25/11/2020 - Now You Hear Us - catalysing local voices to strengthen resilience
Natural and man-made disasters have been increasing dramatically over the past few decades, with climate change and eco-system degradation contributing to even more extreme and unpredictable hazards. The poorest and most vulnerable people, particularly women and girls, suffer disproportionately from disasters: lives, assets, products and crops are lost. Disasters wipe out hard-won reductions in poverty, and communities are caught in a vicious circle where poverty creates vulnerability and disasters increase poverty. The concerns of those people most at risk are not always at the centre of attention of policy and decision makers.
Partners for Resilience ensures voices of local communities are heard. By supporting the work of local communities and civil society organizations and by strengthening their abilities to lobby and advocate, people are empowered to participate in development processes. Individuals supported gain confidence, experiences and skills to influence decision makers and to contribute to sustainable changes in their communities and related plans and policies.
Four short vedeos "Now You Hear Us" show how community members, civil society actors and decision makers interact. They narrate how support to civil society organizations strengthens communities’ voices and fosters successful advocacy with tangible results.
Watch the videos on PfR's YouTube channel
- YouTube "Now You Hear Us" playlist
- Kenya video, Haiti video, Indonesia video, South Sudan video
Kenya: PfR partner MID-P has assisted the Water Resources Users’ Association of Kuro Bisan Owo in Isiolo county to perform in conformity with their role in sustainable and responsive management of available water resources. The Isiolo Water Resources Authority is invited for a joint review of the sub-catchment management plan, including proposals for funding of water sources and management through the Water Service Trust Fund.
Haiti: youth volunteers in Tiburon town in the Sud department of Haiti are empowered by the Haiti Red Cross Youth using the Y-Adapt training to, on one hand understand climate change and, on the other hand to take practical action to adapt to the changing climate within their own community. Young people present their plans for greening the eroded surrounding hills of Tiburon, and get their plans approved and supported by the government.
Indonesia: PfR partner CIS Timor supports communities in the dry and drought prone Regency of South Timor Tengah to advocate for the allocation of government budget for activities addressing local needs, incorporating Integrated Risk Management and gender responsive principles. In Oekiu community, the allocation of funds for scaling the successful local invention of the ‘injection well’ water reservoir is discussed with an official from the South Timor government.
South Sudan: in the Kinnaite Wetlands Working Group, initiated by PfR, several local civil society groups are empowered to join hands with local government in Torit State to address access to, and tensions over water and land resources, in the Kinnaite watershed area. The Torit State government endorses the Kinnaite Wetlands Management Plan, which incorporates issues of community access to resources, the safeguarding of ecosystems, and climate change adaptation.
