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Vol. 3, No. 2 June 1997 |
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Vol. 3, No. 2 June 1997 |
| Editor's Corner |
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duryog nivaran ...
Building Capacity of Survivors' Organizations Though building capacity of the NGOs and the CBOs is no longer new on the agenda of the disaster mitigation and funding agencies in South Asia, relatively little is known about the Capacity building needs of the organisations of the survivors of droughts, floods, fire, and other disasters that are increasingly common in the region. If we wish to let the victims lead disaster mitigation activities, it is essential that their organisations become more capable, sustainable and effective. Disaster Mitigation Institute (DMI), a member of Duryog Nivaran, has initiated an ongoing activity to map the capacity building needs of survivor organisations in South Asia. Early results show a general recognition of the need for a move from supply to demand driven approaches to raising capacities. Comments and information are invited on the following issues: 1. How can survivorsÕ or victimsÕ unexpressed or latent demand for building their capacity be recognised and what are the most effective ways of responding to that demand once it has been articulated? Such demand is sometimes ÒuninformedÓ in the sense that it does not take into account all the implications - costs, time, efforts - of preferred choices. 2. Is it sometimes justified to start capacity building program in the knowledge that they provide partial solutions ? What steps might be taken for survivors to broaden their understanding of the key issues ? DMI is also faced with the issue that there is a tension between the imperative to adopt demand driven approaches and recognition that it is sometimes essential to change victimÕs perception of their situation and the options open to them. 3. Is it possible to design, what may be called Institutional Environment Assessment (IEA) for such survivorsÕ organisations? Is IEA a useful tool in identifying the major institutional causes of poor or limited performance of survivorsÕ organisation? There are no final answers to the above issues. Some ideas floated, looking at the diversity in South Asia, include establishing a learning group around the themes of participative capacity building through joint process documentation to workshops to clinics. The other ideas recommended include building and supporting networks of such SurvivorsÕ Organisations, applied action research with them, and consolidating what is now called lateral learning. Renewed interest and review as well as sharing of experience in capacity building will help move forward. For more information and sharing your views write or fax at Disaster Mitigation Institute (DMI), ÔAshishÕ, 25, Vasundhara Colony, Gulbai Tekra, Ahmedabad 380 006 INDIA Tel: 91-79-6568421; Fax: 91-79-6420056.
DesInventar DesInventar is one of the very few existing methodologies and tools for building disaster databases that permit the design and construction of accurate, detailed, systematic and comparative disaster inventories. Based on a relational database structure and a disciplined expert assisted structure of data collection and classification it permits the homogeneous capture, analysis and graphic representation of geo-referenced information on disaster occurrence and loss. The system has been developed and implemented by the Network for Social Studies on Disaster Prevention in Latin America (LA RED). It is planned that Duryog Nivaran will use the pilot English language version of DesInventar to build inventories on disasters initially in five South Asian Countries of Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The Project will be managed by the ADPC on behalf of Duryog Nivaran. Specialised technical assistance and training will be provided by LA RED. A three year project has been planned. In the first year (Research Phase), DesInventar will be adopted to deal with terminology and hazard types in the region and build up a pilot database in order to investigate potential information sources. In the second Implementation Phase, training and technical assistance will be given to the national disaster management agencies in all five countries to build up systematic national disaster databases using DesInventar. In a parallel Information Phase, Duryog Nivaran is planning to compile a regional disaster inventory with the databases produced by the five countries and will disseminate information on disaster occurrence and loss to disaster management and development organisations throughout the region in CD ROM and other formats. For more information contact: Madhavi Malalgoda Ariyabandu, Duryog Nivaran Secretariat, 5 Lionel Edirisinghe Mawatha, Kirulapone, Colombo 5, Sri Lanka. Tel: ( 94-1) 852149; Fax: ( 94-1) 856188; E-mail: itsrilan@sri.lanka.net |
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