| Projects | Observatory | Publications | Staff | Contact | Links |
In recognition of the rise in human vulnerability to processes of environmental change, the SEI Poverty and Vulnerability Programme undertakes applied research and policy support to address the challenge of reducing human vulnerability to environmental and socio-economic change and to support the overall goals of poverty reduction and sustainable development. The Sida-funded programme was initiated in 2002 with the objectives to develop analytic approaches for vulnerability assessment; support policy aimed at reducing vulnerability and building resilience; build capacity in local government and community-based organisations; and increase awareness of vulnerability issues.
|
|
|
| Children collecting water from a communal village tap in rural South Africa | Children with harvested maize in Dak Lak, Vietnam | Basic non-weather proofed housing in Limpopo, South Africa |
WHAT IS VULNERABILITY?SEI regards vulnerability as the capacity to be wounded by a perturbation or stress in the natural or social environment. Put another way, vulnerability can be described as a lack of security from environmental threats. It results from a combination of processes that shape the degrees of exposure to a hazard, sensitivity to its stress and impacts, and resilience in the face of those effects. All people, ecosystems, and regions confronting environmental or socio-economic stresses are potentially vulnerable to their impacts but the level of vulnerability varies widely and is generally higher among poorer people. |
Under the Poverty and Vulnerability Programme SEI researchers undertake research in partnership with local organisations, universities and research institutes in Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa. The Programme has four major themes:
Based on an improved understanding of the causes of human vulnerability, opportunities for early warning, modification of development interventions and priorities for intervention can be identified. The development of integrated methods can support this process. In particular, methods are being developed to identify regions and peoples particularly at risk from environmental variability and/or human induced changes, and to monitor threats to ecosystem services.
Although vulnerability is a widely used concept its application in poverty reduction efforts remains weak. The Programme engages closely with environment and development policy support centres at Swedish universities, international donor agencies, researchers, and regional practitioners to evaluate strategies for more effective policy and management interventions to provide guidance on how to more strongly address vulnerability issues in poverty reduction strategies, such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, the Millennium Development Goals, and Sida's national and regional strategies.
People, especially in poor countries, are vulnerable to a range of environmental risks. One element of the programme focuses on the assessment of vulnerability to climate change, genetically modified agriculture, and natural hazards, three issues with far reaching consequences for poverty and vulnerability reduction efforts. By gaining an improved understanding of the socially-differentiated nature of hazard impacts and by integrating key lessons from disaster research the programme aims to increase the capacity of decision-makers to meet the needs of vulnerable people and communities, and to develop more effective disaster management strategies.
The Vulnerability Network & Observatory (www.VulnerabilityNet.org) monitors poverty and vulnerability research and policy development around the world, and presents this information in an accessible format for policy makers and researchers. It includes bibliographies of key works, links to other websites and reports on emerging issues, methods, case studies, and research results. It also provides a public forum for discussion, a document hotel and links to other resources, aiming to facilitate stronger dialogue and engagement between researchers, project teams, practitioners, and policymakers.
Key research findings and lessons of the Poverty and Vulnerability Programme are periodically published in the Sustainable Development Update (http://albaeco.com/sdu/).
The Poverty and Vulnerability Programme regularly hosts and contributes to international workshops involving research and policy institutions, governments, civil society organisations and other stakeholders. The depth and breadth of issues addressed in our reports reflect our engagement in a wide range of issues related to poverty and vulnerability reduction world wide.