Toward resilience: a guide to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation

This guide is an introductory resource for staff of development and humanitarian organizations working with people whose live and rights are threatened by disasters and climate change.The guide provides essential introductory information, principals of effective practice, guidelines for action in a range of sectors and settings, case studies and links to useful tools and resources, for the application of an integrated, rights-based approach to disaster reduction and climate change adaptation. The guide is also a useful resource for other stakeholders, including staff from local, district and national government offices, the United Nations, donors, as well as social and natural scientists.

Each of its six chapters includes case studies from practitioners’ experiences to illustrate examples of program activities, good practices and lessons learned:

Chapter 1: Understanding disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation; Chapter 2: Describes the impacts of disaster and climate change risk on vulnerable populations: people living with disabilities, chronic diseases, older people and indigenous peoples to provide a risk analysis and actions to build resilience; Chapter 3: Explains program cycle management for interventions to reduce disaster and climate change risk. It includes key issues and steps to follow at each stage of the program cycle, and guidance for knowledge generation and management throughout; Chapter 4: Highlights the need to incorporate measures to reduce disaster and climate change risk in the main sectors of developmental and humanitarian intervention: food security; livelihoods; natural resource management; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); education; health; and protection; Chapter 5: Explains the value of incorporating measures to reduce disaster and climate change risk in interventions in conflict settings; early recovery; urban environments; and slow-onset disasters; Chapter 6: Describes the importance of governance and advocacy for the creation of an enabling environment for resilience-building. It provides guidance on how to apply the principles for effective interventions in these closely-related areas of work.