CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION

VIETNAM:

Faith-based disaster response network officially recognised

WHY: Vietnam is highly vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters. These threaten the safety of the population and the country’s future economic development.

WHAT: NCA in Vietnam facilitated the first ever national interfaith conference on the environment and climate change. Bringing together political leaders and faith-based actors, the conference highlighted how these actors can respond to the effects of climate change.

RESULTS: A milestone political framework for the active involvement of faith-based actors in community-based responses to climate change and environmental protection in Vietnam was signed. This has the potential to increase the country’s resilience to climate change and further enhance the development of a civil society.

FBOs represent the only rooted social movement outside the political party system in Vietnam, and have broad outreach and mobilisation capacity. Their potential to mitigate social tension and to contribute with mobilisation and support to vulnerable population groups is significant, but the political space for their active involvement has been limited. NCA’s partnerships with FBOs and successful advocacy work has opened doors and created new opportunities and arenas for religious actors in Vietnam.

One such arena was the first ever National Interfaith Conference on the environment and climate change held in Hue, Vietnam in December 2015. NCA facilitated the event, gathering around 500 delegates, representing all 14 religions in Vietnam and political leaders to agree on a framework for the involvement of faith-based organisations in climate change response and environmental protection towards 2020. This historic event, and its political declaration, has opened an entirely new space for FBO engagement in Vietnam.

FBOs are now seen as part of the solution to addressing Vietnam’s increasing vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Significant efforts will have to be made however, by the FBOs themselves and other stakeholders, if they are to fulfil the ambitions mapped out for them at the conference. Key to success in this process is building on the experience of the pilot models applied by NCA’s faith-based partners, as best practice examples for reference and replication.

One such pilot model with significant progress in 2015 is the building of disaster risk management skills for local communities in form of local Rapid Response Teams (RRTs). These RRTs are established with local faith-based actors as key contributing members. They are trained to use practical tools related to DRR and social work, and to coordinate and cooperate with other local response actors. Vietnam’s two most significant faith-based youth movements, the Buddhist Youth Association and the Catholic Youth, are important elements in the RRTs. Strengthening these FBO youth movements and including their members in the RRTs provides valuable learning arenas for organisational development.

Another important factor is ensuring coordination and cooperation between the faith-based response infrastructure, the Red Cross and the government’s Flood and Storm Control Centre (FSCC). These government institutions have never involved faith-based members before. Professional, capable and mobilised FBOs working constructively with Vietnamese authorities can add value to the national disaster response capacity and Vietnamese Climate Change response strategies. They can also be a driving force in the development of a more open and participatory Vietnamese society.

GUATEMALA:

Indigenous women continue to keep communities safe from disasters

WHY: Indigenous communities are often excluded by the state’s efforts at mitigation leaving them less prepared to reduce the effects of natural disasters. Levels of exclusion are amplified for women in these communities.

WHAT: Using a community based DRR approach, women were trained in disaster response techniques, equipped with tools and organised into rescue committees. Advocacy towards government institutions at the local and national levels was used to institutionalise local structures.

RESULTS: Indigenous women are better prepared to respond to natural disasters. Formal cooperation between the women’s community based emergency response structures and both local and national authorities ensures their sustainability and possible inclusion in the national disaster mitigation structure.

The impacts of recurring geophysical and natural disasters are felt by all members of the communities they strike. The fact that women tend to remain in their communities, whilst men often leave to find employment, makes them particularly vulnerable when earthquakes, landslides and floods hit. Despite this, women are rarely trained in disaster response and are excluded from established emergency preparedness structures. This means responses often don’t meet their needs and they are not equipped to be part of these responses. Whilst a national policy for DRR and other policies legislate for women’s inclusion in socio-economic matters, only a moderate increase in women’s participation in disaster preparedness and response has been seen.

NCA has addressed this situation in four indigenous Maya Mam and Quiché communities in Tectitan and San Pedro Jocopilas Municipalities - areas heavily exposed to impacts of climate change – by establishing female rescue committees in each of them. This has not only increased the community members’ safety, but has also established greater recognition of women’s capacities, increased their confidence and ensured women’s needs are addressed in future responses.

NCA and partner CODEFEM have worked with women of all ages, including youth, in these communities for several years to establish these structures. The women have been involved in relevant community mapping exercises and have organised themselves into rescue committees. These committees have been trained by CODEFEM, CONRED¹⁵ and the municipal fire brigade in areas such as first aid, psychosocial recovery, and search and rescue. Committees have rehearsed emergency procedures (mock drills¹⁶) regularly, and obtained certification to become part of the provincial emergency response teams. A cooperation agreement was signed with the municipal level of CONRED in collaboration with local municipalities to ensure the committees are kept up to date on information and their DRR skills.

Fortunately these communities were not struck by any disasters in 2015. However, the emergency committees have maintained levels of readiness by updating contingency plans, meeting regularly and conducting mock drills. The agreement with CONRED also ensured the committees’ skills and networks were maintained during the reporting period. To ensure sustainability of the committees beyond NCA and CODEFEM’s support, CODEFEM drafted an additional agreement with CONRED, this time at the national level, to provide the committees with future training and materials and with a formal role in the national disaster mitigation structure. The ambition is for this to be signed in 2016.