What is CDRD? Community-‐Driven Recovery and Development (CDRD) is a bottom-‐up approach where communities identify and address local problems. Through the community-‐driven process, community members review and analyse their resources, prioritise their requirements to meet development needs, develop a plan of action, and implement their own projects. CDRD allows citizens to drive recovery and development activities. Communities manage funds, carry out the projects and ensure quality and accountability. DRC usually provides financial resources to match the resources that are available within the communities. This process is more responsive to demands, more inclusive, more sustainable, and more cost-‐ effective than traditional assistance projects. CDRD should be seen as a long-‐term effort from early reconstruction to engage towards sustainable development with local participants. The role of the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is to facilitate this process.
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CDRD in Different Contexts The aim of the CDRD changes depending on the context. CDRD can be used as a way to both prevent and reduce displacement, and to manage displacement. In some cases, CDRD works in countries that have been directly affected by violent conflict. Here, CDRD aims to address conflict, since conflict is one of the main drivers of displacement. In other cases, CDRD works in neighboring countries that have been indirectly affected by the spill-‐ over of conflict. Here, CDRD aims to address the relation between refugees/IDPs/returnees and their host communities. According to the country-‐specific context, the approach may put more emphasis on Recovery rather than Development. Aspects related to Safety can also be included. In summary, programmes and projects have the ’Community-‐Driven’ philosophy in common. But some programmes and projects follow a ’Community-‐Driven Recovery’ or a ’Community-‐Driven Development’ approach, whereas other programmes follow a ’Community-‐Driven Recovery and Safety’ or a ’Community-‐Driven Safety and Development’ approach.
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Accountability & Transparency Accountability and transparency are essential features of CDRD. All mechanisms for transactions and decision-‐making processes must be planned to ensure transparency and accountability. Mechanisms for the filing of complaints are an integral part of CDRD programmes and projects. Such mechanisms can be found on the website under each ‘Country’ page, in the form of the ‘CDRD Map’ and ‘SMS feedback system’. Through our Interactive Map, you can access information on what communities have achieved with CDRD support. This includes the list of community projects with financial details. The SMS Feedback System enables CDRD beneficiaries to send feedback via text message. Messages are then logged, responded to by DRC staff and charted on a map. This system maintains a direct link between DRC and the CDRD beneficiaries. It allows these communities and individuals a louder voice in the decision-‐making process, and helps DRC better monitor the effects of the projects on the ground.
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DRC in Fragile Environments DRC’s mandate is to work towards protection and durable solutions for displaced populations. DRC has adopted a Position Paper on Fragile Environments that guides its operations in countries where the state lacks the capacity to perform basic state functions. The Position Paper pays attention to the concept of state legitimacy, based on the understanding that legitimacy derives from people’s shared beliefs, norms and values, and not just from improved state performance. DRC acknowledges the importance of the relation between state and society, since this relations underpins the development of state capacity and legitimacy. DRC works with communities. In fragile contexts, communities often provide the basis of trust between social actors and between state and societal actors. Communities hold on their informal governance systems, even when state institutions collapse because community members share values, norms, and sense of identity.
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CDRD Technical Unit DRC set up a CDRD Technical Unit to support its country operations in the adoption of the CDRD approach. The CDRD Technical Unit supports the DRC country operations through programme development, training, research, documentation, communications and fundraising. In addition, the CDRD Technical Unit ensures that defined CDRD standards and processes are followed across DRC country operations. The CDRD Technical Unit works in close partnership with the Armed Violence Reduction (AVR) secretariat of the Danish Demining Group (DDG), a specialized unit of the DRC. The CDRD Technical Unit and the AVR secretariat support DRC country operations to design CDRD programmes and projects that include safety aspects.
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CDRD in DRC Country Operations DRC started in 2007 its first CDRD project in Somalia in partnership with UNICEF. The project, which was initially called ‘Community Driven Recovery and Development’ (CDRD), has undergone several re-‐designs and fine-‐tuning. The most notable are the inclusion of component to increase dialogue among communities and between communities and local authorities; the inclusion of a safety component, and the creation of a multi-‐year and multi donor programme. Following the success of CDRD in Somalia, the DRC Regional Office for the Horn of Africa and Yemen decided to open CDRD projects in other countries in the region, namely Ethiopia in 2010 and Yemen in 2012. Most recently, in 2014 DRC established CDRD projects in Guinea, Ivory Coast, Myanmar, Sudan, and South Sudan. The DRC Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa plans to start displacement-‐related CDRD projects in Jordan and Lebanon, with a view to roll out stability-‐related CDRD projects in conflict-‐affected countries. The ‘CDRD Vision’ is that every DRC country operations adopt the CDRD approach.
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Funding Community-‐Driven Recovery & Development programmes and projects are funded by a range of governments and international donors.
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