2.4. Financing

So the word resilience has become an important dimension of the DRR and this is what the DFID defines as the department for international development of UK. It says the ability of countries, communities, and households to manage change, by maintaining or transforming living standards in the face of shocks or stresses such as earthquakes, droughts or violent conflict without compromising their long-term prospects.

Resilience refers to the capacity of people and communities to withstand and adapt to challenges such as natural disasters or social upheaval without jeopardizing their future. It emphasizes maintaining or improving living standards despite adversities. For example, a resilient community after an earthquake not only recovers its homes but also improves infrastructure to be better prepared for future events.

Imagine a rubber band: when you stretch it (experience a shock), it returns to its original shape (recovers). If a community is resilient, like a rubber band, it not only bounces back to its original state but can even become stronger, preparing better for future challenges.

There are few more frameworks which I let us go through; one is the sustainable livelihoods framework. This has been developed again by the DFID in 1999. And you can see that it talks about the capital because they are referred as an asset framework as well and how the individual or a community, how they use, they, I would say like how they construct their livelihoods you know how they improved, enhance their capacities.

The sustainable livelihoods framework looks at the various types of capital (natural, financial, social, human, and physical) that individuals and communities can utilize to improve their living conditions. It helps understand how resources are accessed and leveraged for better livelihoods while considering the vulnerabilities that might limit these opportunities.

Think of a toolkit where each tool represents a type of capital: a hammer for financial resources, seeds for natural resources, connections for social capital, skills for human capital, and tools for physical capital. A community with a well-equipped toolkit can build a stronger house (better livelihoods), whereas a community lacking tools may struggle to even start building.

So then as we discussed in the vulnerability context, how it also have a give and take aspect of this influencing these abilities you know because these are the how he manages, I mean the community manages to access these resources. So vulnerability context itself or the poverty context itself acts as an underlying phenomenon on to making these access work and do not work.

The vulnerability context refers to the external and internal factors that influence a community's ability to access necessary resources. It considers how challenges like poverty, governance, or geographical position can limit or enhance a community's capacity to utilize their available assets effectively.

Consider a garden: if the soil is rich and well-tended (positive vulnerability context), plants will flourish. However, if the soil is poor or the garden is overrun with weeds (negative vulnerability context), the plants will struggle to grow, just as a community might struggle to thrive amidst hardship.

And then the governance situation, the policies, institutions and the processes how they actually work. So it is not just only because of this natural, human, social and physical and financial capital.

Governance and policy frameworks play a crucial role in how effectively communities can leverage their assets for disaster risk reduction. Sound governance ensures that policies are in place to protect and empower communities to access their resources and make informed livelihood choices.

Think of governance as the rules of a board game: good rules facilitate fair play and success for all players, while poor rules can create confusion and hinder any progress, just as a community might benefit from clear policies that support disaster response and resilience.

When we talk about the project cycle in the disaster context, these are the 6 aspects which we need to look at: the programming, identification, appraisal, financing, implementation and evaluation.

The project cycle consists of several critical stages to ensure that disaster risk reduction initiatives are effective. Each phase involves defining guidelines, identifying needs, assessing conditions, securing funding, executing the project, and reviewing results to learn and adapt for future efforts.

Imagine planning a road trip. You first map out the route (programming), determine gas stations along the way (identification), budget for expenses (appraisal), gather money (financing), drive to your destination (implementation), and finally share experiences after the trip (evaluation). Each step is crucial for a successful journey, just as each phase in the project cycle is vital for successful disaster response.

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