Disaster risk reduction for community resilience: a synthesis of lessons from more than a decade of disaster risk reduction programming

This publication is a synthesis of lessons from more than a decade of Concern Worldwide’s disaster risk reduction (DRR) programming in the area of community resilience. Based on research in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Haiti, Mozambique, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Niger, and Ethiopia, this publication describe Concern’s approach to DRR and community resilience and offers lessons and guidance on how to use DRR to build resilience.

The publication presents lessons learned in the following themes:

risk analysis;
coordination;
reducing scale, intensity or frequency of hazards;
reducing vulnerability;
addressing drivers of inequality;
improving coping and recovering capacity;
improving response capacity;
building governance institutions; and
innovation, learning and exit strategies.
The publication is part of a series documenting Concern’s approach to disaster risk reduction. The series consists of five context papers focusing on DRR approaches in mountainous, dryland, coastal, urban, and riverine contexts.