George: Promoting Climate Adaptation and Community Integration
George’s experience with the Anticipatory Action course has given him the skills to advocate for government financing on climate adaptation and establish community integration through joint disaster risk reduction activities.
George Oryongatum is a Disaster Risk Reduction and Environmental Officer working in south western Uganda, where extreme weather events caused by climate change pose a threat to food supply and increase the risk of hunger and poverty. He spoke with us about how completing RedR’s Anticipatory Action module has shaped his work.
George’s Climate Change Pathway
George works to uplift climate awareness whilst promoting community integration and resilience in refugee settlements in south western Uganda. Through RedR’s Anticipatory Action training, George has become better at identifying disasters in the community and planning for responses using locally-available resources. He is also more aware about the mitigation measures that disasters need, and includes this in his advocacy.
Mainstreaming Climate Awareness
Previously, it was general practice for local government project planning to not pay attention to environmental components. Following RedR’s training, George now participates in different local government projects and champions the integration of climate considerations into planning phases.
His advocacy work around disaster risk financing has influenced local governments in two districts to prioritise climate adaptation projects in all departments, achieving an increase of 150% in annual budgets for natural resources and the environment. The most valuable insight was the importance of proactive intervention, rather than reactive emergency responses.
Promoting Community Integration
The Kyegegwa and Isingiro districts in south western Uganda have seen a sudden upsurge in refugee populations, resulting in increased pressure on the environment and conflict between refugee and host communities over environmental protection and use of resources.
Using skills gained from the training, George has successfully facilitated the integration of refugee and host communities through joint disaster risk reduction actions to counteract climate issues. These include the establishment of local environment committees, promoting waste recycling at institutions and households, constructing 814 energy-saving cooking stoves, planting over 56 hectares of trees, and delivering capacity-building initiatives on natural resources conflict resolutions among refugees and host communities.
Going forward, George plans to scale up existing interventions whilst also introducing components around nutrition, climate-smart agriculture and agroforestry.
About the Project
Anticipatory Action is part of our Climate Change Adaption and Disaster Risk Reduction project, which provides free online certified training for climate responders in East Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia in partnership with AXA XL.
If you’d like to give financially to support this and similar projects for disaster-affected communities all over the world, you can do so here.
