Disaster risk reduction (DRR) has emerged as an important agenda item in the development community. This report identifies models and promising practices for disaster risk reduction based on experiences in the three pilot countries: Ethiopia, Guatemala and Indonesia. This report summarises some of the more significant learnings and promising practices, and highlights some key examples that give ideas for moving forward with risk reduction.
Key lessons highlighted in the report include:
- networks are crucial to shaping the future of disaster risk reduction: networks such as the emergency capacicy building project (ECB) play an important role in influencing practice and donors;
- increasing communication and cooperation among agencies develops trust, leading to better performance;
- working together has produced new tools for implementation of DRR in the field and has spurred agencies to think more seriously about where risk reduction fits in their development models;
- for advocacy purposes, it is important to connect with local governments and the various associated agencies that influence disaster risk reduction;
- one of the most effective international agencies can play is to bring various groups together around issues of common concern, by using the ‘power to convene’ that international NGOs often enjoy to facilitate cooperation between stakeholders;
- local knowledge and culture should be centre stage in all DRR efforts: while there are commonalities in terms of frameworks, approaches and tools, the end results need to reflect local needs, capacities and traditions;
- visible impact counts: DRR projects that have tangible outcomes that benefit communities regardless of whether disaster strikes have more likelihood of success.
