Many countries are simultaneously seeing their exposure and vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change increase, while at the same time dealing with an aging population. How do societies both care for and empower an unprecedented number of elderly people, while reducing their vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change? Smart policy making and practical solutions for engaging citizens are needed on the ground.
The World Bank Disaster Risk Management Hub, Tokyo (DRM Hub, Tokyo)'s project "Empowering the Elderly, Women, and People with Disabilities for Resilience" aims to strengthen community-driven preparedness and longer-term resilience in developing countries. Leveraging Japanese expertise in community-based DRM, the project’s approach focuses on elders, women, and people with disabilities (PwD) playing a leading role in strengthening resilience using the innovative "Ibasho" model - named after an elder-led community pilot café initiative developed in Ofunato, Japan following the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.
The DRM Hub, Tokyo is supporting technical assistance to design new or utilize existing community infrastructure to establish Ibasho initiatives in the Philippines and Nepal. The project is applying an innovative monitoring and evaluation (M&E) approach that will lead to new methodologies aimed at making the model replicable in other contexts. Training provided through the project is helping communities that are developing and implementing Ibasho cafe type approaches and community preparedness plans.
