Resilience in simple terms/ La résilience en termes simples

 

How international aid can support resilience

 

By Andrew Thow, Humanitarian Policy Officer, OCHA

 

Since the first signs that the food and nutrition crisis in the Sahel was getting worse in late 2011, ‘resilience’ has become the most talked about topic in humanitarian policy circles. We must get better at preventing recurrent crises in the Sahel and other regions. On this, everyone agrees. But when we talk about doing business differently, what exactly does that mean?

Niger, 2012: Man in Molia village tends vegetables.CR: D. Ohana, OCHA

Resilience is just a word, and when we are talking about families and communities it sounds simple enough. People are resilient when they can cope with hardships. Farmers with drought-resistant crops won’t lose their livelihoods when the rains fail. Well-nourished children can get a better education and so provide for their own families in the future.

But the word ‘resilience’ is also being used to sum up a series of changes in the way
the international aid system supports people and countries affected by recurrent crises. In particular, it has come to mean more closely integrating short-term humanitarian relief and longer-term development assistance, so that together they are more effective. Many governments in the region have taken the lead in preparing national plans to do just that. The UN has a common approach on building resilience in the Sahel, which brings together its different programmes.