The mighty Brahmaputra river in Vati Kapasia, Kapasia, Sundarganj. Photo: Saikat Mojumder/Concern Worldwide

Flagship Programme

Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance (ZCRA)

Working with communities to influence policies and practices which enhance resilience to climate hazards.

What is the Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance?

The Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance (ZCRA), formerly known as the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance (ZFRA) is a multi-sectorial partnership focusing on finding practical ways to help both rural and urban communities around the world, strengthen their resilience to climate hazards.

The Alliance is funded by the Z Zurich Foundation, a charitable foundation funded by various members of the Zurich Insurance Group.

Concern has been part of the Alliance since 2015 (starting as a boundary partners), working at both global and local levels in Afghanistan, Haiti, Bangladesh, Kenya, Malawi and South Sudan.

During Phase II (2018-2024), 945,047 people across the Bangladesh, Kenya, Malawi and South Sudan. countries had their lives transformed through a variety of interventions.

After more than a decade of experience working with communities to measure and then increase their flood resilience, reaching more than 3 million people, the Alliance has begun to expand its approach into additional climate hazards, including extreme heat and wildfires.

The knowledge and approaches Concern has developed through this work are applicable to other climate hazards. We believe that the only way to increase community resilience at scale is to take a systems approach; one that recognizes the wider spectrum of climate challenges that must be addressed.

The work we do in each country varies depending on the nature of the existing levels of climate resilience, the nature of the climate hazard(s) and local and national policy environments.

Currently, as part of this partnership, the Z Zurich Foundation is providing multi-annual funding for Concern’s climate resilience work in Bangladesh, Kenya, Malawi and Pakistan.

Objectives

1
1.
Enhance and increase the resilience of urban and rural communities to climate hazards.
2
2.
Promote the widespread adoption of good climate resilience practices.
3
3.
Increase the funding available for communities to improve their climate resilience.
4
4,
Improve the policy environment for building community resilience to climate hazards.

Where is Concern implementing the ZCRA Programme?

Bangladesh

CRAG meeting agenda focuses on nature-based solutions to mitigate flood-related losses and strengthen the community's resilience. Photo: Saikat Mojumder, Concern Worldwide

Concern Worldwide is working in the districts of Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram and Jamalpur. The project intends to work at strengthening resilience of individual communities targeted under this programme as well as overall system strengthening, with a focus on increased funding for flood preparedness and improved implementation of relevant policies. Concern Worldwide is using the Climate Resilience Measurement for Communities (CRMC) tool (flood and heat hazards) to support communities in the implementation of interventions that help enhance resilience based on the jointly developed Community Action Plans.

Malawi

Kenya

Pakistan

The Chair of the local Emergency Response Committee uses a traditional drum to warn his community in Mbenje when a cyclone is coming, or when the waters of the nearby Shire river start to rise. Photo: Jon Hozier-Byrne/Concern Worldwide.

The waterlogged paddy fields, remnants of recent heavy rainfall, begin to recede in Sundarganj, Gaibandha. Before the fields are readied for rice planting, the community gathers to catch fish. Photo: Saikat Mojumder/Concern Worldwide.

A CRAG reconstructed embankments for flood resilience and built pathways to make movement easier during floods. Photo: Gavin Douglas/Concern Worldwide

Informal brick housing and a brick oven at Bitilinyu Camp, Ndamera, Malawi. Photo: Lydia Lampiri/Concern Worldwide.

A community volunteer is guiding a group of women on how to purify and manage safe drinking water. She reaches out to the households immediately after an announcement of an impending flood in Sundarganj, Gaibandha. Photo: Saikat Mojumder/Concern Worldwide.

Constructed by the local community, this dyke will help protect this flood-prone area of Mbenje, Malawi. Photo: Jon Hozier-Byrne/Concern Worldwide.

Expected Outcomes

Bangladesh

Concern Worldwide in Bangladesh will continue to build on its advocacy agenda and community interventions to achieve the following:

Improved DRM/DRR/CCA planning.
Increased finance/improved spending for DRR/CCA at the local level.
Improved Early Warning and Early Action for climate induced hazards.
Strengthen Natural Resource Management Systems and intensified climate-smart and sustainable rural livelihood systems

Phase II ZCRA Bangladesh Photo Series

(English, PDF, 6 MB)

Published: 7 January 2025

Malawi

Concern is continuing to engage the DRM system at national, district and community levels to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and timeliness of the overall system and sub-systems in the DRM cycle. The focus is on three areas of systems change:

2023 DRM Bill dissemination and awareness raising.
Financing mechanisms at national and district level (national allocation and devolution, investment in preparedness, risk reduction and recovery).
Financing mechanisms at the community level, demonstrating potential implementation of community disaster funds.

Kenya

Concern is working in Kenya to shift the national and sub-national flood risk management from mere focus on post event response (reactive flood risk management strategies) to prioritising risk reduction and prevention activities (proactive flood risk management strategies). This will be achieved through national and subnational advocacy and strengthening the community governance systems with the aim to:

Increase budgetary allocation to the different phases of disaster risk management by the national and sub-national governance levels.
Improve community resilience to disasters resulting from the timely and adequate disaster risk management resources.

Pakistan

As a ‘new country’ to the Alliance, Concern is working in Pakistan to achieve the following:

Strengthened Disaster Risk Management (DRM) System – Enhanced community resilience to climate risks by improving stakeholder capacity for effective DRM, updated early warning and action systems, and strengthening environmental risk management strategies.
Strengthened Natural Resource Management (NRM) System – An enabling environment for community NRM practices and nature-based solutions, supported by knowledge hubs and collaboration with academia to promote climate-smart practices.
Strengthened access to functional market systems – Enhanced resilience of local communities through improved finance access, and the development of sustainable, resilient market, and recovery systems.