As conflict, migration and climate change drive increases to the frequency and severity of disasters, the lives and livelihoods of millions of people will be disrupted at a moment’s notice. Unexpected shocks or ongoing stresses to daily life can destroy homes and neighborhoods, disrupt economic activity and the ability to make a living, and tear at the fabric of close-knit communities. By addressing the root causes of vulnerability with solutions for a sustainable future, individuals, households, and communities can not only recover, but be better prepared to withstand the effects of future disasters.
For more than 15 years, Global Communities has reinforced resilience across Asia, Africa and the Americas. With support from the U.S. Agency for International Development, Global Communities has advanced significant innovations in resilience-focused agriculture, food security, disaster risk management, water, sanitation and hygiene and health.
Our integrated approach bridges humanitarian assistance and sustainable development to deliver proven resilience-building interventions across sectors.
Climate Action
With climate change comes increasing incidences of weather-related shocks and disasters. In vulnerable communities, the immediate and long-term effects of ever more powerful storms and recurring droughts can be devastating. Working with local communities, we are building resilience to climate-related shocks by collaboratively identifying and developing strategies to address vulnerabilities in each local context. Learn more about our work building resilience in the face of climate change here.
Food Security & Agriculture
Our agricultural food security strategies are designed to improve production approaches—protecting farmers from stressors while supporting improved production growth and sustainable approaches tailored to their unique, individual needs and household contexts. We work directly with smallholder farmers, especially women, to diversify their income streams and increase the resilience of their households to disaster-related damage to crops and food supplies.
Water Security
Global Communities integrates sustainable water management throughout our programs to shore up the long-term resilience of at-risk ecosystems and resources, as well as the social and economic welfare of vulnerable populations. Our work includes a particular focus on watershed protection, rehabilitation and management, and sustainable access to clean water.
In addition, we focus on resilience as part of our work in governance, economic opportunity and livelihoods, health and gender equality and social inclusion as a core part of our vision of a more just, equitable and prosperous world, one where all people can thrive.
Our Approach
Global Communities’ approach to resilience begins with reinforcing communities’ ability to cope with shocks and stresses while reducing their vulnerability to future crises.
Our rigorous, data-driven approach allows us to apply insights across programs and leverage learnings from decades of on-the-ground experience. Our work in complex urban environments, both in times of crisis and for long-term resilience building, drives our solutions to the rapidly increasing vulnerability of urban populations around the world. Our work in communities directly impacted by climate change informs our strategies to strengthen communities' resilience to shocks and stresses aggravated by climate change. While our experience and learnings are global, our solutions are always customized to meet specific needs and delivered in support of community-led solutions. Our innovative risk management strategies have scaled from community-level pilot projects to inform municipal, state and national policies.
Our work includes a strong focus on building the capacity of partners, including government agencies, community groups, universities, and the private sector to create sustainable models for managing disaster risk. An example of an innovative public-private partnership to increase resilience in the face of climate change is the Enhancing Colombian Cities’ Resilience through Insurance for Climate Risks and Natural Disasters project. Global Communities and the Insurance Development Forum are coming together to support the development of natural disaster risk insurance products for the City of MedellÃn. The InsuResilience Solutions Fund is providing co-funding for the development of the insurance solution for municipal governments and individual citizens who face catastrophic losses due to climate-driven disasters.
Our work also includes:
- Systems approaches
- Integrated approaches
- Agile management
- Data-driven decision-making
- Capacity building in disaster risk management as part of long-term sustainable development programs.
- Supporting local capacity strengthening and locally-led development by implementing the Neighborhood Approach, a means of responding to multi-sector needs through a community-based decision-making process that takes into account social, economic, and physical features within a specific geographic area.
854,164
people living in high-risk urban settlements within cities where Global Communities is working to reduce vulnerability to disasters and reinforce resilience
10
government agencies that created risk management tools to inform decisions that reduce public vulnerability to shocks and stresses such as those associated with climate change, earthquakes and volcanic activity
55,032,900
hectares of traditional grazing areas digitally mapped and overlaid with current satellite-derived information used to improve migration decision-making of semi-nomadic pastoralists in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya
Our work in this area reaches:
Resources
Briefs & Case Studies
The School Garden Model
Pamoja Tuwalishe’s School Garden Model operationalizes the NSFG and will be utilized in the 367 program-supported schools. This Model will be used to train and equip schools to nurture nutritious school gardens that will serve as learning sites for students to practice climate-smart agricultural practices while contributing healthy harvests for the students’ meals at school.…
Briefs & Case Studies
Integrated Fleet Management System
Global Communities (GC) created and is utilizing an Integrated Fleet Management System (IFMS)which optimizes fleet performance by focusing on improving users’ experience while maximizingcost- effectiveness. Empowering and equipping the Fleet Team to achieve excellence, the IFMS is acomprehensive collection of systems, tools, and procedures that guide the supervision of the fleetteam, the management of in-house…
Briefs & Case Studies
The Community-led School Feeding Model
Pamoja Tuwalishe is an innovative school meals program t h a t i s supporting 367 schoolsand communities t o operationalize the National School Feeding Guidelines (NSFG). Implementedin support of the Government of Tanzania’s priority to improve learning outcomes andchildhood nutrition, the Pamoja Tuwalishe program is funded by USDA McGovern-Dole, andis implemented Global Communities in…
Research & Publications
Adapting Health Systems to Protect Children from the Impact of Climate Change: A Series
Prepared by The Child Health Task Force, Global Communities, and UNICEF The “Re-imagining the Package of Care for Children” series, co-hosted by the Child Health Task Force, Global Communities, and UNICEF, provided a platform to foster important discussions on how to adapt health systems to protect children from the challenges posed by the climate crisis.…
