Where: Nicaragua and Honduras
Solutions: Disaster preparedness and risk mitigation, Climate adaptation and resilience, Sustainable cities and communities
Honduras and Nicaragua are vulnerable to natural disasters. Both countries are harshly affected by droughts and flooding. These impacts families and their working animals, which they often use for their livelihoods. These communities risk being left behind. Brooke has been supporting the inclusion of animals (as a livelihood resilience strategy) in the emergency response plans of regional governments. This works to ensure that families, governments, and other actors involved understand that livestock owners are better able to bounce back after a disaster if their livestock (including donkeys, horses, mules, and oxen) are included in disaster risk reduction plans.
The organization work with national public entities in Nicaragua and with the National System for the Prevention, Mitigation, and Attention of Disasters (SINAPRED) who have led to the adoption of these strategies. The advancement of this initiative in the short and long run will ensure the protection of the owner’s assets, animals, and livelihoods for the country. They also work with local partners who reach seven communities, 342 direct beneficiaries, 1,875 indirect beneficiaries, and 1,623 animals; they contributed to at least ten different community response plans, ensuring their animals are seen as important assets during a disaster.
Since the organization intervention started, the National System for the Prevention, Mitigation, and Attention of Disasters (SINAPRED) regularly reviews their risk management tools and incorporates aspects to include animals in their emergency response plans. There is also an ongoing initiative to create an Animal National Response Protocol.
One of the main lessons they learned was that many actors involved did not initially see working livestock as important for families and their livelihoods. Essentially these animals were invisible to policymakers during the disaster. Their intervention has represented hope for families who experience suffering when their animals are left abandoned during a disaster; these families and their animals will no longer be left behind.
Photo provided by The Brooke
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