In January this year, we published a story about Georgina, a RedR Australia roster member, who is posted to Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS) as a GEDSI (gender equality, disability and social inclusion) and Disaster Risk Reduction adviser for a six-month role.
In April, Georgina returned to continue the work she had started with local communities, listening to their disaster reduction practices and experiences, and sharing learning and knowledge to improve local communities’ resilience to natural disaster and weather extremes particularly focussing on women and children.
Here is an account of Georgina’s work and findings.
How is the project going? How has it been received by the community?
Over the past three months I have worked closely with the CEO of FCOSS in training at the community level, research and fundraising. This work with Fiji Council of Social Services reflects the objectives of the RedR Australia and FCOSS partnership, which are to enhance local leadership, organisation and inclusion in disaster risk reduction.
Since arriving in April, I have worked on a research project with my colleagues in the western division on the local context of Fiji’s urban informal settlements. One in five Fijians live in settlements that are characterised by lack of formal infrastructure and in times of disaster these groups suffer more immediate and severe damage as well as being less well-resourced to build back. Urban drift to city centres for job opportunities means these settlements are overcrowded and growing. Providing these settlements with education in disaster preparedness and climate adaptation is on the list of priorities for the Fijian National Disaster Management Office.
Using FCOSS connections has enabled us to access the communities that are generally very difficult to reach and who are distrustful of consultations and surveys.
The research that FCOSS produces will inform how disaster risk management education can be delivered in informal settlements in culturally appropriate, empowering and sustainable ways and will form an important part of Fiji’s disaster risk education into the future.
Working with FCOSS, in Lautoka in Fiji’s western region, allowed me to work closely with communities all the way from Rakiraki to Sigatoka and to get to know the volunteers in each district council. I am extremely fortunate in my position with RedR Australia, as the GEDSI and Disaster Risk Reduction adviser, to travel to rural and village areas. Listening to the challenges and the obstacles that people face to be included in civic life, assists me to understand the practical need for Gender Equality and Disability Inclusion advocacy and allows me to be responsive to the needs of the community. Hearing these experiences firsthand, I can integrate social vulnerabilities into risk reduction and to use this information to assist FCOSS to advocate for change in national platforms.
At the request of the community groups in the west, I have developed a training package to teach basic grant writing and proposal writing for community-based organisations. This has been an initiative of the DCOSS groups who are trying to apply for micro grants to deliver services to their local community and who have asked directly for assistance in this area.
Georgina (bottom left) with the District Council of Social Services (DCOSS) in Tavua.
What are the main issues being addressed by FCOSS in this role?
Disaster risk management in the western region of Fiji is an ongoing issue and one that intersects with dynamic and multiple levels of social disadvantage. In times of national emergency FCOSS mobilise volunteers into affected communities across Fiji. Training and maintaining a vibrant volunteer base take considerable investment and coordination and it is at this level that my work was focussed. Managing the network of rural women and developing their skills to enter national forums, coordinating and training the local safeguarding focal points and strengthening the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse and harm is among the ongoing work that needs to be done.
Climate change is bringing more intense weather at more frequent intervals to Fiji, and this means the work of preparation and response fuses closer together. When there are other social issues causing disruption in the community, they must also be incorporated into the disaster risk reduction planning and not treated as separate issues and managed in silos. In Fiji currently, the social challenges include youth unemployment, drug use, increases in HIV and lack of mental health care and these cannot be overlooked in our work because of the impact they are having at the community level.
How would you measure the success or impact on disaster resilience through this project?
The project to assist FCOSS develop and maintain DRR specialists at the community level is a medium to long term one. The current measure of success is the relationships that RedR Australia and the FCOSS western branch have invested in and the enthusiasm and the motivation of the DCOSS groups to participate in the training and coordination on offer. The scope of the project to assist in coordination for disasters also means addressing barriers to this and working with these barriers along the way.
