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Building Resilience and Capacities for Emerging Disasters (BRACED) in Precarious Settlements

Building Resilience and Capacities for Emerging Disasters (BRACED) in Precarious Settlements

Building Resilience and Capacities for Emerging Disasters (BRACED) in Precarious Settlements

Jamaica

Organization: Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI)

Category: Mitigación, adaptación y resiliencia del hábitat frente al cambio climático y los desastres

Context

Issues:
Portmore is a coastal town, 13 km from the country's capital. The municipality has several precarious urban settlements: informal occupation of land, streets impeding transit, poor state of housing complexes, lack of infrastructure for water and sanitation services and a dysfunctional system of solid waste collection and management. The entire area is highly exposed to natural hazards; the high vulnerability of many of its settlements makes disaster risk extremely high.

Project objective:
To increase resilience of the most vulnerable households and neighborhoods through the creation of conditions for neighborhood enhancement, with a disaster risk reduction focus: community infrastructure, housing, water and sanitation, waste management, community organization, urban planning.

Scope: Municipal, neighborhoods of the municipality of Portmore

Results

 

Achieved Results:

  • More than 550 houses integrate improvements and low-cost safe construction techniques, serving as a model for communities
  • 21 demonstration toilets with technology that does not require a built sewer network.
  • More than 3,300 persons benefited thanks to solid waste management improvement
  • More than 720 people participate in disaster preparedness trainings
  • 500 homes begin the land tenure regularization process
  • Empowered committees and grassroots associations and local leadership, and construction of a community resource center;

Expected Results:

  • To advance in pilot practices that show effective methods for disaster risk mitigation, and that these are able to have an impact on inclusive policies for the most vulnerable populations.

Person/contact: Javier Cidón/ jcidon@habitat.org