The goal of this project, implemented by Action Aid, is to reduce people’s vulnerability to natural disasters by contributing to the implementation of the Hyogo framework. The purpose is to make schools in high-risk disaster areas safer, enabling them to act as a locus for disaster risk reduction. The project works in 7 countries in selected districts at high-risk of diverse natural disasters.

Climate change is the main factor responsible for the accelerated glacier retreat in the Himalayas. As this continues, major changes in freshwater flows will have dramatic effects on biodiversity, people, and their livelihoods. Glacial melting leads to an increase in water discharge, which is expected to increase the frequency of catastrophic flooding events such as GLOF. These events can have devastating consequences to infrastructure like bridges, dams and power generation stations, and communities living at downstream.

The overall goal of the project is to improve the livelihoods and adaptive capacities of the vulnerable rural communities to the adverse impacts of climate variability and change. The project is conceived of as a pilot project designed to test a two-pronged approach to adaption. The first prong is development and testing of technical adaptation solutions for possible integration into the public watershed and forestry management programs.  The second prong of this project’s test approach is development and implementation of financial instruments, i.e.

People of Rajasthan construct dams to retain monsoon waters for times of drought.

This Indian-German Financial-Cooperation Project project has (1) constructed 59 cyclone shelters; (2) helped communities develop a Contingency Plan of their own; (3) enabled individual households to discuss and share best practices to stay prepared for a cyclone;(4) esablished a shelter communities fund through individual household contributions to address the emergency disaster situations, paying premium for the insurance, village development activities, and shelter repairs, and (5) developed audio-visuals on disaster Risk Reduction Measures for awareness-raising and sensitization on the rol

Agriculture is the main source of livelihoods for rural communities in the Bundelkhand region of India. The region however faces a number of natural constraints such as erratic rainfall, low soil fertility, soil erosion, limited irrigation facilities and degraded forests. These constraints adversely affect the agricultural production and livelihoods in the region. In addition, projected water stresses due to climate change are likely to further worsen the situation.

In the drought-prone regions of Maharashtra State, the Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) is helping poor communities reclaim degraded lands through the regeneration and sustainable management of watersheds. About 70 percent of Maharashtra’s land area is hot semi-arid to arid, supporting agriculture that is largely dependent upon monsoon rainfall. Precipitation is concentrated in just a few months of the year and is highly variable in frequency, intensity, and geographic coverage.