Training Facilitator, Afghanaid, Afghanistan

Introduction on integrating DRR into government systems.

Afghanistan is located in a zone of high-seismic activity and prone to flooding with high propensity for widespread death and destruction. Since early 1980s, an estimated 19,000 people are killed and 7.5 million persons are displaced. 9 major earthquakes have killed 1,223 since 2000. Between 1980-2008, 6,427,631 persons are affected by disasters (flood 52% & earthquake 24%), both are the major contributing disasters affecting the lives & livelihoods of people. The impacts of natural disasters is a key focus in Afghanistan's 2014 common humanitarian action plan - in recognition of its cyclical impact on Afghan's and the constant contribution to humanitarian needs and the devastation of their livelihoods.

Objectives of the training in integrating DRR into government systems:

A key objective of the training is to promote the recognition and integration, or ‘mainstreaming,’ of natural hazard risk into development planning and practice. Recent catastrophes and increasing concern related to climate change, unplanned urbanization, rapid population growth and environmental degradation have increased the profile of disaster risk reduction and the need for its consideration as an integral part of development efforts.

The past several years have witnessed important commitments by both governments and donor agencies to integrate disaster risk reduction into development frameworks, legislation and institutional structures, sectoral strategies and policies.

Why there is need for this training, because currently in Afghanistan there is urgent need to address disaster risk within the development agenda and its apparently highly conducive environment for mainstreaming. Afghanistan is regarded as one of the world’s most hazard-prone countries and has a high incidence of poverty, making mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction into development imperative for the achievement of sustainable growth.

1. The training will give us the awareness-raising, which is the Initial steps in mainstreaming.
2. There is urgent need to address disaster risk within the development agenda and its apparently highly conducive environment for mainstreaming.
3. Identifying key weaknesses and bottlenecks in mainstreaming DP/DRR in government system and how to contribute to their further development and improvement.
4. We hope that the training will add to the understanding of what contributes to or detracts from the creation of an enabling environment and support country-level efforts to get disaster risk reduction mainstreaming put into practice.

Rationale behind training in integrating DRR into government systems:

Successful mainstreaming requires a number of steps, including awareness-raising and the establishment of a sufficient, stable enabling environment. It is based on experience in Afghanistan, focusing on mainstreaming from the government’s perspective. The findings of this and further case studies in the series will be drawn together into a brief on essential requisites and related mechanisms, opportunities and incentives for effective mainstreaming, including good practice examples.

The major problems that underpin the need for this training are therefore a complex inter-relation between the risk posed by multiple hazards at the community level; the communities lack of awareness, knowledge and skills in relation to disaster risk reduction; and the relevant government departments inability to assume its responsibility to support communities on the key areas of disaster preparedness (DP) and disaster risk reduction (DRR).

MRRD through the NSP projects has made commendable efforts in working with communities throughout Afghanistan to initiate community owned infrastructure initiatives and other priority community development projects.

However most of these projects have not paid sufficient attention to DRR principles in their design and implementation. Consequently most of the projects implemented through NSP have been severely damaged during disaster situations such as avalanches, heavy rainfall, flooding, earthquake and other disasters. Nevertheless, NSP still remains one of the most effective channels by the Government through which development interventions can reach the widest corners of Afghanistan. By facilitating the implementation through the NSP structures, this action can therefore reasonably make a significant impact on DP/DRR throughout Afghanistan.

Job requirements:

The methodology that we are expecting from service provider:

An action-oriented, participative approach should be adopted throughout the training. Emphasis should be placed on sharing experiences and best practices and practical solutions to problems and challenges, and how the mainstreaming of DP/DRR can mainstream in government system.

Participants:

The participants will be 5 project staff (3 project staff and one from ANDMA and one from NSP/MRRD) a total 5 participants will attend the training program.

Date/duration:

The training on integrating DRR into government systems will last at least 15 days starting in either in January 2016.