Vulnerability & Capacity Assessment - A Participatory Action Research Study of the Vulnerabilities and Capacities of the Palestinian Society in Disaster Preparedness

PRCS seeks to identify local community points of view in relation to real needs for disaster preparedness and ways of mitigating the impacts of disaster.

In order to empower Ministries and Non-Governmental Organisations to plan and provide adequate services for the Palestinian community, practical roles need to be defined and a National Plan developed based on real available capacities.

To meet these objectives we utilized several methodologies within a triangulation. We utilized community focus groups representing cities, villages and refugee camps within West Bank and Gaza. Twenty-two focus groups were facilitated involving the contribution of 429 in which males, females, elderly and handicapped were represented. In order to ensure that all age groups were consulted in this study, art workshops were facilitated for children ranging from the age of 6 years to 14 years. In these workshops children were invited to record their ideas of expected hazards, their effects and disaster preparedness in order to meet them.113 children from all governorates north and south of West bank and Gaza participated.