This paper is based on the premise that resilience can emerge as a topic of common interest only if a reasonable degree of consensus can be reached on how resilience might be measured. This is because measurement comprises the set of practices that allow one to translate concepts into technical practices that produce data. To help promote such consensus, this paper proposes a common analytical model within which the tasks of constructing resilience measurement may be specified and developed. At an operational level, the goal is to provide a resilience-focused analytical model to answer questions about what data should be collected, at what points in time, using what tools, at what levels and subject to what types of analysis.

 

Often oppressed communities are represented as lacking in resilience and competence. Models that characterize group responses to inter-group and intercultural contact often simplify the responses of communities. Drawing on these concepts it is argued that oppressed groups do not always capitulate or assimilate to oppressive systems, but in alternative forums and settings these groups find ways to resist oppression and experience a sense of community.

 

This OXFAM paper presents the case for a new approach to risk and poverty reduction. Major external risks, such as climate change and food price volatility, are increasing faster than attempts to reduce them. Many risks are dumped on poor people, and women face an overwhelming burden. In many places of recurrent crises, the response of governments and the international aid sector is not good enough. A new focus on building resilience offers real promise to allow the poorest women and men to thrive despite shocks, stresses, and uncertainty – but only if risk is more
equally shared globally and across societies. This will require a major shift in development work, which for too long has avoided dealing with risk. More fundamentally, it will require challenging the inequality that exposes poor people to far more risk than the rich.

A Community Approach to Address Health Disparities

Prevention Institute has updated its Community Approach to Addressing Disparities in Health with the revision of THRIVE: Toolkit for Health and Resilience in Vulnerable Environments. A centerpiece of THRIVE is a set of community level factors that are linked to Healthy People 2010 Leading Health Indicators. It now features a simplified list of thirteen factors to facilitate use of the tool at the local level.