2. Reducing Risk of Disaster in Afghanistan through Community Disaster Risk Reduction Initiatives

By Paul Gol

Introduction
Afghanistan is considered as a country prone to a number of natural disasters: earthquakes, flooding, drought, landslides, and avalanches. Earthquakes are more frequent in the north and northeast, and often trigger landslides. Floods are also common in the spring when snow begins to melt and rainfall is heavy. Decades of War and civil conflict, as well as environmental degradation, have all contributed to increasing vulnerability of the Afghan people to natural disasters. Several assessments by Aid agencies have revealed significant shortcomings in the areas of water, sanitation, health, security and natural resource management. Furthermore, the high level of poverty, lack of livelihood and income generating opportunities, chronic health problems, and poor state of the infrastructure all add to the burden of natural disasters on the people of Afghanistan.

Alikheel Village
Alikheel Sayad village is situated in Mahmud Raqy district in Kapisa province. The village has experienced flash floods over the years leading to lose of life, property and destruction of resources and especially land leading to serious environmental degradation. The effects of the floods have left majority of the people vulnerable. The floods continued to reverse all the gains the community would make.

Tearfund’s intervention
Tearfund is an international Non-Governmental Aid Agency operating in nearly 70 countries in the world .It is a member of the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership International (HAP) and has therefore made a commitment to implementing Humanitarian Accountability Principles across all its emergency programmes. Tearfund is committed to work in accordance with the needs of the communities and considers involvement of beneficiaries in programme activities as an integral process towards sustainability, ownership and beneficiary accountability. This consideration demands consistent and precise processes and methods of taking account of beneficiary views at all critical points of service delivery.
Through the Participatory Assessment Disaster Risk (PADR) Tearfund, worked with the local Alikheel community in identifying risk factors, analysed the community vulnerabilities and capacities, and subsequently facilitated the development of an action plan. Tearfund ensured active participation of local communities through the Community Focus Group. Through the PADR process, the local community resolved that the most visible, viable and durable solutions to saving the 170 hectares of land and 50 houses from floods was to plant trees along river Panjsher. The Community Focus Group members through support from Tearfund advocated the Ministry of Agriculture to provide saplings. After a series of meetings and consultations between the community leaders and the Ministry of Agriculture representatives, the Ministry finally provided 350 saplings. From these saplings maintained and managed by the community, a total of 300 trees planted along the river survived. The process was very successful as the trees have thus far managed to keep off the floods and the communities now feel safe.

Achievements and lessons learned

1. The PADR process experience has shown that this process was empowering as people began to understand the reasons for their vulnerabilities and the need for them to take practical steps in turning their situation around.
2. Through the process the communities were able to identify their capacities, opportunities and learning. These capacities became the focus of action planning in the sense that the communities identified what each one was able to do.
3. The community Focus Group was given the responsibility of lobbying the government to provide the saplings. The action plan developed looked at how local capacities could be developed and used in overcoming the vulnerabilities. Some activities were carried out locally as others necessitated external support or involved advocacy.
4. Through this process Tearfund cut cost as the Government provided saplings and communities provided labour.
5. The DRR process subsequently reduced the risk that the Alikheel village community had been facing over the years. This saved further loss of lives and facilitated sustainable livelihoods for the community.
6. When local communities understand their vulnerabilities through a consultative process then they are motivated to seek home-grown solutions.
7. When communities are widely involved in efforts that seek lasting solutions for them it creates a sense of ‘WE’ thus enhancing ownership.
8. It is eventually cost effective to reduce risk compared to intervening after the disaster has occurred in a given location.

For further information contact;
Paul Gol,Tearfund UK,Afghanistan DMT, E-email:dmt-afghan-ao@tearfund.org