Revitalising the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) process in the New Normal

Duryog Nivaran, Janathakshan and the Centre for Poverty Analysis conduct the official kick-off meetings for the project ‘Revitalising the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) process in the New Normal’

Duryog Nivaran – the South Asia Network for Disaster Mitigation recently received a grant from the South Asia Small Grants Program (SAGSP) which is managed by The Asia Foundation (TAF) to implement a project with its partner organisations Janathakshan and the Centre for Poverty Analysis that aims to revitalize the DRM process in the New Normal.

The project was conceived through the recognition of the need for stronger DRM processes, especially at community level, in the New Normal created as a result of COVID19. In the New Normal, the state and communities will have to build resilience and effective response mechanisms for concurrent disaster situations (floods, droughts, cyclones etc. amidst COVID19 limitations), in order to mitigate both their short-term and long-term impacts. The project looks to empower communities and civil society organizations (CSOs) to take a more active role in DRM processes while also strengthening coordination between such structures and local institutions.

Two Divisional Secretariats in Trincomalee: Gomarankadawala and Trincomalee Town and Gravets, have been chosen as pilot locations for this initiative. The project will look to improve the existing DRM mechanism within selected Grama Niladhari Divisions in these locations through a consultative and interactive process with the communities, CSOs and local institutions.

The team officially kicked off the pilot project by conducting a series of inception meetings in the selected locations. Meetings were held on the 26th and 27th  of January 2021 with key stakeholders.  The purpose of the inception meetings was to introduce the project and to gather insights on the current COVID19 and DRM management processes and the associated challenges within the specific locations.

In addition, a discussion with local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) was also conducted in order to understand their role in DRM activities.

As the next step, a range of focus group discussions will be conducted with communities in selected localities to gather their insights and perceptions regarding the existing DRM structures and the future of DRM in the New Normal.