ProVention Consortium Research and Action Grants Program for Disaster Risk Reduction (Round III)

In May 2007, the ProVention Consortium officially launched its third round of Research and Action Grants for Disaster Risk Reduction Program to encourage competent young professionals dedicated to reduce disaster risk in developing countries. Applicants were invited to seek ways to cut across professional disciplines and to exchange knowledge and engage stakeholders from scientific and academic, civilian, public, and private sectors.

The first round of the program was launched by the ProVention Consortium in 2003, under the name "Applied Research Grants Program". ADPC has been a regional partner in all three rounds; and in rounds I and II, has managed a total of 56 out of 117 grants awarded worldwide. Round III of the grants program is administered in association with the University of Wisconsin-Disaster Management Center (UWDMC) with regional partners: Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC); Bogaziçi University Center for Disaster Management (BU-CENDIM); the Secretaria General, Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO); and the University of Cape Town Disaster Mitigation for Sustainable Livelihoods Program (UCT-DiMP). For this third round, applications were invited - but will not be limited to - on the following thematic focus areas:

1. Identifying enabling factors and incentives for disaster risk reduction

2. Developing mechanisms to strengthen community resistance and resilience

3. Applying local risk analysis and risk management (especially for schools and hospitals)

4. Improving education materials and curricula

5. Promoting risk reduction in response and recovery activities

6. Engaging the private sector in disaster risk reduction (especially micro-enterprises)

7. Linking climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction efforts.

Round III grant applications were received until 25 July.  After careful administrative screening of applicants, 236 out of 260 applications from 52 countries passed the pre-selection process. 130 of these applications are from countries of South, South East, East Asia, and the Pacific regions. These applications are being evaluated by two sets of reviewers, thematic reviewers globally; and a second review at the regional level. Grant awards will be announced on 02 October 2007 (Tuesday).