Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance (ZCRA)

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.

By continuing to build on the advocacy agenda, Concern will aim to increase local level financing and activating Union Disaster Management Committee’s for flood/heatwave management. Concern will also continue to support communities to enhance early action and work closely with governments to produce a heat warning protocol.Concern Worldwide in Bangladesh will continue to build on its advocacy agenda and community interventions to achieve the following: 

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

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: 

1. 2023 DRM Bill dissemination and awareness raising.
2. Financing mechanisms at national and district level (national allocation and devolution, investment in preparedness, risk reduction and recovery).
3. Financing mechanisms at the community level, demonstrating potential implementation of community disaster funds.

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:

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

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.