Sida and the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) are supporting the First Advisory Group Meeting of the Community Practitioners Platform for Resilience, an event organized by the Huairou Commission and GROOTS International in cooperation with the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. The event is sponsored by Sida as part of the Advanced Training Program for Humanitarian Action (ATHA).

Background:
Huairou Commission and GROOTS International were invited by UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction to design and lead the Community Practitioners’ Platform for Resilience. The main goal of the Platform is to convene community leaders and innovators to advocate for policies and programs that advance pro-poor, climate resilient development. The three main objectives for advancing this goal are:

a .Aggregating community-led practices and disseminating policy insights from these.
b.Enhancing community and other stakeholder capacities to undertake and scale up resilience practices as well as to initiate partnerships for resilient development.
c.Advocating for strategic shift in investments, programs and policies that formally recognize and resource pro –poor community driven resilient development.

Community based organizations, particularly grassroots women’s groups who have scaled up their efforts, built partnerships with local/national governments or linked their risk reduction work to development and poverty reduction programs are being particularly sought out for their advanced practices and insights. This networking and advocacy space, formally endorsed by UN ISDR, represents a unique opportunity for communities vulnerable to disaster and climate change to play a key role in agenda-setting and influencing ISDR’s strategic plans. The 3rd Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in May 2011 and the events leading up to it are seen as major policy venues for the Platform members to engage and influence policy makers.

First Advisory Group Meeting of the Community Platform:
As a multi-stakeholder group of experts who represent institutions with a strong track record of promoting innovation in promoting climate resilient development, the Advisory Group of the Platform is well positioned to recommend strategic directions and support the Platform’s planning and implementation

The First Advisory Group meeting of the Platform hosted by the Government of Sweden in Harnosand, Sweden will bring together 20-25 varied stakeholders. Participants will include policy makers, UN agencies; regional and national government representatives who have demonstrated a commitment to community driven approaches; representatives from civil society networks that represent large grassroots constituencies and key community practitioners from the GROOTS and Huairou Commission networks.

Objectives of the First Advisory Group Meeting:

1.To facilitate a shared understanding of the Platform objectives and clarify roles of the advisory group and other stakeholders
2.To consolidate perspectives and identify strategic priorities in support of community and local level mechanisms for building resilience
3.To identify strategic political, technical and financial resources, opportunities for collaboration, policy/program partnerships for scaling up pro-poor mechanisms for resilience
4.To develop an agenda and action-plan with special reference to the Third Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in May 2011.

Deliverables:
The deliverables from the First Advisory Group meeting will include the finalization of the scope and terms of reference for the Platform and Advisory Group; identification of community driven mechanisms and strategic partnerships for resilience building, identification of institutional opportunities for partnerships, resources and approaches for scaling up of effective community practices and an action plan for advocacy at the Global Platform in May 2011 and the events leading up to it.