Purpose

The guidelines in this document have been developed to specifically address two key recommendations that have emerged from the vulnerability and capacity assessment (VCA) review. They are to provide further guidance to national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies on how to: i) integrate information on the additional risks and vulnerabilities linked to climate change into the existing VCA process and tools; ii) ensure that relevant information is included on what needs to be done differently when conducting a VCA in an urban context, and on using the existing VCA tools.

Overview

• Climate change issues need to be reinforced in the VCA to ensure that additional risks (present and future) caused by a changing climate will be included in long-term risk and vulnerability-reduction strategies. A box on how to address some of the impacts of climate change in VCA can be found on pp. 34-37.
• On p. 43 a figure illustrates the 12 steps involved in VCA. While climate change needs to be considered throughout, it uses arrows to show the steps whereby the VCA team will need to think about, or do, things slightly differently to ensure that the added risks brought by climate change are properly addressed.
• VCA can be applied in urban areas. This requires adapting the tools but not changing the VCA methodology. When carrying out VCA in urban areas, fundamental social and physical differences between rural and urban locations need to be taken into account.
• On p. 60 a figure illustrates the 12 steps involved in VCA and uses arrows to illustrate key points when additional attention to the urban context will need to be given by the National Society and the VCA team

Usage: Guidance for project implementation

Audiences: National Society leadership, Technical staff