Blog with us about the GPDRR13

Making Grassroots communities resilient to disasters, Why is partnership important in this cause?

Thanks to SWID for blogging with us!

Disasters resilience is the collective responsibility of all sectors of society. Including all levels of government, business, the Non-government sector and Individuals. With these sectors working together in partnerships, with a united focus and a shared sense of responsibility to promote disaster resilience, the collective effort will be far more effective than the individual of any one sector or organization.

Governments should recognize the important role communities can play in resilience development and efforts be made to allow them to become more involved in the decision-making process. However, despite these efforts, there are still many barriers and challenges that can stand in the way of community involvement. Understanding and anticipating these barriers and challenges is important when a community is getting organized for or involved in decision making.

This understanding can help individuals and organizations more effectively impact the decision-making process. Further, it is important for communities to understand that government in low developed countries also face barriers and challenges that can hinder its progress in responding to and recognizing the priorities of rural initiatives. Overcoming the barriers and challenges faced by both rural communities and government will serve to facilitate the decision making process as regards disaster risk reduction.

In order for grassroots communities to play an active role in the decision-making process, it is necessary for their members to have access to resources. These resources include adequate funding, government training programs, education, leaders, and volunteers to support rural causes and initiatives. Many grassroots communities tend to lack one or more of these resources, a situation which interferes with their ability to effectively impact the decision-making process which too hinders partnership creation.

Having inadequate resources negatively impacts a rural community’s ability to effectively influence and get involved in decision making compared to other players in the decision-making process. For example, corporations and professional organizations often have access to large amounts of financial and human resources. This creates an inequity whereby community organizations that may be equally or even more affected by policy change do not have the same opportunity to participate in and influence the process as regards disaster risk reduction.