ActionAid is concerned about climate change because it disproportionately impacts the poorest and most vulnerable people, especially women and children in developing countries. Climate change reflects and reinforces existing inequalities. ActionAid takes a three-pronged approach to address climate change: adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and policy/campaign work. For adaptation, ActionAid works with communities to analyze vulnerabilities and support efforts to diversify livelihoods. For disaster risk reduction, ActionAid facilitates community analysis of vulnerabilities and increases resilience through schools and other capacity building. For policy, ActionAid advocates for emissions reductions in rich countries and more support for adaptation in poor countries.

1. ActionAid Approach to DRR/
CCA
Strengthening Climate
Resilience workshop 2010.

2. Why ActionAid is concerned ?
• Hitting the poorest and most vulnerable particularly
women and children.
• Devastating effect in poorest countries with limited
means to cope and adapt who have actually done the
least to contribute to the problem
• Climate change impacts reflects and reinforces
inequalities and injustice
• Rich countries are not doing enough to cut their own
emissions and are not funding and supporting adaptation
in developing world.
• 2.4B people affected in the last decade compared to
1.7B in the previous decade.
• Around 70% of disasters are now climate related up from
50% two decades.

3. How is AA tackling climate change?
3-pronged approach:
1. Adaptation – helping people to adapt their lifestyles to
cope better with the impacts of climate change
2. Disaster Risk Reduction – helping people analyse,
anticipate and reduce their vulnerability to climate-
related disasters
3. Local, national and international policy and
campaigning work

4. ActionAid’s Approach on CCA
• Work with poor people, especially women and
smallholder farmers, to analyze their
vulnerabilities to climate change
• Demonstrate people's capacity to adapt by
recognizing and supporting their efforts.
Examples include:
– Providing new varieties of seeds, i.e. short-term crops
– Education and Training on planting seasons, cropping
patterns and agricultural practices
– Irrigation projects.

5. Diversification of
livelihoods-
Livestock keeping
communities
embracing dry
land farming.

6. DRR Approach
• ActionAid through schools project
• Started in 2006 designed to reduce
people’s vulnerability to natural disasters
by building on the role of schools in the
community through HFA implementation
• Schools as focus for disaster
preparedness through knowledge and
action on risks and hazards.
• HFA 3

7. Design principles and methodology
• Outreach
• Capital investment
• Involve people
• Get local govt on board
• PVA
• Specific capacity building for stakeholders
• Support community mobilization and advocacy
• Raise climate change awareness

8. DRR approach
• Facilitate communities to analyse their own vulnerabilities to
disasters and climate change and develop actions to address
them
• Using children as vehicles for DRR and CC messages
• Help communities to increase their resilience to disasters and
climate change (assets, livelihoods etc)
• Help poor communities be more prepared (e.g. working with
schools to teach them what to do and where to go in the
event of a disaster.
• Build the capacity of communities and partners ( PVA,
programme design, analysis of links between vulnerability
and poverty) to generate evidence for policy work at district,
national and international levels

9. School children undertaking participatory
vulnerability analysis process.

10. School children in DRR clubs raising
climate change awareness
With communities.

11. Water projects to
support communities
adaptative capacities.

12. Policy and campaigning
-National platform
-Curriculum
- Lobbying for
governments of rich
countries to reduce their
emissions and provide
resources to poor countries
to adapt to the changing
climate Campaigning
around international events
e.g. G8 summits, UN climate
change conferences
(Denmark, Dec 09)

13. Research and documentation
• Studies

14. Challenges.
– Inadequate awareness of the HFA
– DRR/CCA seen as separate issues as
opposed to being part of long term dev.
– National level policies not translating
adequately into action at local level.
– More focus on ER as opposed to DRR

15. Recommendations.
– Empower communities and their
organizations to participate, represent and
negotiate local level planning and policy
making
– Advocate for a strong local government
with active participation of local
communities that is able to influence
provincial and national government
policies and implementation mechanisms
– Integrate DRR/CCA into HA.

16. Way forward contd.
– DRR and CC National policy / strategy /act in
place and reflects the interest of the vulnerable
people
– Institutional mechanisms able to enhance
resilience of vulnerable people to disasters and
climate change impacts
– Adequate and relevant funding from
international community reaching the poor and
vulnerable through democratic funding
mechanisms.
– Establish strong pressure groups that hold
governments and donors accountable.

17. THANK YOU.