ECBinter-active Bolivia: Disaster Risk Reduction

All documents are in Spanish unless otherwise stated.

Risk Management Tools

Presentation of the ECB’s global initiative on the development of the capacities assessment and vulnerabilities tool, ARPP (Análisis de Riesgos y Planificación Participativa / Risks Analysis and Participative Planning).

The ARPP tool was developed in a participative manner with communities, based on consortium member organization’s tools. This includes the following stages:

1. Revise and harmonize current tools
2. Devise a Capacities Development Plan
3. Joint implementation in two communities including the Plateau and El Chaco
4. Implement micro-projects
5. Evaluate and capture learning
6. Disseminate learning across Bolivia

Participants analysed and raised questions about the involvement of the government and authorities, community participation, planning, livelihoods and alliances.

The active participation and synergies between all players contributed to the success of this event as well as to the consolidation of the Consortium.
Roger Quiroga, Risk Management Coordinator, Oxfam Bolivia

The Congress has been an excellent opportunity for all partners that work in the humanitarian sector on risk management, we were able to share experiences, enhance links and build trust and knowledge with everyone.
Lilian Reyes, UN OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) Bolivia (right, © ECB project 2012)

Risk Management Experiences

Questions:

• Involvement of the government and authorities: Does it help or not and how to achieve it?
• Community participation: How to achieve a balance between ethics and participation and how to involve children?
• Planning: How to incorporate land planning into risk management?
• Livelihoods: How to merge risk management into the development and livelihoods projects?
• Alliances: How to work with other stakeholders to guarantee synergies, avoiding duplication? How to generate and share information?

Advantages:

• Risk Management is a useful tool for land and development planning.
• Contributes to the strengthening of capacities and education and communication processes which are fundamental to its sustainability.

Risk Management Tools

Principal discussion themes:

• Tools used by the Bolivian Consortium
• Global DRR initiative by the ECB Project
• Methodology used by Caritas Bolivia

Questions:

• What is the impact of urban risk on tools: New ways of communication needed?
• How can we use this tool if we are not part of the consortium?
• Many activities were done on-line so that other stakeholders can participate.

Development and Risk Management

Principal discussion themes: Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA), resilience, first-line vision and other ways for measuring impact or resilience.

"Many clouds…but little rain”, speaking about The Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), international plans and strategies, which can be difficult to implement.
Stephen Latham, World Vision

Have a national and territory policy that clearly establishes the principles and goals to be attained during the recovery process.
Roció Chain, UNDP Bolivia

We permanently have to protect children's welfare. Their survival, protection, growth and development, with good health and appropriate nutrition are the fundamental basis for human development.
Víctor Yapu, Practical Solutions, ITDG Bolivia

Government and Risk Management

Principal discussion themes: Risk management conceptual framework, governability and public management based on risk management, strengthening of the national and inter-departmental coordination.

It is important to work with a network approach for emergency preparation and response.
Carmen Hada, SISRADE Strengthening Project, UNDP Bolivia

The Pan American Health Organization's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has a manual and it is necessary to rescue these tools since they have been worked on for many years and did not have the corresponding use and dissemination.
Jorge Terán, OPS/WHO Bolivia

Pictured above: Group work during the session of Government and Risk Management. Assessment exercise about the advancement of the Strategic Agenda for Risk Management Strengthening in Bolivia. © ECB Project 2012

Health and Risk Management

Principal Discussions Themes: Safe hospitals, collaborative work in networks for emergency situations, and assistance to people with HIV/AIDS

• Hospital safe infrastructure is not yet a national policy.
• In Bolivia, 67% of the hospitals are located in risk-prone areas
• Replicate the achievements, experiences, learning and information of PROCOSI Network (Coordination Program for Comprehensive Health) about comprehensive health in emergency situations.
• Bolivia has 7000 official cases of HIV/AIDS.

It is fundamental to develop protocols for staff protection and security, maintaining the humanitarian operations.
Nancy Gutiérrez, PROCOSI Bolivia

The support to people in emergency situations is magnified when we provide it in a joint, organized, committed and caring manner.
Daniel Ruiz Díaz, IDH Bolivia Deputy Director

We cannot continue building unsafe hospitals!
Jorge Terán, OPS/WHO, Bolivia

Early Warning Systems

The climate simulation models facilitate:

• Describing climate change scenarios based on actual information.
• Projecting the possible consequences of climate change.
• Making a forecast of future changes in vegetation.
• Identifying endangered species.
• The strategic plan for floods risk.

SAT La Paz objective is to communicate – in advance – the presence of extreme events, such as, floods, river over floods and others.
Airton Espejo, GAMLP (Municipal Self-Government of La Paz) Bolivia

Observing the levels of Piraí, Grande, Yapacaní, Ichilo, Surutú and Parapetí Rivers, at the Central Station of Santa Cruz city, hydro-metric data is evaluated as well as the atmospheric status of the hydro-metric stations of the different basins, which is useful to determine the risk level.
Ricardo Caballero Medina, Santa Cruz Government, Bolivia

The climate scenarios provide a coherent and consistent description on how the climate system in the earth can change in future.
Nidia Zambrana, SENAMHI, Bolivia 

Resilient Cities

Principal discussion themes: How to get information to beneficiaries, system sustainability, and municipalities’ participation to be part of resilient cities?

• Understand the operation of the system and its sustainability.
• Work with institutions for the sharing of information so that later on they are the ones disseminating this information to beneficiaries, and are responsible for updating the database.
• Information shall reach the community level, - it is currently used more with institutions.
• Other institutions shall disseminate this information at local level; simulations were made with the population and some program data was collected.
• This tool shall be used for simulations and to see which building and hospitals will be the most affected by earthquakes, where planning is therefore needed to build in safer areas.
  

Seismic micro-zoning is insufficient to establish the vulnerability of resources. There is the need for studies for structural vulnerability, focused on essential resources and on territories they are located in.
Sébastien Hardy, IRD, PACIVUR Program

Let’s get together and actively participate from 2010-2015 to campaign to promote the World Disaster Reduction Campaign: Making Cities Resilient.
Luis Salamanca, EIRD - UNISDR Regional office for the Americas, Bolivia

Climate Change & Ancestral Knowledge

Principal discussion themes: Ancestral knowledge and generation of government action lines.

Everything makes us think there is significant ancestral knowledge related to Climate Change Adaptation that can help us face the uncertain scenarios this issue will pose in the coming decades.
Juan Torres Guevaraç, ITDG Practical Solutions

Climate change is an approach for planning action; it is a comprehensive approach that complements the plans, programs, and sectorial and land projects. It involves all programs and projects, the ones currently running and those under formulation.
Giovana Salinas, Project’s Officer, National Program for Climate Change – Bolivia

The country has gone into a dynamic of continuous evaluations (El Nino, la Nina Evaluations). As a result, relevant information is generated to understand climate change risks, impact and the need for investing in prevention.
Luis Salamanca, Bolivia

Learning Wall

The following were observations made on the participant learning wall:

• Presence of livelihoods in risk management as an example of good practice.
• Government commitment is important for risk management sustainability.
• Territory analysis is an alternative to improve the impact of risk management.
• Risk management needs to be participative, it has to be made at local level and in a continuous manner.
• Risk management has to be a crosscutting axis in all development projects. It does not have to be a separate component.
• Communities and government entities have to be involved as much as possible to strengthen their risk management capacity. Training is a priority for risk adaptation. Territory planning is important for risk management.
• Information generation is very important for risk management. We need to know how funds are allocated in order not to duplicate studies.
• Development projects need to have a comprehensive risk management approach. Each time work is done on promotion, comprehensive human development, training, citizenship participation, sustainable agriculture, etc. local institutional capacities shall be built for providing education on vulnerabilities and risks. At the same time, recovery plans shall look into prevention and mitigation. There is the need of taking the most from Haiti experience about humanitarian and technical cooperation in Latin American and the Caribbean and analyse the different perspectives.
• Risk Management shall be applied – at community level – through the use of a transparent methodology, establishing clear roles for the community and agency. At the same time, coordinate with other agencies to carry out more comprehensive work. Thus, empower the community so that their demands are included in the Municipal Development Plans and other municipal management tools.
• Humanitarian agencies shall share the tools used in Uganda and the United States. Lkewise, the experience in Bolivia with regard to the use of tools for damage assessment.
• The interaction between the different stakeholders is hindered because of political interests.

Risk Management Experiences

• Incorporation of Risk Management into the citizenship culture.
• Involvement of authorities and government for its sustainability.
• Linkage of successful community experiences with other processes to institutionalize them at different levels.
• Deepening knowledge of limitations, problems and mistakes to learn from them.
• Collaboration should be used as a means to work together to prove to donors that DRR is a cost-effective means of saving lives

Risk Management Tools

It is important to promote a prevention culture with new generations outside the classroom, motivated by and generating love for the city.
Patricia Grossman, Citizenship Culture Director, La Paz Municipal Autonomous Government

It is necessary to work on the reactive side (response), but also proactively.
Susana Téllez, FUNDEPCO

The Bolivian Consortium - developing the ARPP tool

• It is necessary to build a common approach for the assessment of capacities and vulnerabilities and for consolidating the ARPP tools, based on other tools: COVACA Community’s Capacity and Vulnerabilities Assessment (World Vision), CVCA Global Analysis of Capacities and Vulnerability (CARE), and Participatory Capacities and Vulnerabilities Assessment (Oxfam).
• The ARPP tool was applied in the field (indigenous area in the Plateau, indigenous area in el Chaco), and will be used in the amazons area in the first quarter of 2012.
• It is necessary to validate the tool and approach in different contexts; the next step is to carry out an additional review of tools from other NGOs (HelpAge, Plan, CARE), also a review of documents from IDS/Tearfund, ActionAid, Christian Aid.
• One highlight is that there are possibilities carrying out joint actions in the consortium for participative assessments and analysis of capacities and vulnerability; also, the use of ARPP tool for presenting joint proposals for DIPECHO project and at global level with the ECB.
• Use of the community methodology (MECOM) for social development, applied to local risk management.
• A tool box is being developed in a joint manner, considering: risk reduction operations planning, quantitative and qualitative risk scenery, emergency plans and EOC manuals.

ECB Project Global Initiative

• The first version of the ARPP tool provided the opportunity for joint actions at consortium level with regards to capacities and vulnerabilities analysis. Work is now being done to re-adjust the tool and improve it, based on the analysis of new tools for the respective application in the field and into different contexts of the country.
• Also, the consortium in Bolivia is involved in the development of a guide to DRR and Climate Change Adaptation at global level, which answers to the needs of field staff.

Development and Risk Management

We permanently have to protect children's welfare. Their survival, protection, growth and development, with good health and appropriate nutrition are the fundamental basis for human development.
Víctor Yapu, Practical Solutions, ITDG Bolivia

• Incorporation of short-cycle seeds, resistant to the frost, for example, native potato.
• Improvement of productive infrastructure: stalls, barns, sheepfolds, chicken farms, etc.
• Improvement of capacities and technical assistance
• Formation of agricultural technicians: formation level recognized by the Municipality and SENASAG (National Service for Agriculture Sanity and Food Safety).
• Develop planning and monitoring tools to reduce extreme climate risks.
• Mitigation and preparation measures to counter droughts (building of wells and water reservoirs), improvement of food conservation techniques as well as the warning and response systems.
• Strengthen the local governance through the monitoring of the First Line Vision, having the municipality – each year – evaluate its advancement on Risk Management and Adaptation to Climate Change.
• Strengthen the social commission that monitors this project and others.
• EMSA implementation (Municipal Strategy for Food Security).
• Create a water and health commission.
• Use the land and territory approach.
• Social and education management.
• Childhood contributes to change future, through the Childhood Charter for Risk Management.
• Promotion of safe schools and education without interruptions.
• Protection is a priority before, during and after a disaster.
• Children's right to have freedom of information.
• Implement safe infrastructure.

Government and Risk Management

• Government capable of providing efficient information for decision making.
• Need for comprehensive and harmonized information management.
• Generate a trust process.
• Know and have incidence on institutional culture and attitudes.
• Reduce staff turn-over in public institutions.
• Identifying the players: Who? What? How?
• Base line needed for information and coordination.

Health and Risk Management

• Many countries in the region, including Bolivia are starting with the implementation of safe hospitals.
• OPS/WHO have given technical support to have safe hospitals.
• Have a communications plan to disseminate information about achievements made.
• Strengthen the institutions on emergency assistance.
• Strengthen the network of institutions that work with PWA (People with Aids), which is a more vulnerable group than others when an emergency arises.
• It is important to work on prevention, training, data bases and institutional coordination.
• There needs to be a manual for the assistance of people with HIV/AIDS in emergency situations.

Early Warning Systems

• Look for communication mechanisms so that communities receive the warning.
• Strengthen the institutional commitments.
• Articulate the community warning systems with those at departmental level, and have in-real time communication.
• Improve the historical databases.
• Broaden community participation.
• Staff labour stability.
• Update the current cartography.
• More exchange of experiences between systems.

Resilient Cities

The resilient cities program is not well known by the population and authorities, then, there is the need of providing more information, or carry out events that show the changes and advancements made in the cities that participated in this program.

Climate Change & Ancestral Knowledge

• Join the ancestral knowledge with the development of capacities and their articulation with the PNCC (Programa Nacional de Cambios Climaticos).
• Promote the application of local knowledge.
• Ancestral knowledge is local and they do not seek to be global; it is better speaking about experience exchange and not about training.
• Given the multi-cultural nature of the country, ancestral knowledge was incorporated into the pilot projects, but it still needs to be included into the action lines.
• Since the plateau area is heterogeneous it is possible to plan Climate Change interventions through the use of different tools, such as the Oxfam Risk Atlas, although it still needs to be updated and have more detailed information.

Risk management and sustainable livelihoods

• There is the need for continuous learning through platforms, involving all stakeholders.
• Risk management is becoming accepted practice within DRR implementation, including the identification of specific indicators and outcomes.
• It is necessary to emphasize local capacities.
• Risk management shall be worked on with different players, including the government; Risk Management cannot be promoted as an isolated theme.

Adaptive Land Management

• Approach that enhances the capacity a territory has for living with the dynamic of nature and communities.
• Among the results of this approach we have: expansion of prevention measures, mitigation and adaptation; it uses a Reactive, Corrective and Prospective approach; social participation is the base for its sustainability, for which it is necessary to work the Municipal Development Plan together with the Land use planning.

Citizenship Culture and Risk Management

• There is a gap in risk management at regulating level.
• There is a growing and uncontrolled urbanization process in La Paz city because of the need of housing, which increases the risks.
• Actions to be prioritized for risk prevention include land and environmental management, with additional work being carried out on sensitization, education, communication and citizen participation. .

Agroforestry productive recovery with families affected by forest fires

• Drought and poor burning practices are causing forest fires.
• Strategies applied for prevention are: training, consciousness awareness, recovery of ancestral techniques, and formation of production organizations.
• There is the need of having more family involvement to create synergies.