Poverty Reduction & Disaster Management-A Case Study

8/8/2019 Poverty Reduction & Disaster Management-A Case Study

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DMW:203(Psychological Ramifications &Resource Mobilization)

Faculty: Mr. Anuj Kumar VakshaPresented by:

B. Bhamathi C.R. Garg

B.B. Batra

MBA(DM) 2009-2011 (IVth Trim)

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Introduction³Natural hazards, which are becoming more intense andfrequent, have a devastating impact on the world¶s poor. Alarge-scale hazard that hits a highly vulnerable community

with low capacity to cope, reverses hard-won developmentgains, entrenching people in poverty cycles, and increasingvulnerability. How to break these cycles is a hugechallenge for governments, development practitioners andsocieties as a whole.´

y Mr. Yiping Zhou

Director,

Special Unit for South-South Cooperation, UNDP

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Quote:

³Over recent years, the international community

has come to realize that relief and developmentare not separate topics; disaster vulnerability haseverything to do with poverty and development,and vice versa.´

(Wolfensohn* and Cherpitel^ 2002)

*President, World Bank & ^Secretary General,IFRC

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Poverty:³Poverty is not a state of deprivation but also a state of

vulnerability´

y

Poverty and vulnerability are closely related.y The sources of risk include expensive illness, death of a

breadwinner, natural calamities (flood, drought, animal

diseases, crop failure, etc.)

y The need to meet customary obligations (weddings,

funerals), political instability, communal riots etc.

y The coping mechanisms against such crisis lead the poor

into a situation of further debt and impoverishment

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Constitutional Provisions

y Articles 39(a) and 41 of the Constitution require that the

State should within the limits of its economic capacity,make effective provision for securing the right to work, to

education, and to public assistance in case of

unemployment, old age, sickness, and disablement.

y Though social security is not viewed as a fundamental

right, Article 42 requires that the State should makeprovision for securing just and humane conditions of work

and for maternity relief.

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Contd..

y Article 43 states that States shall endeavour to secure toall workers -agricultural, industrial, or otherwise, a living

wage, such conditions of work that ensure a decent

standard of life.

y Article 47 requires that the State should, as its primary

duty, raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living

of its people and improve public health.

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EXISTING SOCIAL SECURITY

SCENARIO

y The existing social security system in India exhibits diversecharacteristics.

yThere are a large number of schemes, administered bydifferent agencies, each scheme designed for a specificpurpose and target group of beneficiaries, floated as they areby the Central and State Governments as well as by NGOs inresponse to their own perceptions of needs, of the particular time.

y

Many a time some scheme(s) might be responsible for creating µexclusion¶ of the large number of those µin mostcritical need for support from the planning process¶, ongrounds of practicability or to protect the interests of thosewho are already µin¶.

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Gaps

y There are wide gaps in coverage (a large population is

still uncovered under any scheme) and overlapping of benefits (a section of the population is covered under two

or more schemes). In the existing system, coverage

varies from scheme to scheme, with different groups of

people receiving different types of benefits. In other

words, no one is insured against all risks of life.

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Initiativesy Over the years, both Central and State Governments

have been taking initiatives for the welfare and social

security of the workers in the unorganized sector.

y Similarly, several insurance/poverty alleviation schemes

are being implemented by various

ministries/departments, as well as by States like Kerala

and Tamil Nadu, which have constituted Welfare Fundsfor some occupational groups.

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Initiatives

y The Govt. of India has initiated numerous schemes for

the poverty alleviation in rural as well as urban areas.y All such schemes are in place for the peace times

y Till a couple of years back there were no schemes for

poverty reduction for people stuck with disasters

y

Over the years many programmes with internationalpartnerships and aids have made certain inroads in

achieving the desired goals in poverty alleviation

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Community-based disaster

preparedness for poverty alleviation- A case study

World Vision ± India (In partnership with World Vision UK,the Government of India and UNICEF)

y In February 2006, World Vision India initiated a projectaiming to strengthen community disaster preparedness

and mitigation, and provide wealth creation anddiversification. Targeting 15,000 disaster-vulnerablefarmers and marginalized people, with a special focus onchildren, the project sought to improve livelihoods asdisaster risk safeguards.

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The case study

yThis project aimed to integrate emergency response anddisaster risk reduction into development in Malda District,

located 300 km north of Kolkata, West Bengal State, by

targeting the most vulnerable groups through age,

gender and livelihood-tailored interventions

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Contd..

yMalda District is one of India¶s 199 multi-hazard districts.It is known for its exposure to floods, cyclones and

drought, as well as heavy seasonal migration. The

development focus of the project is on improvement of

livelihoods, with the intention of building in disaster risk

safeguards.

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Objectivesy The main goal of the project was to strengthen

community disaster preparedness and mitigationmeasures, and provide wealth creation and

diversification. Its key objectives are:y To promote disaster awareness activities and foster

attitudes of preparedness so that communities candeal with disasters

y To help community members establish alternativesources of income to reduce their vulnerability todisaster

y To improve access to and use of appropriate water,sanitation and shelter facilities

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Disaster Risk Reduction

y The Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) component of the

project was initiated in February 2006, with trainingactivities held in 2007. The project was completed in

2008. It was modeled around the Hyogo Framework for

Action 2005-2015:

y Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities

to Disasters

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The Project

y The project was implemented in two gram panchayats

(16 villages) of Gazole Block in Malda District, covering15,000 community members.

y Almost every year the district suffers from one or more

disasters, with farmers and marginalized people being

the most affected.

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World Vision India and the Malda

Area Development Programme

y World Vision India and the Malda Area Development

Program implementing the project with funding fromWorld Vision UK.

y UNICEF developed and released the µColouring Book on

Disaster Preparedness¶.

y The Civil Defence Office of the Government of India and

the Social Mobilization Office of UNICEF conducted

disaster preparedness training courses.

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Target Groupsy The target groups are farmers and marginalized people,

with a special focus on children and women.

y

A total of 15,000 people were targeted.y The project has made the following major impacts:

y Awareness of disaster response and preparedness

measures have risen significantly in local communities

of Malda District.

y Previously, the district did not take disaster

preparedness seriously as they were not exposed to

the deadly disasters experienced by coastal regions.

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The approach

y After the distribution of newly published disaster

preparedness colouring books to elementary schoolchildren in schools and youth clubs, even illiterate

parents are aware of hazards and disaster risks.

y As a result, Local Relief Action Teams (LRATs) were

formed from village volunteers.

y The community volunteers include many women, and

are trained in first aid, rescue methods, and rescue

operations in coordination with the government.

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Contd..y Vulnerability assessments were completed and, as a

result, 50 vulnerable families were provided with

income-generating activities and 30 of the most

vulnerable women were trained in tailoring - as part of

the project¶s skill development training.

y The project also involved the community in the

following activities: renovation of ponds, installation of

tube wells, digging of open wells, construction of roadsand the building of two relief centres

y World Vision is working with 50 vibrant children¶s clubs

consisting of children aged six to 18

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Contribution to Poverty Reductiony Providing financial assistance such as grants to the

poorest households ± specifically, grants for economic

activities that would build coping mechanisms and protect

livelihoods.

y Increasing the income of the poorest households by

generating income opportunities.

y Creating and increasing livelihood assets to ensure

sustainable income, through continuous access to micro-finance

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Contd.

y Training community-based organizations, to improve their

capacity for identifying candidates for economicdevelopment programmes

y The project has helped reduce poverty, disaster risk and

vulnerability through income-generation activities

targeting the most vulnerable and poor.

y The activities included pond renovation, drinking water

purification and relief centre construction.

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The methodology

y Carrying out vulnerability assessments that measure

economic and environmental factors, and identifycapacities for reducing disaster risk.

y Conducting Participatory Learning and Action (PLA)

exercises, specifically of village mapping, trend analysis,

seasonality and wealth ranking

y Forming Local Relief Action Teams (LRATs), which are

core teams of civil defence officials and community

volunteers trained to respond to disasters.

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Summing Up

y To sum up, it should be stressed that integrating disaster risk reduction into poverty reduction does indeed help

reduce the vulnerability of the poor

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Thank You

y Sources:

y 11th Five Year Plan 2007-12(Planning Commission)

y Linking Disaster Risk Reduction & Poverty Reduction-Focus Humanitarian &

UNDP

y A Primer on Linking Disaster Risk Reduction-TATA DHAN Academy Madurai

y What is Disaster?- Ronald W. Perry & E.L. Quarantelli

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Poverty Reduction & Disaster Management-A Case Study