[SOUND] I think one thing we do, for example with Corday is what we call the Resilience Recovery Approach, where part of it is we do community consultation, largely what we do like a risk mapping exercise. So you do not only look at the issues that the people face in terms of, example of natural hazards, but we also look at their ecosystem, their livelihoods as well as other man-made hazards that may be impacting the people, and one of them could be related to conflict, or some social cohesion issues or something like that. First thing you do is to earn the trust of the community by doing consultations and really listening to them and making them understand that whatever solutions you find is really managed by the community. It's not that you're coming in and telling them what they're supposed to do, but it's really something that comes out from them and then the solutions is something that they'll also, of course, take into consideration their own fears as well as, you know, whether you're trying to put them at harm or not. So you really take into consideration the voice of the community, as well as they also have a hand in what solutions will be developed. In the Philippines, we did that after Typhoon Haiyan. We worked in island, in Samar, where there is also issues related to the New People's Army, which is a communist rebel group in the Philippines. So what we did was we really sat down with the community in the risk mapping exercise and really, even one of the things that they identified was the issues related to livelihoods, you know, they were already getting all of the humanitarian assistance, but then they said, you know, we really have to find ways to stand on our own, we can;t just be getting assistance all the time. And so what we did was we worked with the community, and during the risk mapping exercise, they said, you know, it might be good for us to form cooperatives, for example. So for example the Fisher Folk Community we worked with them in forming cooperative. And then they also identified that the issue was also related to the ecosystem, because people were practicing dynamite fishing, you know, cyanide fishing, and all other practices that were destroying the marine area. So what we did was we also worked with them to establish a marine protected area. So, you know, so there were different ways where in we tried to find linkages in what we're doing, so you're not only helping them with their livelihoods, but also trying to see how they can protect their ecosystem and also, work with the government at the same time. >> What we are finding to be very useful in a conflict setting like Zimbabwe, especially after the disaster on Cyclone Idai, is an approach that is bolstering resilience and promote recovery. In bolstering resilience and promoting recovery programs there is need to engage communities so that the emergency assistance provided meet culture specific needs. This process happens when a reconstruction that will incorporate local knowledge is planned. The reconstruction is happening in an integrated way in order to make sure disaster risk reduction and resilience are catered for in the whole process. The other way of engaging people is the use of traditional music, which is one of the ways to raise awareness and preparedness. Traditional music such as mbira music, musele music, played by local people spread messages about different type of hazards; drought, fire hazards, floods. The lyrics in the songs are about the risk perception, critical awareness problems, solutions, and so on. Music is appealing and entertaining and contributing to rural vulnerabilities, for there is use of local understanding, coupled with the fascinating idioms. >> I think it's important to determine your entry point. Most of the time if you're at community level, it's very good to understand, let's say, if they are already ongoing projects, if there are already ongoing activities, if there are reports, and if there are none, you have also opportunity to do research and find for yourself, because one of the things is we really need evidence for your own intervention. What are the, you know, indications, let's say if it is the issues of conflict, what are, you know, root causes of these problems? What are the issues, how are communities coping with this? How has it impacted their livelihood, etc. And from this understanding, you can also go ahead and now map your stakeholders, because you are not coming to a vacuum, there are stakeholders already there. Who are there, was the government represented there, are there other NGOs there, are the community is organized in a way? Then from that way you can be able now to come up with your own entry points into this. And the most important entry point eventually is the one which is embedded in the community. Are there community organizations, is the community organized, because for community, for you to intervene, communities to be organized for you to be able to even do something with them. So you look at those structures, if they are there, well and good, if they are not there, you can be able to create one, so that you can have like a harmonized way of working with this community. So it's really important to understand the structure which are there and how you can intervene will also impact on the way that you can be able to engage people further. >> When we say that what we've been able to do that was successful, one success story was fortunately, they didn't get hit by drought at the time, but they understood very well that unless they get veterinary treatment in their community established as ongoing, they would not have a healthy herd. So they decided that they would, from all of them, sell off a couple of goats. They did that. They were able to support the purchase of medicine. And so that medicine is still rotating through their community, in the hand of the power-vet or the veterinary health officer. And so they've set up now a sustainable veterinary service, by themselves. They can call on the veterinary person anytime for disease outbreaks, for getting deworming, which is very important, and getting rid of external parasites. And so they are not dependent on waiting from the Werda, waiting from somebody else to get the veterinary response, and then the response normally only comes when there's a disaster when a lot of animals have died. This we see as a good intervention, which could be repeated in other areas of the Afraha, and in other pastoralist's societies, I would think. >> I think it's really important to have a proper context analysis before you engage in a certain location, so you understand the internal tensions the internal divisions that may exist and you see which groups are at play. And then when you design a program you make sure that you're not leaving anyone behind or you're not reinforcing or creating more division in the community, because there's often a risk that with the best humanitarian intentions, you're actually trying to help a particular group, but you're also leaving behind other groups, which over time may reinforce that existing division. And that's something that we should be strongly aware of and a good context analysis for that purpose is absolutely crucial. >> We know it's difficult in a response, on the time it takes to work with communities and yet time and time and time again in evaluations, unless you're doing that from before the crisis, through the crisis and after the crisis, we can't get effective aid. It has to be about listening and working with the people who are affected.
