Strategic Research into National and Local Capacity Building for Disaster Risk Management

The research presented in this fieldwork report aims to draw lessons and guidance on ‘how to’ build disaster risk management (DRM) capacity in a range of contexts. It provides a background on DRM in Myanmar, including governance structure and policies, current capacity levels, and in-depth analyses of three DRM capacity building programmes recently operational in the country: (i) Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC): Strengthening DRR through Policy Dialogue, Technical Support and Building Capacity of Government and Civil Society Partners; (ii) International Orgnanisation for Migration (IOM): Community-based DRR initiatives in South East Myanmar; (iii) Myammar Red Cross (MRCS): Community Based DRR and Urban DRR programme (CBDRR and UDRR). The report closes with a series of ‘lessons learned’ from Myanmar, compared with emerging findings from other countries.

This report is part of IFRC contracted research entitled 'Strategic Research into National and Local Capacity Building for Disaster Risk Management'. The objective was to address the following overarching issues of concern: How is capacity for DRM generated most effectively at both national and local levels? What factors enable or constrain the building of national and local capacity for DRM? How and why does this vary across different environments? How is the international community currently approaching the task of building national and local capacities for DRM? How can we identify and measure improving capacity for DRM?