NORWEGIAN NRC REFUGEE COUNCIL COMMUNITY RESILIENCE AND DISASTER-RELATED DISPLACEMENT IN SOUTH ASIA RESEARCH PAPER April 2015 DISASTERS CLIMATE CHANGE AND DISPLACEMENT EVIDENCE FOR ACTION CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report was researched and written by Mi Zhou and Dorien Braam of Praxis Labs (www.praxis-labs.com), a collective of humanitarian and development practitioners providing research for field solutions. It has experience across Asia, south and east Africa, eastern Europe and the Middle East. Caroline Bates and Sarah van der Veen also contributed to the research. The authors thank the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) for commissioning the research and their support throughout the process. Thanks also go to NRC’s staff in Afghanistan, particularly Nicholas Leftwich, Mohamed Sharif Ibrahimi and Fardin Hafizi. We would like to extend a special thanks to all the interviewees from affected communities, civil society, international organisations and government for their contributions. The authors also benefited from discussions at the Nansen Initiative’s south Asia civil society consultations in Kathmandu in February 2015, and thank the participants for their input. Thanks to Jeremy Lennard for editorial assistance. The authors are grateful for the support of the European Union, without which the research would not have been possible. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Praxis Labs and NRC, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the EU. Published by the Norwegian Refugee Council. The Norwegian Refugee Council is an independent, humanitarian NGO which provides assistance, protection and durable solutions to refugees and displaced people worldwide. Norwegian Refugee Council NORWEGIAN Postboks 148, Sentrum NRC REFUGEE COUNCIL 0102 Oslo Tel: +47 23 10 98 00 www.nrc.no For more information, please contact Nina M. Birkeland, senior adviser on disasters and climate change ([email protected]) or Lena Brenn, programme coordinator on disasters and climate change ([email protected]). The project is funded by the European Union with the support of Norway and Switzerland Federal Department of Foreign Afairs FDFA TABLE OF CONTENTS KEY TERMS ................................................................................................................................................................8 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................9 1.1 Displacement ..............................................................................................................................................................9 1.2 Resilience .................................................................................................................................................................10 1.3 Resilience building framework ...................................................................................................................................10 1.4 Regional recommendations .......................................................................................................................................11 2. SOUTH ASIA .........................................................................................................................................................13 2.1 Purpose of the report ................................................................................................................................................14 2.2 Disasters and displacement ......................................................................................................................................14 2.3 The many faces of resilience .....................................................................................................................................15 2.4 Community resilience: key findings ...........................................................................................................................17 3. AFGHANISTAN ......................................................................................................................................................21 3.1 Risk landscape ..........................................................................................................................................................21 3.1.1 Climate change and disasters ........................................................................................................................................21 3.1.2 Economy and development ............................................................................................................................................22 3.1.3 Politics and governance .................................................................................................................................................22 3.2 Displacement ............................................................................................................................................................22 3.2.1 Internal ..........................................................................................................................................................................22 3.2.2 Cross-border .................................................................................................................................................................23 3.2.3 Protection .....................................................................................................................................................................24 3.3 Community resilience ...............................................................................................................................................25 3.3.1 Key assets .....................................................................................................................................................................25 3.3.2 Legal and institutional frameworks ...............................................................................................................................25 3.3.3 Knowledge, resources and actions ................................................................................................................................27 3.4 Recommendations ....................................................................................................................................................29 3.5 Case studies .............................................................................................................................................................30 4. BANGLADESH .......................................................................................................................................................35 4.1 Risk landscape ..........................................................................................................................................................35 4.1.1 Climate change and disasters ........................................................................................................................................35 4.1.2 Economy and development ............................................................................................................................................36 4.1.3 Politics and governance .................................................................................................................................................36 4.2 Displacement ............................................................................................................................................................37 4.2.1 Internal ..........................................................................................................................................................................37 4.2.2 Cross-border .................................................................................................................................................................37 4.2.3 Protection .....................................................................................................................................................................38 4.3 Community resilience ...............................................................................................................................................38 4.3.1 Key assets .....................................................................................................................................................................38 4.3.2 Legal and institutional frameworks ...............................................................................................................................39 4.3.3 Knowledge, resources and actions ................................................................................................................................40 4.4 Recommendations ....................................................................................................................................................41 5. BHUTAN ................................................................................................................................................................42 5.1 Risk landscape ..........................................................................................................................................................42 5.1.1 Climate change and disasters ........................................................................................................................................42