Through the Inclusive Community Resilience (ICR) initiative, GFDRR taps into grassroots expertise in disaster risk management and promotes scalable models that engage directly with communities, making them equal partners with governments. In the event of a disaster, studies show that 90% of survivors are rescued by their own neighbours. This core community strength in responding to—and protecting against—natural hazards and climate change is at the centre of the ICR initiative.
The document recommends the following actions to strengthen social resilience:
- Support bottom-up approaches that make use of social networks and support autonomous adaptation based on the lived experience of poor communities;
- Support communities to increase diversity and fallback options (e.g., diversification of livelihoods into activities less sensitive to climate-related or other forms of risk, such as through voluntary migration);
- Enhance social learning and sound governance as a form of regulatory feedback (e.g., building capacity in participatory approaches to scenario-based planning or measures to increase social accountability in the use of public finance for climate change response);
- Understand the gender dimensions of climate change and empower women as resilience champions.
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