Resilient Islands Project – Policy Component
The primary objective of the Policy and Advocacy Component is to strengthen disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) law and policy frameworks through the inclusion of nature-based solutions (NbS).
To meet this objective, the following activities are being carried out in the target countries of Jamaica, Grenada and Dominican Republic.
POLicy assessment of drr & cca
An analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the legal and policy frameworks in DRR and CCA and the development of recommendations for generating a clear pathway for improvement, in a way that optimizes the potential for NbS. The research is being conducted through a highly consultative process that is supported by Technical Advisory Committees and analysed against internationally recognized benchmarking tools i.e, IFRC’s Checklist on Law and Disaster Risk Reduction and IUCN – International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) CLIMA Tool on NbS. The Final Synthesis Reports will be completed in 2022.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ADVOCACY STRATEGY & ROADMAP (ACTION PLAN)
An Advocacy Strategy and Roadmap will be developed as an action plan for advocating to the government authorities and communities to incorporate NbS actions into their local, national, and regional scale decisions and to prioritize and invest in NbS adaptation strategies.
LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY TRAINIng
To support the advocacy efforts of the Project, members of the Resilient Islands Team were trained in legislative advocacy using the Legislative Advocacy Toolkit developed through the IFRC, that provides a step-by-step guide on how to initiate discussions on advocacy, develop and implement an advocacy strategy in a systematic, coherent, and engaging way. This training was conducted between May and June 2021.
THE FUTURE IN POLICY
Advocating for the inclusion of nature-based solutions (NbS) in law and policy frameworks will continue to be a priority in the target countries. Based upon the evidence-based recommendations that emerged from the research in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA), the IFRC and TNC will seek to implement advocacy strategies that aim to promote NbS as a key enabling action for DRR and CCA, that will serve to further enhance legal and policy frameworks in disaster risk management.
