Our Sectors
Post-Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction
According to climate change experts, the poorest of the poor are disproportionately affected by global warming. Increasing occurrences of droughts, floods and hurricanes already pose big challenges to people living in the world’s poorest countries. In addition, natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunami deeply disrupt the livelihoods of the poor by destroying houses, sources of income and main assets.
CHF’s response to disasters is based on the fundamental idea that communities should not just be rebuilt as they were, but that they should be rebuilt in ways that transform the lives of the poor and strengthen their resilience. Our experience working in flood, hurricane, drought, earthquake and tsunami-affected areas shows that the post-disaster recovery phase provides a critical opportunity to close the gap between relief and development and to set communities on the path to long-term sustainable development. CHF works together with households and communities to rebuild and reconstruct livelihoods while introducing disaster risk mitigation measures and incorporating emergency preparedness and response into its efforts.
Examples of CHF Post Disaster and Sustainable Livelihoods projects:
The 2004 tsunami profoundly affected the lives and livelihoods of people living along Sri Lanka’s coastline. An estimated 94% of food crops and livestock assets were seriously damaged in the Southern provinces of Matara and Galle. With the Towards Sustainable Livelihoods in Matara, Galle and Trincomalee project, CHF assisted some of the poorest families in 49 villages affected by the tsunami. We restored public wells, provided resources and training to grow new crops, educated children and mothers about nutrition needs and healthy diets, and helped link communities to government extension services.
CHF has worked in Pakistan since the devastating earthquake of 2005. We have so far designed and implemented six projects to deal with the immediate recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction phases of the post-disaster period. Currently, CHF is implementing two reconstruction projects in Abbottabad District and in the Konsh Valley reaching 5,010 and 6,000 ultra-poor households respectively. We work with these households to enhance and sustain livelihoods through community-based natural resource management; we support sustainable and equitable economic development; and we enhance community-led disaster preparedness in vulnerable villages.
