When disaster strikes Ecuador, women are among the first to respond.  They are also well positioned to reduce the risk of disasters within their homes.  For this reason, Plan International has been training women from the Women’s Association of Rural Parishes of Ecuador (AMJUPRE ) to conduct the Views from the Frontline survey.  According to Plan, it’s the first time this group of women has been involved in disaster risk reduction. There were ongoing floods in some of the survey areas but the women encouraged those who were being affected to participate in the survey.  Although the women had no technical knowledge of disaster risk reduction (DRR) they learnt much through the training and the survey process.

The process itself wasn’t easy as the women travelled long distances from their communities to carry out the survey and risked being attacked or robbed on their journey back if it was after dark.  Women gave up time on their own jobs or work at home to assist in the surveys.  In some cases, the sexist environment of some communities made it a challenge to ask men to be a part of the survey.

There has also been great success. VFL Ecuador is the first disaster risk reduction researching initiative taken by the civil society, which is also supported by the national government.  When I asked VFL project coordinator from Plan International Ecuador, why The National Risk Management secretariat endorsed the process she said, “The secretariat considers the VFL as a first step in building a broader country investigation.  They also realize that women, as key actors in their communities, can bring disaster risk reduction’s key messages into the family and the home."

A flooded community in Los Rios province

Community inhabitants filling out the VFL survey in Los Rios province