Peñaflor inclusive secure commune: resilience for all

Summary

The “Peñaflor secure inclusive commune: resilience for all” project is part of ONG Inclusiva’s “Inclusive Resilient Communes” programme. The project won the Risk Award 2014 of the Munich Re Foundation.

The programme conceives local actors, the community, its authorities and institutions as a dynamic, complex and diverse system. It aspires to work in the community, since a community is a space of bonds.

People with disabilities are the group that suffers the greatest violation of their rights, given that apart from suffering discrimination (like other vulnerable groups) they must face the barriers of the environment. These barriers are present at the local level, where exclusion, ignorance and environmental barriers occur. This causes people with disabilities to face 2 to 4 times more chances of dying or being injured in a disastrous event.

The solution cannot be given outside the community; to be effective they must be created and implemented locally. People with disabilities are: a) excluded from risk management, b) seen as a separate group, c) a mere recipient of help. The project proposes the people with disabilities as subject of rights, with participation and obligations to their community.

The activities were:

  • Removal of urban barriers (carried out with the municipality)
  • Elimination of risk factors in housing (minor structural adaptations)
  • Training of municipal officials, fire fighters, research police and people with disabilities in inclusive disaster risk management
  • Participation of people with disabilities in local emergency councils
  • Training of municipal officials, fire fighters, research police, people with disabilities and civil defence in sign language applicable to disasters
  • International seminar
  • Delivery of technical aids for autonomy in emergencies
  • Delivery of inclusive emergency kits
  • Inclusive emergency map

The entities involved were:

  • The municipality of Peñaflor
  • Police
  • Fire fighters
  • Research Police
  • Civil Defence
  • Neighbourhood associations
  • Organisations of persons with disabilities
  • Municipal health system
  • ONG Inclusiva Volunteers

The project originally lasted from 2014-2016 in the municipality of Peñaflor with funding from the Munich Re Foundation. The program is still active with activities in Peñaflor and Peñalolén.

Process

In the workshops, participatory methodologies were used, so that all people and institutions participated in building collaborative knowledge, so that the result - as well as the process - were owned by all. This allowed us to take advantage of the capacities of each participant of the project, generating a common union, a community. The local government participated, understanding the issue as political-technical and territorial, contributing with: • Professionals • Vehicles and installations • Investment in infrastructure • Coordinating the participation of institutions with territorial presence • The local government added to the project the assistance of the electricity distribution company for the delivery of generators to electro-dependent people ONG Inclusiva coordinated the activities with the help of the municipality, its municipal emergency management department, the municipal emergency department, the municipal education department and the health department, in conjunction with the local emergency committee.
The project incorporated vulnerable groups through persons with disabilities, subdivided as follows: • Persons with disabilities of limited means • Elderly people with disabilities • Children and adolescents with disabilities • Gender and disability • People with disabilities from indigenous populations. Only migrants with disabilities were missing.
Activities were adapted taking into account priorities and contexts. To this end, all activities followed inclusion standards, and people with different disabilities were able to participate, as well as people with different levels of schooling. VFL data was used at Peñaflor. Indicators, data capture methodology (quantitative and qualitative) were used for data monitoring. ONG Inclusiva provided all data to be audited and monitored by Munich Re. A study of lessons learned was carried out as well as several articles on the subject, in order to provide valuable learning.

Impact

The project has been able to continue thanks to the following reasons: 1. It's part of a program 2. Its impacts have attracted other donors 3. Active work with local government The local resources employed were: • Use of facilities • Vehicles • Professional hours of municipal officials • Volunteering • Public investment in accessibility
Several of the project's practices continue to this day. More than 150 families with people with disabilities were direct beneficiaries, an active community involved in CBDRM, with public agencies involved. Now disability is not forgotten or treated as a separate group; it is a member of the community that contributes to resilience and advances in sustainability.