Community Based Disaster Preparedness

Background:
 Community Based Disaster Preparedness program in North East started with the pilot project with 4 partners in April 2004 which successfully ended on March 2007. Caritas India introduced this program in North East with 4 partner dioceses of Assam namely Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Tezpur and Bongaigaon. NEDSF played the role of facilitating agency and successfully completed the pilot project in 2007. Seeing the importance and success of the program, Caritas India extended the project and asked NEDSF to write second project on the same issue. NEDSF took the lead role and proposed the project and implemented the same with the help of 5 partners. This time project covered 3 states of North East taking two different hazards namely flood and cyclone. The river erosion a hazard came in the process of implementation. The implementing partners are 1) Guwahati Gana Seva Society (GGSS), 2) Women Development Centre, Guwahati (WDC), 3) Jana Unayan Samity Tripura (JUST), 4) Social Service Centre, Shillong (SSC) with Cyclonic wind as hazard and 5) BAKDIL, Tura.

The CBDP project was implemented in different phases with lot of changes in villages and in strategies keeping the goals and objectives same. The present project covers 47056 (40% male and 60% female), 8587 families, 65 villages, 20 gaon panchayats, 20 village councils, 11 blocks, 4 districts in 3 states namely Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura. During the period 2004 to 2008 the activities and strategy remained the same. From April 2009 there were slight changes in activities and strategy, but overall process remained the same. From April 2009 staff structure got changed, family level preparedness is added along with the community level preparedness, more focus on identifying traditional coping practices and strengthening them, need based task force groups as per response and preparedness need and field office was introduced. 

 During this period project brought out tremendous preparedness impacts in 65 to 74 villages (different villages in different years). More then quantitative data based impacts it has brought qualitative impacts.. It has brought mindset change of the people at community and family level, influenced the local institutions, groups and govt.(at GP level, block level and at district level) departments. Building capacities of communities and individuals, reducing vulnerabilities of communities and families through meetings, workshops, trainings, demonstrations, community and family based activities are the major components of this program. The linkages with govt. and local institutions, community structure, behaviour change of the community (a sense of preparedness and self preparedness process), revived traditional preparedness mechanisms will always sustain the disaster preparedness process of CBDP. 

About Present Disaster Preparedness Project

Project Goal:
 Communities and families in disaster-prone areas empowered to cope with and take action to effectively reduce the adverse impact of floods.

Objectives:

 

Coping, preparedness and response capacities of communities and families in Assam, India are strengthened through better understanding of the characteristics of local hazards and improved traditional as well as innovative coping practices and through effective networking with local government institutions and NGOs.

Activities:

1.
Interpersonal Communication (IPC)
2.
Community and Family Preparedness Plans
3.
Community dialogue
4.
Social Mobilization
5.
Networking/institutional linkages and advocacy with government
6.
Vulnerability/risk assessment through PLA
7 Capacity building training for project staff and community
8 Community level Preparedness activities
9.
Family level preparedness activities

Strategies

 

Caritas India: There will be frequent visit to the field for monitoring of financial administrative system of the implementing partners. Organizing workshops and training for implementing partners for strengthening financial and administrative systems.

 

 

Program Management: There is an international consultant appointed as program manger to look after the effective management (providing professional guidance) of the program.

 

 

Technical guidance and facilitation in effective implementation: North East Diocesan Social Forum (NEDSF) is to provide regular technical guidance to the implementing staff in effective implementation of the project and play the role of facilitator and mediator between implementing partners and funding agencies.

 

 

Implementation: There are 5 organizations who are responsible for effective implementation of the project. Each partner has a field office near the project area for regular meeting, training and documentation. There are different levels of staff like coordinator, assistant coordinator, supervisor, animator and social mobilizers. Actual implementation of activities are done by communities and families for which staff will be playing the role of facilitators.

 

 

Reporting: Community will monitor their own activities through regular meetings, overall planning and monitoring of the organization will be done by project field staff. Activity reports are to be submitted to organization by the community and field staff. On regular basis field reports will be consolidated and sent to NEDSF. NEDSF will consolidated both financial and activity report and send to donor agency.

© NEDSF, Guwahati, 1989 - 2007