Asia Resilience Hub
“Our vision for Asia is that of women, men, and children less affected by shocks, stresses and uncertainty; that of every single individual thriving despite facing disasters; fewer people exposed and vulnerable.”
Resilience is the ability of women and men to realise their rights and improve their well-being despite shocks, stresses and uncertainty.
Asia is exposed and vulnerable to a wide range of disasters caused by natural and manmade hazards. In many respects, Asia is the global epicenter for disasters. Our location makes it prone to destructive hazards that are exacerbated by climate change, leading to increasing number of cyclones, rising sea levels, severe drought and other extreme climate effects. This vulnerability is compounded with poverty. Majority of world’s poorest today are in Asia, thus protection from these disasters and recovering remains difficult.
Oxfam believes that disaster risks and its impacts on people living in poverty is ‘no accident’, rather, the result of inequitable and unsustainable development that fails to address poverty, creates vulnerability and lets the burden of risk fall unfairly on the poorest and most vulnerable people.
Here in Asia, Oxfam continues to work with its partners – communities, governments, institutions, change makers, thought leaders, civil society, and academe among others – to promote resilience against existing risks – and new risks from natural and human induced hazards – that impact Asia’s poorest and most vulnerable. We believe in the "whole of society" approach to become truly resilient.
Together with our partners across the world, and Oxfam’s experts and practitioners on Asia resiliency, we form a community that shares knowledge and coordinate on issues related to Oxfam’s resilience work in the Asia region.
We focus on making people and institutions, from individual to communities, resilient to shocks and uncertainties brought on by hazards and climate change. We want smallholder farmers and enterprises to be able to resist disasters and protect their lives and livelihoods against disruptions. We work with urban districts and cities, as well as the private sector, in making them more resilient to disasters, and in developing more inclusive and sustainable development pathways and economies. We impart our expertise on Natural Resource Management. We ensure gender mainstreaming in humanitarian and resilience programs to ensure that women are able to participate in decision-making, resource allocation, mobilization, and utilization.
As a hub, ARH believes in iterative learning and in being receptive to new knowledge and experience, especially in areas where we have capacity and knowledge gaps.
Our partners include CANSA, Climate Network Org, and CIAT
Oxfam's Resilience Work in Afghanistan
Oxfam and partners support livestock and almond producers in Afghanistan, especially women. We work towards improving water management, rehabilitating water sources, as well as enhancing community pastures and soil management.
Oxfam's Resilience Work in Bangladesh
Oxfam and partners work with more than 800 community-based local organizations in Bangladesh towards building resilient communities. We enhance leadership capacity and strengthen livelihoods of the vulnerable people who are living in riverbanks, islands, coastal and wetland areas. We equip them to face the impacts of climate change and disasters. We empower dairy producers, maize producers, crab producers, and women-led producer groups by promoting climate-resilient agricultural practices. We install saline and flood tolerant WASH facilities. We support in the implementation of the National Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan, and work with the private sector on impact investments.
Oxfam's Resilience Work in Indonesia
Oxfam and partners promote drought-adaptive farming as a way to make the livelihoods of Indonesian smallholder farmers and enterprises more resilient. We work with cities and districts on implementing an integrated waste management. We support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in making their businesses resilient.
Oxfam's Resilience Work in Laos
Oxfam and partners develop Disaster Risk Management (DRM) plans and community-based adaptation in Laos. We support the Lao Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on institutionalizing DRM, and work with government partners at district levels in developing plans for forest and land use, product value chains, and product marketing. We share our knowledge to agribusiness SMEs, and farmer organizations. We organize trainings for our partners and communities to ensure gender mainstreaming.
Oxfam's Resilience Work in Myanmar
Oxfam and partners provide technical support in diversifying the livelihoods of the vulnerable communities in Myanmar, including those affected by conflict. We empower communities to influence decision-making on water resource, and assert their rights to secure livelihoods and access to water. We raise awareness about these rights, develop evidence, and build capacity of our local partners to advocate for change. We influence government and the private sector to improve policies and practices that would protect the rights of the vulnerable. We mobilize vulnerable communities through gender sensitization workshops to ensure that women are represented in different disaster risk reduction committees.
Oxfam's Resilience Work in Nepal
Oxfam and partners promote climate-resilient agricultural practices in several Nepali districts. We work with the government on the Nepal Urban Strategy, and advise Nepal's private sector on climate change adaptation.
Oxfam's Resilience Work in Pakistan
Oxfam and partners help increase productivity of smallholder Pakistani farmers who work on dairy and agri-businesses. Through the RICE Project, we build capacity of smallholder women to cultivate the lands granted to them by the government. We support in installing sprinklers in drought areas, solar tube wells for irrigation and vegetation, and donkey tube wells. We advocate for the recognition and inclusion of female agricultural workers as part of the formal labour force and labour policies. We also conduct youth advocacies about climate change and food justice. We provide technical support and direct purchasing support for the private sector in rice and dairy value chains.
Oxfam's Resilience Work in The Philippines
In the Philippines, Oxfam, through the EMBRACE Project promotes integrated farming system. On Water, we work on septage management. We conduct economic empowerment projects as part of recovery efforts for the Typhoon Haiyan-affected communities. We support SMEs on business continuity planning, to help them bounce back from losses after disasters. We support 28 local governments on their People’s Survival Fund (PSF) applications, as well as partner with Center for Local and Regional Governance for tracking climate finance. Our partners include SPPI, RDISK, SIMCARRD, COM, HUCCD.
Oxfam's Resilience Work in Sri Lanka
Together with the private sector, Oxfam is implementing a weather-indexed insurance project to support Sri Lankan smallholder farmers to combat the impact of floods and droughts. We work with the government in developing and implementing Sri Lanka’s National Community Resilience Framework.
Oxfam's Resilience Work in Vietnam
Oxfam and partners promote alternative energy solutions to vulnerable communities of Vietnam's Ca Mau province. In the Mekong Delta, we build capacities of coastal communities and local authorities to enable them to adapt to disaster and climate risks. We empower rural women by enhancing agricultural value chains.
