 Emergencies can happen anywhere, any time
 It doesn’t matter how developed a country is, or
wealthy or prepared.
 Impact on communities
 Disruption of community and state protection
mechanisms
 Disruption/loss of access to basic services
 Increase in vulnerability (girls pushed into early
marriage, sons sent to work…)
 Yet, there is recognition that the impact of crisis can
be mitigated, prevented and prepared for
 Building resilience
 The heart of development cooperation’s efforts in
humanitarian and development contexts.
 Development programs need to tackle the root causes of
recurrent crisis rather than just their consequences in order
to ensure development gains are genuinely sustainable.
 Working with vulnerable populations to build their resilience
is also a fundamental part of poverty reduction –the
ultimate goal of EU development policy
Resilience:
The ability of an
individual, a
household, a
community, a country
or a region to
withstand, adapt and
quickly recover from
stresses and shocks
such as drought,
violence, conflict or
natural disaster.
Alleviating underlying causes Enhancing capacities
 High vulnerability/low national capacity to prevent
and manage shocks
 Localized support to service delivery, explicit capacity
development strategies targeting the roots of fragility through
humanitarian and development interventions
 High vulnerability/limited, but growing, national capacity
 Strengthening systems while filling critical gaps, gradually
transferring leadership to national institutions
 High vulnerability/high national systems capacity
 Advocacy, disaster risk reduction, and policy advice
 Challenged governance/civil unrest & previously strong
national systems suffer a challenges
 Particularly challenging in regards to promoting child rights
 Multiple overlapping contexts
 One agency may therefore be required to take several
different approaches to working in the same country
 Institutional silos
 Differing timelines for response, priorities, resource
allocation, staffing expertise and institutional mandates
 Duty bearers as violators
 In armed conflict, often intentionally perpetrate gross
violations of child rights as a part of deliberate plan
 Diminished national capacity
 Crises can result in destruction of assets and create
demands that cannot be met with existing capacities
 Anticipate crises by assessing risks
 Which significant hazards and threats pose the biggest
risk to children and women? Where will these hazards
happen? Who are the most vulnerable and therefore the
most affected?
 Build national capacities for preparedness and
response
 Whose and what capacities need to be built?
 Invest in early warning systems
 The process of providing timely information through
systematic information gathering and risks analysis
about potential emergencies
1.
Support national capacities for disaster risk
reduction (DRR)
 Checklist on integration of child rights concerns into
DRR programming
2.
Support participation of children in local
planning, risk assessments, and monitoring
 Supporting their positive engagement is an important
aspect in fostering more inclusive societies
 There are many concrete ways in which they can
contribute
3. Ensure integrated program approaches and
strategies
 Work differently and more effectively together
 More flexible policies and funding mechanisms
 More effective coordination and sequencing between
humanitarian and development work
4. Engage in joint needs assessments
 2011 EU methodology for JHDF for transition
situations