Creating power for people facing risk: The role of participation in disaster risk financing

This section explores the ‘how to’ options for engaging at-risk communities across the phases of a disaster risk financing (DRF) initiative—from community capacity-building and concept design, to technical product development, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and learning, and finally to product refinement.

There is currently insufficient experience and learning in the sector, however, to prove best practice. Hence, the following section highlights the emerging evidence. Participation is not easy, especially when considering context-specific hurdles, such as financial literacy levels. Engagement will not provide all the answers to DRF challenges. A rich tapestry of complex dynamics affecting feasibility and intended outcomes and impacts is continuously at play. Hence, adaptability is also an essential feature of any community participation programme. 

Ensuring the inclusive participation of people in DRF is essential but challenging. It takes time and investment to build understanding and trust amongst DRF stakeholders with different and sometimes divergent priorities and incentives. In addition, the evidence base for community participation in DRF solutions is scarce, hence it is too early to conclude what best practice looks like. Neverthless it is possible to draw on emerging examples to identify good practice, as highlighted in the following three key points.