Views from the Frontline - Bringing the voice of at-risk communities in global disaster risk reduction policy and practice

Keystone is proud to announce its collaboration with the Global Network of CSOs for Disaster Reduction.

The Global Network is a newly formed network of some 300 organisations working in disaster risk reduction in 90 countries around the world. The goal of the Network is to increase the effectiveness of civil society to build the resilience of nations and communities to disasters by bringing the concerns and interest of vulnerable people into the heart of global disaster risk reduction policy and practice.

Keystone is collaborating as a consultant with the Global Network in a project called "Views from the Frontline". This is a participatory action research project undertaken by CSOs at the local level with the aim to assess progress made towards the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA). The HFA is an international instrument for implementing disaster risk reduction that was adopted by 168 UN member states in 2005. In June 2009, the first periodical review of the implementation of the HFA is going to take place in the UN-ISDR Global Platform in Geneva. From the UN and governmental side the assessment that is currently being carried out for the review is almost exclusively done through self-reporting by government officials of each of the participating countries. The project that we are helping the Global Network design and implement will complement this self-reported information with perspectives from the local level (the frontline). 

For this purpose, Keystone´s associates Janine Schall-Emden and Lorenzo Fioramonti, have used their experience working on the CIVICUS Civil Society Index and developed a methodology that will enable people in at-risk areas to assess the progress made at the local level towards the implementation of the HFA. Common questionnaires will be administered by civil society organizations in more than 30 countries; local government officials, CSOs and community representatives will be asked to provide their views on the implementation of the HFA. National workshops will be convened to analyse the results and to formulate common policy positions. National and regional reports, as well as an overall global report, will be presented at the UN-ISDR conference in the summer of 2009 and will allow to contrast the information provided by official government lines with that provided by the grassroots. 

The overall objectives of the “Views from the Frontline” project are to:

1.    Provide an independent global overview of progress towards implementation of key aspects of the HFA and establish a provisional baseline against which future progress can be measured

2.    Strengthen public accountability for HFA implementation by enhancing the ability to measure progress

3.    Strengthen civil society capability to monitor progress, share information, formulate policy positions, develop joint advocacy coalitions and contribute towards government efforts to implement HFA on the ground

Findings from our research are expected to be made available in mid-spring 2009.  For additional information, please contact Natalia Kiryttopoulou

If you are a collaborator for the Views from the Frontilne project and would like to download materials:

English

Click here, if you are a Regional or National Coordinating Organisation (RCO or NCO)

Click here, if you are a Participating Organisation to access the abridged version of the materials

Español

Haga click aquí, si usted es una Organización de Coordinación Regional o Nacional (OCR u OCN)

Haga click aquí, si usted es una Organización Participante para acceder a la versión abreviada de los materiales

Français

Faites click ici, si vous êtes une Organisation de Coordination Regionale ou Nationale (OCR ou OCN)

Faites click ici, si vous êtes une Organisation Participante pour accéder à la version abrégée des matériaux