Enhancing Resilience and Community Preparedness (ERCP) Project
About the Project
The project was implemented by MRC in partnership with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), with support from the USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance, beginning in late 2023 and planned to run for two years. Building on NDMA's community-based disaster risk management (CBDRM) Programme and the milestones achieved through SPRING project, the project set out to strengthen risk-based resilience planning at island and city levels, deepen locally led preparedness across ten island communities, and reinforce the national foundations and regional coordination that sustain disaster risk management. Following a stop-work order from USAID, ERCP was concluded ahead of schedule in January 2025, yet still made significant progress in advancing community-based resilience across the Maldives.
Project Impact
Though concluded ahead of schedule, the project carried out key interventions which advanced community-based disaster risk management across the target islands of the project, while strengthening the national tools and regional partnerships and laying foundations that reach beyond the islands
1920
People reached
5
Islands engaged & Island Disaster Management Plan (IDMP) developed
75
Individuals Trained in First Aid & Psychological First Aid
Focusing on community-based disaster risk management, the ERCP project worked to empower island communities to lead their own preparedness, through participatory risk assessment, the development of Island Disaster Management Plans, and the establishment and training of Community Emergency Response Teams in First Aid and Psychological First Aid. Through this community-led approach, the project aimed to helped strengthen the wider system around disaster risk reduction, refining a EVCA risk-assessment toolkit to support the national CBDRM framework and building disaster risk reduction coordination regionally.
Resilience that reaches beyond the island
A tool for community risk assessment
co-developed and refined the IFRC's Enhanced Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (EVCA) toolkit to align with the Maldives' national CBDRM framework. The contextualized toolkit standardizes MRC's approach on how community risk assessments are carried out, improving the consistency and usefulness of the data communities gather, and helping embed evidence-based planning into national and local disaster management structures.
Assessing risk and planning with communities
Across five of the ten target islands, Lh. Kurendhoo, N. Velidhoo, M. Kolhufushi, Gn. Fuvahmulah, and Gdh. Gadhdhoo, MRC ran participatory EVCA and Island Disaster Management Plan workshops with community members, island councils, and stakeholders. Each community identified its own hazards, vulnerabilities, and capacities, and used them to shape a plan tailored to its needs, while establishing Disaster Management Committees to sustain the work.
Building local response teams
In Lh. Kurendhoo, M. Kolhufushi, and N. Velidhoo, MRC worked with NDMA and island councils to identify and train Community Emergency Response Team members in First Aid and Psychological First Aid, equipping each island with trained responders able to provide immediate, life-saving support during an emergency.
South Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction
Brought the southern atolls (Gaafu Ali, Gaafu Dhaalu, Fuvamulah and Addu City) together through the first-ever South Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, convening councils, government agencies, and partners around a shared commitment to building resilience.
A trained pool of EVCA facilitators
MRC ran an Enhanced Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (EVCA) Training of Trainer workshop, equipping volunteers and staff from MRC Units, alongside representatives from NDMA, to facilitate community risk assessments using the EVCA toolkit
South Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction
The projects focus on regional coordination came to life in the first-ever South Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, bringing councils, government agencies, and partners from across the southern atolls together to strengthen how the region prepares for and reduces disaster risk.
Read moreAt the heart of ERCP was the work done in island communities. Across the country, community members, island councils, and volunteers came together to assess the risks their islands face, shape their own disaster management plans, and build the teams and skills to respond.
