CBDRM
CBDRM: COMMUNITY BASED DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT
Community Based Disaster Risk Management or CBDRM could be defined as:-
“A process of disaster risk management in which at risk communities are actively participating in the assessment, analysis, treatment, monitoring and evaluation of disaster risks in order to reduce their vulnerabilities and enhance their capacities”.
There is also the CBDRR (Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction) initiatives adopted by different groups to help as part of the awareness and reduction of various hazards. DIMERSAR has worked in some of the worst affected regions of the world as part of the coordination and development of resilience and response mechanisms.
Disasters leave many people displaced, injured and dead every year. They have a massive impact on our communities, health, livelihood, economy and lives as a whole. We need to do as much as we can to prepare and mitigate the risks and also know what we can do in a given situation, which includes this like mitigation, preparedness and an Early Warning System.
Because of the 'Human' element - disasters will happen and when they do - we need trained Humanitarians, Managers and Responders.
"We recognise that local communities in LEDCs (Less Economically Developed Countries) may have their own methods of Early Warning, like the Chitral Goat Herders in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. Whilst working there we found that they had their own system of Early Warning.
This sort of information is important because we can't always rely on technology and new methodologies if the current ones are working or can be adapted into a larger structured programme in the local Communities with their tribal and Government support.
This is part of the "Community Based" aspect of Disaster Risk Management and Reduction that is crucial to any such initiative if it is to be successful and sustainable in the long term."
Gary Foo, Disaster Risk Reduction Advisor in Pakistan.
