End poverty together.

Human security

Urmila Devi, 55, stands in front of flooded farm land and abandoned huts.
Urmila Devi, 55, stands in front of flooded farm land and abandoned huts.
Photo: Sanjit Das/ActionAid

When disaster strikes, we can respond within hours, providing vital things like food and shelter. We link our response to our ongoing projects, and we stick around as long as we’re needed, providing practical support, and making sure local people have a say in rebuilding their communities and livelihoods.

Disasters can hit anyone at any time. But people living in poverty are particularly at risk. They are likely to live on the most vulnerable land and in the most precarious housing.

Missing out on vital information – lacking a radio or phone to get warnings, or literacy skills to read safety advice – few resources and poor government protection, people living in poverty often suffer the most in a crisis.

In turn, disasters increase poverty, wiping out homes and livelihoods and causing a vicious circle of poverty, vulnerability and crisis. That's why our work with people affected by emergencies and conflict plays a key part in our fight against poverty.

Every year over 300 million people are affected by disasters. The poorest and most excluded are often hardest hit.

Our approach to Human Security targets platforms for national dialogue on issues of disaster management and encourages young people in understanding the need for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) activities.

Our activities have included support to the drafting and validation of a national working document for disaster management for all NGOs and practitioners within the country and the construction of structures that will support the provision of safe water and toilets for poor communities. 

We also organise Participatory Vulnerability Analysis Trainings (PVA), which creates a platform for conflict resolution within and between communities.

How we work on emergencies
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