disaster risk reduction

Report

Water Under Fire | For Every Child, Water, and Sanitation in Complex Emergencies

In times of crisis, children face many dangers: They are forced from home, separated from family, deprived of food, barred from school, and exposed to exploitation and violence. In crises involving armed conflict, children are threatened by injury and death. But bullets and bombs are not always the deadliest threats to a child’s life. In protracted conflicts, children younger than 15 are, on average, nearly three times more likely to die from diarrheal disease linked to unsafe water and sanitation than violence directly linked to conflict and war.

Evaluation

Performance Evaluation – USAID/Haiti Feed the Future (FTF) West: Watershed Initiative for National Natural Environmental Resources

USAID/Haiti Feed the Future (FtF) West/Watershed Initiative for National Natural Environmental Resources (WINNER) project sought to improve the livelihoods of people living within the targeted corridors, reduce the threat of flooding, and invest in sustainable agricultural development in the selected corridors. The $127 million WINNER project, implemented by Chemonics International, began in June 2009 and was originally designed to protect watersheds by preserving hillsides, stabilizing waterways, and building non-farm livelihoods options.

Article

Republic of the Congo Tackles Soil Erosion Crisis

In September 2018, the U.S. Embassy in Republic of the Congo, together with the U.S. Water Partnership, arranged for two erosion experts from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to visit the city of Brazzaville and provide recommendations on treatment and prevention of catastrophic gully erosion that has resulted from planned and unplanned urban development. USFS staff traveled to Congo under the Water Experts Program, a cooperative effort between the U.S. Water Partnership and the U.S. Department of State that deploys American experts to provide technical assistance on water issues.

Article

Harnessing the Power of the Web for Agricultural and Climate Data Analyses

Satellite imagery and remote sensing data assist the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in formulating monthly estimates of global production of 17 agricultural commodities. Using a wide range of data layers from several sources, the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA/FAS) developed the Global Agriculture and Disaster Assessment System (GADAS) platform for its analysts and other users to rapidly visualize the current conditions of crops around the world, and compare current conditions to historic trends for a particular crop or place. 

Article

From Satellite to Village, Turning Data into Action

One night in July 2018, a rupture of the Xe Namnoy Xe Pian Dam in Laos sent more than 130 billion gallons of water cascading into downstream communities located along the Xe Pian and Xe Khong rivers in Laos’ Attapeu province, displacing thousands.

Article

Using Green Infrastructure to Mitigate Urban Flood Risk

With a population of more than 1.5 million people, Udon Thani province in northeastern Thailand is growing and industrializing rapidly as it positions itself as a strategic communications and commercial gateway to Indo-China. While these changes will contribute to economic growth, these shifts along with likely future temperature increases and more extreme weather patterns will also put Udon Thani at a greater risk of water scarcity, flooding, and loss of green space.  Since 2013, the U.S.

Field Guide

Natural and Nature-Based Flood Management: A Green Guide

World Wildlife Fund (WWF), in partnership with the US Agency for International Development Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), developed this guide (the "Flood Green Guide") to support communities at a local level in using natural and nature-based methods for flood risk management. An interdisciplinary global team developed the Flood Green Guide with a specific focus on advancing the development and application of natural and nature-based methods for managing flood risk.

Document

2018 Sphere Handbook

The Sphere Handbook is aimed at practitioners involved in planning, managing or implementing a humanitarian response. This includes staff and volunteers of local, national and international humanitarian organisations responding to a crisis, as well as affected people themselves. The Handbook is also used for humanitarian advocacy to improve the quality and accountability of assistance and protection in line with humanitarian principles.

Article

Backyard Cooperation Leads to Wastewater Treatment

Carola Piña was ashamed to have visitors. The single mom and her two teenage sons shared a one-bedroom house with a collapsed sewage septic system that left them exposed to wastewater. “We just could not endure the stench,” she says. “Not us, not our neighbors.”