Toward Resilience: A Guide to Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation

This introductory resource is designed for staff of development and humanitarian organisations working with people whose lives and rights are threatened by disasters and climate change. The guide is a core resource developed as part of the Emergency Capacity Building (ECB) Project, a collaborative effort by six agencies: CARE International, Catholic Relief Services, Mercy Corps, Oxfam, Save the Children, and World Vision International. It provides introductory information, principles of effective practice, guidelines for action in a range of sectors and settings, case studies, and links to tools and resources, for the application of an integrated, rights-based approach to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. It includes 10 "common sense principles" for integrating disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in practice, and it highlights the needs of vulnerable populations including children so that they can be part of the process of building disaster and climate resilience.

Contents and structure of the guide:

• Chapter 1: Understanding disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation - Explains the evolution of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation and the rationale for an integrated approach to building resilience. It presents 10 principles for effective programming and advocacy, based on extensive research and practice.
• Chapter 2: Key groups for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation - Describes the effects of disaster and climate change risk on children, women and men, and on high-risk populations: people living with disabilities, people living with chronic diseases, older people and indigenous peoples. It provides a checklist for promoting the participation of key groups in risk analysis and actions to build resilience.
• Chapter 3: Programme cycle management for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation - Explains programme cycle management for interventions to reduce disaster and climate change risk. It includes key issues and steps to follow at each stage of the programme cycle, and guidance for knowledge generation and management throughout.
• Chapter 4: Key sectors for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation - 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. It provides guidance on how to apply the principles for effective programming and advocacy to build resilience in each sector.
• Chapter 5: Key contexts for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation - Explains the value of incorporating measures to reduce disaster and climate change risk in interventions in four challenging contexts for development and humanitarian work: conflict settings; early recovery; urban environments; and slow-onset disasters. It provides guidance on how to apply the principles for effective programming and advocacy to build resilience in each context.
• Chapter 6: Creating an enabling environment for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation - 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.

Click here to download the guide in PDF format in English.
Click here to download the guide in PDF format in French.
Click here to download the guide in PDF format in Spanish.