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January - March 2014
Through involvement in the establishment of
the CDMC and the subsequent management
plan, Mrs Rafik says of the experience “I
now have the confidence to facilitate the
community in a disaster and am much more
confident to talk in front of a group about
our disaster situations”. Mrs Rafik went on
to discuss the powerful ripple effect CDMC
has had on people, particularly women,
that now people are starting to see disaster
response and recovery as everybody’s
business and that they need to be part of
the solution. “We discuss with other women
in other communities the benefits of using
this system to respond to disaster and we
are proud of our role in looking after the
community”.
Since the establishment of the CDMCs,
there has been no lives lost in the villages
during flooding events. The Nadi IWRM
Project continues to provide support to
these communities and was instrumental in
the establishment of the Nadi early warning
flood system.
Wailoaloa community discussing high risk areas during floods
Community members being trained in disaster response
Basin, women bear the brunt of a disaster
and are at the centre of recovery, working
to handle the situation and take care of
families.
In many of the villages where the committee
has been established, women have been
chosen as the chairperson. Mrs Rafik,
chairperson of the Wailoaloa CDMC, says
“This is significant in a male dominated
area and has given us an active role in
the decision making of the community”.
Through active inclusion of women in the
development of the CDMC and plan, the
project has been able to provide recognition
of the important role that women play in
disaster response and recovery. It has been
a source of great pride for many women
and as Mrs Rafik says “This is the first time
I have had any recognition of my hard work
and we had a great feast to celebrate!”
Mrs Rafik was running the Wailoaloa
Women’s Group which the IWRM project
approached to be the foundation for
the CDMC. This came about because
Mr. Vinesh Kumar, the IWRM Project
Manager, had previously run separate
consultations with the Wailoaloa Women’s
Group, discussing the issues in the area,
in particular the major problems that
flooding causes. As a result, the women
became confident in their understanding
of disasters in the area and asked for the
CDMC training in Wailoaloa village.