Preventive Resettlement of Populations at Risk of Disaster - GFDRR

Mechanisms for consulting and negotiating the
various resettlement options;
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Costs and sources of financing;
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Monitoring and evaluation systems;
3.2 Scope of the Case Studies
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Accountability mechanisms;
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The following factors were examined:
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The country’s main hazards and disasters;
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The legal and institutional framework for risk
management and emergency response;
3.3 Methodology
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The context of the case studied, land use, population
patterns, principal hazards, existing risk management
measures, institutions responsible, costs and sources
of funding;
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The hazards to which the populations were exposed
and their socio-economic characteristics;
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The decision-making process for the authorities and
communities in determining the need for preventive
resettlement;
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The entities in charge of resettlement, the
professional teams responsible for its preparation and
implementation, and the inter-agency coordination
mechanisms;
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Planning and implementing the resettlement;
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Proposed housing solutions, including a discussion
of how housing types, designs and construction
strategies were selected;
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Solutions for persons without legal land rights titles
(deeds to property);
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The delivery of houses and property titles to families;
Mechanisms for consulting with the population
involved;
Activities and support to the communities before,
during, and after relocation;
Measures adopted to restore the livelihoods of the
resettled population;
Participation by local authorities and communities in
the resettlement process;
Monitoring of risk during the resettlement process
and contingency plans;
The use of reclaimed at-risk areas, strategies for
overseeing new occupation of those areas and the
institutions in charge.
To conduct the studies, a team of professionals was
formed that included a coordinator with experience in
human resettlement, four professionals (consultants)
responsible for preparing the case studies (one per
country), two experts in risk management, and research
assistants. The consultants worked directly with the resettlement
programs, although in different roles. The
governments and institutions involved authorized the
preparation of the studies.
To develop the methodology and assemble the team, a
workshop was held in Bogotá, Colombia, in April 2008.
At that time, each professional gave a brief presentation
of the case chosen, after which there were discussions
about the objectives, contents, and methodology to be
used. In June of that year, a second workshop was held
in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala, at which each professional
presented the principal findings of the studies.
The participants then identified the most important
lessons learned. The workshops held in Colombia and
Guatemala allowed the entire team to gain first-hand
experience of these two cases.
22 Preventive Resettlement of Populations at Risk of Disaster: Experiences from Latin America