climate change hurt vulnerable people, like children, the most. When disasters and climate
change events happen, children’s rights to food, shelter, education and protection are endangered. A lot of
things can happen to children’s health and development when these events occur. Children may not be
able to eat enough food, get sick, or even die because of poor health. It’s also hard to keep things clean
and sanitary because there isn’t enough clean water in many places.

Most of the time, children don’t have places to go to learn because schools are often used as evacuation
centers. Children and young people are in danger of abuse, violence and exploitation during disasters.
They face the risk of being sexually harassed, raped, sold or traded, put to work and prostituted. Stress,
particularly economic stress, and lack of security in evacuation centers often lead to these dangers.
Children and young people who have been displaced may also experience mental health problems
because of the death or illness of family members, separation from parents or guardians, neglect and even
class disruptions.
Child-centered DRR/CA is an approach that puts at-risk children and young people at the center. Child-
centered DRR/CA includes all DRR activities for children and with children, and all thematic pillars
under DRRM and climate action.

The approach is in line with the National DRRM Framework. It provides children an enabling
environment to be actively involved in DRR and an opportunity to use their knowledge, skills and
attitudes to help make a safe, adaptive and resilient environment with adults. It empowers children to
speak up and protect their basic rights and gives them a chance to take on leadership roles in building
resilience.

Laws, policies, and frameworks supporting Child- centered DRR

UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (UNCRC)

Ratified in the Philippines in 1990, the UNCRC covers and protects all children’s civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights at all times. Under this treaty, children have rights that can’t be taken
away in any situation, especially when they’re at their most vulnerable.

The UNCRC has four main principles:

 Non-discrimination
 Best interest of the child
 Right to survival and development
 Views of the child

The treaty emphasizes each child’s right to participate – the right of a child to be heard (Article 12,
UNCRC) is a fundamental right and a guiding concept that should be considered when implementing
other rights. Every child has the right to engage in varied settings, including in complex emergency,
humanitarian and crisis situations. The treaty views children as having ‘evolving capacities’, implying
that as children mature, their capacity to assume responsibility and assert rights increases.

CHILDREN’S CHARTER FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION

This Charter was created through consultations with more than 600 children in 21 countries. The Charter
promotes DRR that uses a Child-centered approach. It calls for stronger commitment from governments
and other stakeholders to take appropriate measures (or courses of action) to protect children and allow
them to engage in DRR and climate action efforts.
SENDAI FRAMEWORK FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION 2015–2030

This global Framework will substantially reduce disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health
and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses,
communities and countries by 2030.

To do this, governments that committed to this Framework will strive to implement integrated and
inclusive measures (e.g., economic, structural, legal, social, health, cultural, educational, environmental,
technological, political and institutional measures) to prevent and reduce exposure to hazards and
vulnerability to disaster, increase preparedness for response and recovery, and strengthen resilience (i.e.,
the ability to adapt and bounce back from a difficult situation).

CHILDREN’S EMERGENCY RELIEF AND PROTECTION ACT OR RA 10821

This law mandates that children’s fundamental rights be protected before, during, and after disasters and
other emergency situations.

Section 4 of the law pushes for the development of the Comprehensive Emergency Program for Children
(CEPC). The program will be the basis for protecting children and pregnant and lactating mothers and for
supporting their immediate recovery during disasters and other emergency situations.

The CEPC has eight important components:

a. Establishing evacuation centers that are safe, inclusive, child-friendly, gender-sensitive and responsive
to the needs of children in emergency situations.

b. Establishing children- and women-friendly transitional shelters and a referral mechanism for orphaned,
unaccompanied and separated children.

c. Ensuring immediate delivery of basic necessities and services to affected children.

d. Carrying out stronger measures to ensure safety and security of affected children.

e. Delivering health services, medical care and nutritional services.

f. Having a plan of action for the prompt resumption of educational services for children.

g. Establishing child-friendly spaces; and

h. Promoting children rights by:
 providing Child-centered training for all responders;
 ensuring that children have adequate access to age-appropriate information on their roles and
responsibilities and those of government agencies before, during and after disasters and other
emergency situations;
 providing effective means for children to participate and train for community DRR programs;
and
 consulting with affected children on their needs and priorities for post-disaster relief and
recovery.

Key components of Child- centered DRR and climate action

Similar to the community-based DRRM framework, Child-centered DRR/CA follows community-based

processes in DRR and climate action:

Child involvement and participation in DRR/CA structures and organizations

 Children and young people are active members of local DRRM councils and committees.
 Local organizations representing children in decision-making spaces actively advocate for the
needs of children and youth.
 Children and young people actively participate in DRR/CA policy formulation and decision-
making.

Child-centered capacity building and training

 Capacity building and training in communities involve children and youth to ensure that they
have enough knowledge and skills in DRR/ CA.
 Schools integrate DRR/CA in school curricula and extra-curricular activities.
 Specialized training for children and youth are included in regular capacity building programs of
communities and schools.

Child-centered risk assessment

 Children and young people are trained to identify, analyze and explain their exposure,
vulnerabilities and capacities.
 They actively participate in community and school risk assessment processes.
 Detailed data on children and youth and their needs are clearly reflected in the risk assessment
reports.
Child-centered DRR/CCA action planning
 Children and young people are trained to use data on risk assessment to plan and identify
solutions and to develop activities that would address the risks they face.
 They actively participate in community and school DRR and CCA planning processes.
 Child-centered DRR/CA activities and programs are included in local DRR and CCA plans of
communities.
 Child-centered DRR/CA plans and programs address the root causes of child vulnerability,
including child poverty and deprivation.

Child-centered implementation
 Children and young people are actively involved in implementing DRR/CA programs and
projects in their communities.
 With an enabling environment, they take the lead role in implementing DRR/CA activities.
 Child-centered DRR programs are provided with enough budget and resources to ensure the
implementation and continuity of programs.

Child-centered monitoring and evaluation

 Children and young people with their communities collectively monitor and assess the impacts
of DRR/CA programs in their communities.
 They propose measures to improve the implementation of DRR/CA programs in their
communities.

Key features of child- centered DRR and climate action

CHILD-LED, CHILD-FOCUSED AND CHILD-SENSITIVE

RIGHTS-BASED APPROACH
The rights of the children are the main priority in DRR/CA.

CHILDREN AS ACTIVE AGENTS OF CHANGE

The traditional notion of children and young people as victims of disasters is challenged, and their unique
skills and capacities as active agents of change are emphasized.
CONSIDERS DISTINCT NEEDS OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
Child-centered DRR/CA recognizes the specific needs and vulnerabilities of children and young people
especially during emergencies and crisis and strives to include them in risk assessment and planning.

MULTI-SECTORAL AND COLLABORATIVE APPROACH

While Child Centered DRR/CA puts children at the center, it acknowledges the different roles of
stakeholders in building resilience.

EVIDENCE-BASED AND DATA-DRIVEN ASSESSMENT AND PLANNING

Child-centered DRR/CA also utilizes scientific data and approaches to complement indigenous practices
and approaches at the community level.

MAINSTREAMED AND INTEGRATED

DRR/CA is mainstreamed and integrated in key sectoral concerns of children such as water, sanitation
and hygiene (WASH), education, child protection, health, nutrition and social protection. It ensures that
cross-sectoral concerns such as gender, children with disabilities, indigenous children, children in isolated
areas and other marginalized children are considered in local development plans, particularly in local
DRRM plans (LDRRMPs) and local CCA plans (LCCAPs).

Source: UNICEF (2022). Child- centered Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Action Primer

GENDER- SENSITIVE DISASTER RISK REDUCTION

Gender Issues in Disaster Management

The relationships between men and women are powerful forces in every culture. The way these
relationships are defined creates differences in the roles and responsibilities of men and women. It also
leads to inequalities in their access to, and control over, resources (who inherits land or can get credit
from the bank) and decision-making powers (who has a voice and sits on community councils and
committees).

The combined effect of these differences and inequalities means that women and girls, and men and boys
face different types and levels of exposure and vulnerability to natural hazard risks and disaster impacts.
Gender based behaviors and stereotypes about what men and women can and cannot do, or should and
should not do, can further contribute to gender differences, sometimes with devastating consequences.
Yet, attention to gender is consistently one of the weakest areas of humanitarian response.
Women and girls generally tend to be the main victims of natural disasters.

A few commonly recorded reasons for higher death tolls among women and girls include:
 cultural constraints on female mobility which hinder self-rescue, for example, women may not
leave the home without male permission, they may be reluctant to seek shelter because shared
communal facilities do not have separate, private spaces for women or clothing may have been
damaged
 lack of skills such as swimming or tree climbing, which are traditionally taught to males
 less physical strength than males, in part due to biological differences but, in some countries, also
due to the effects of prolonged nutritional deficiencies caused by less access to food than men and
boys.

Poverty is known to be a key factor in the vulnerability of both men and women during hazard events,
but there can be gender differences among poor people that further compound the risks. For instance,
poor women may have heightened vulnerability to hazard events that occur during the daytime, as many
live in unsafe areas and houses and tend to spend more time indoors and near the house than their male
relations.

As men usually form the majority of poor migrant laborer’s, their wives and children, as well as older
people remaining in the family home, may be more exposed to the impacts of local disasters.
Furthermore, there are many instances of women and girls facing difficulties in gaining access to relief
or recovery assistance following a disaster, as well as being exposed to demands for sexual favors, rape
and other forms of sexual and physical abuse in camps and other temporary shelter arrangements.

Good Practice Checklist for Gender and Diversity in Disaster Management

 Include representatives of women, youth, children, the disabled, ethnic minorities and migrant
groups in damage and needs assessments.
 Recognize that decision-making roles are traditionally male functions within society and that
women may require substantial orientation on their responsibilities, training in confidence
building and mentoring to be able to fully participate in these types of decision-making
committees.
 Develop partnerships with organizations that represent the interests of these groups.
 Develop an understanding of the longer-term history of discrimination against these groups in
the programming area so that the activities planned can help to overcome such discrimination.
 Build knowledge about the disaster management skills, capacities and coping mechanisms of
these groups.
 Consult with community members and specialists to identify the possible need for designing the
activities in specific ways that ensure that these groups have access to the available resources
and can participate equally in decision-making.
 Develop strategies that ensure marginalized groups are actively involved in the design,
implementation and monitoring of disaster management activities.
 Support the development of information, education, and communication activities and systems
that are designed with and for marginalized groups. Activities should be culturally appropriate,
available in their languages, and through communication networks they normally use.
 Work with Organizational partners and representatives of these groups to develop progress and
success indicators and other ways of assessing the impact of disaster management programming
on them as a result of their participation in decision-making and access to resources available.
 Ensure sufficient funds have been allocated in program budgets to support these activities.

Source: Adapted from World Bank, 2009.

Impacts of Culture in DRRM

Culture - the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language,
religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts.

Risk perception towards a disaster not only depends on the danger it could create but also the behavior of
the communities and individuals that is governed by their culture. Within this context, this study
examines the relationship between culture and disaster risk reduction (DRR).

It was evident from the study that in some situations, culture has become a factor for the survival of the
communities from disasters whereas in some situations culture has acted as a barrier for effective DRR
activities. Over the past years, natural hazards have caused extensive losses and damage to human lives,
physical facilities and socio-economic conditions of the affected communities.

Therefore, it is argued that “natural disasters” are also created by humans by increasing the vulnerability
of people towards extreme physical events by constructing unsafe buildings, poor urban planning, poverty
and dense population.

Considering natural hazards as events beyond human control is being challenged but the root causes of
the disasters are evaluated to find effective solutions to minimize the losses and damages to humans,
economy and social activities. Despite the danger and losses from hazards, sometimes people do not
attach much significance for them.
For example: Why do some communities live in the slopes of active volcanoes?

According to the views of anthropologists (who study about humankind especially human culture and
human development), cultural factors influence behavior of people when facing to a hazard
(Oliver-Smith, 1996).

They argue that during a hazardous situation, people not only consider the danger that they could
encounter, but give a priority for factors like social values, religious believes, traditions, and attachment
to a location.

People view culture in different ways and some argue that it is complex and difficult to define. For some,
culture is simply the way of life that expresses certain meanings and values of people.

Culture and Disaster Risk Reduction

Within the mainstream literature on DRR, it is often claimed that cultural elements are neglected when
planning and implementing DRR strategies.

Failing to address cultural aspects could lead to increase in the vulnerabilities of community towards
disasters and the development of unsuccessful DRR strategies.

Consider the situation:

The Merapi volcano in Indonesia is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Despite the risk
from the volcano, Javanese community lives on the slopes of the volcano due to their livelihood patterns
and cultural believes. Community living near the volcano, carryout annual offerings to the volcano
following their traditions.

Because of the religious beliefs, majority of community living near the area thinks that losses due to
the volcanic eruption is under the control of divine forces. During the eruption of Merapi in year 2006,
going against the instructions of government authorities, some communities refused to evacuate their
villages until they got instructions from their “cultural leader” (Lavigne et al, 2008). This example shows
that community’s vales judgement regarding following the orders of their cultural leader. The
community’s idea is such that they believe following the instructions of the cultural leader is “correct”
than following scientific knowledge and instructions given by the government. During disastrous
situation, some communities did not want to evacuate their houses and other belongings indicating strong
attachment towards the material that they are possessing.
Culture has become a factor for the survival of the communities from disasters where as in some
instances culture has acted as a barrier for effective DRR activities. Therefore, it can be argued that
culture has the power of increasing or reducing vulnerability of communities towards disasters.

Giving due consideration to cultural aspects of communities and providing appropriate scientific
knowledge to increase community resilience against natural disasters can be identified as a way forward
to effectively integrate culture and DRR. (UNDRR, Reducing the volcano risk in Indonesia)

APPLICATION

How can you make DRR strategies and measures compatible with the following aspects of the community?
(50 pts.)
o Children as active participants in DRM
o Gender equality in DRM
o Culture sensitivity in DRM

ASSESSMENT

How can inclusive disaster risk reduction and management contribute to building more resilient and
sustainable communities? (50 pts.)

Analysis 20 pts.
Organization 10 pts.
Clarity and Style 10 pts.
Research and Citations 10 pts.
TOTAL 50 pts.

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."

- Benjamin Franklin