7. CARE’s capacity and experience

Since 2005, in adherence to the ‘Hyogo Framework for Action’ ), followed by the ‘Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction’ in 2015 (by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction), CARE International has been developing its institutional capacities in DRR. CARE Nederland is the CARE International focal point for this topic. CARE has been involved in the DRR policy development of main institutional donors, such as the European Commission, and in the establishment and strategic orientation of the UNISDR.

At present, most COs and regional offices have mainstreamed DRR considerations into their medium and longer-term strategies. Ongoing feedback to these is provided by CARE Nederland to ensure regular and adequate updates. At field levels, CARE has implemented many specific DRR programmes, including with partners such as ECHO. Results of evaluations have been constantly fed into the design and implementation of follow-on programming from earlier initiatives. Learning points have been effectively shared during regional workshops, on the website and through specific DRR e-learning events and conference calls. CARE has also mainstreamed DRR considerations in a wide range of projects and programmes, in all the realms of emergency response, rehabilitation and sustainable development. In a number of regions, for instance the wider horn of Africa and Central America, mapping exercises on DRR components have been conducted, further facilitating interregional learning and dissemination of best practices and processes.

To help the DRR-related learning process within CARE, a training manual was developed that includes tools and guidelines, and an overview of performance indicators for mainstreaming DRR in all phases of the project cycle.

Most importantly, CARE considers climate change adaptation (CCA), ecosystem management and restoration (EMR) and DRR as domains that complement and inform each other. At policy and field levels, CARE CCA and DRR and natural resource specialists and practitioners can closely collaborate and synthesise efforts and resources. As they experience the benefits from such collaboration, they are advocates for each other’s agendas and promote CCA and DRR together to the international community.