(Apologies for cross-posting. I have been asked to forward the message 
below to the list)


Dear Colleagues, 

We are writing to you today as an organisation, institute or agency who is 
actively engaged in reducing the impact of disasters within communities at 
grassroots level.  Whether you are an academic, donor or practitioner, you 
are likely to have asked yourself the question “what does a disaster 
resilient community look like?”.   

This was the exact question which we, as a group of agencies, asked 
ourselves this time last year when we were discussing how to effectively 
monitor and evaluate our DFID funded disaster risk reduction (DRR) 
projects.  As a result of this debate we commissioned John Twigg and a 
team of academics to design a resource tool to support us in this work.  

The outcome has been the desk based development of “The Characteristics of 
a Disaster Resilient Community” (see below link). Based on literature from 
all over the world (including Spanish), the characteristics are multi 
hazard and subsequently highly comprehensive to cover different village 
settings and scenarios. The organisation of the characteristics is in 
synergy with the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), which is especially 
relevant for those who are keen advocates to ensure that the HFA targets 
the most vulnerable at the community level.

http://www.benfieldhrc.org/disaster_studies/projects/communitydrrindicators
/community_drr_indicators_index.htm

The aim of these characteristics is that they serve as a multi functional 
tool which can be used at any stage of the project cycle. First and 
foremost they provide vision to give project direction. Secondly, project 
indicators can be developed against set characterises, and gaps analyses 
can be undertaken with a community to identify their strengths and 
weaknesses in resilience. These can then serve as baseline surveys or 
supporting information for comprehensive evaluations. The characteristics 
could even be used to assess your own organisations strengths and 
weaknesses in the skills and knowledge required to facilitate the 
characteristics.

Today is International Day for Disaster Reduction and in recognition of 
that we would like to invite you to join us field test the 
characteristics. The document in the above web link is only the first 
edition. As agencies we are committed to field test them in 20 countries 
(minimum) during the course of the next 18 months (see attached summary). 
At the end of that time we will commission John Twigg to produce a second 
edition which will be verified by field usage.

The more agencies that join in the field testing, the more comprehensive 
the ratification.   

If you or your organisation feel you are interested in supporting this 
venture, please reply to the owner of the email. We are aiming to have a 
workshop in London within 4-6 weeks to co-ordinate all interested parties, 
and will name the venue once we have an approximate idea of numbers.

At minimum, we encourage you to take a look at the weblink, as we are 
encouraged and excited at the opportunities this resource could bring. 
But, most of all we hope you can join us so we look forward to hearing 
from you.

Signed:

ActionAid
Christian Aid
Plan UK
Practical Action
British Red Cross
Tearfund

--
Oenone Chadburn 
DRR International Project Manager 
Disaster Management Team 
Tearfund, UK 
Please note the change in extension number 
Email: [log in to unmask] 
Tel: +44 208 977 9144 x 7679 
Mb: +44 7903 225125