It starts with a conversation…
Frontline is a global initiative, working at a local level to collect community perceptions of disasters and risk, to measure threats, local capacities and underlying development factors, bringing local knowledge to national, regional and global actors.
BILLION have been affected by disasters from 2005-2015
%
of people KILLED are from the world’s least developed countries
BILLION people live in fragility
What is Frontline?
What does Frontline deliver?
Gathers local knowledge of all threats
- Frontline finds out from local people what threats they face
- It starts with individual structured conversations with locals
- It asks about threat, consequences, action and barriers to change
Aggregates data for local, national and global analysis
- At local level it forms the basis for community consultation and reflection
- Supporting action plans and local implementation
- It gathers local knowledge from conversation andFrontline find out from local people what threats they face
Helps create local resilience models
- Understanding local threats helps create local resilience models
- Threats that don’t get high‐profile coverage, where resources are limited
- Relatively simple models can make a big difference
- And Increase shared responsibility and social cohesion
Supports local action and learning
- Local knowledge helps communities to develop local action plans
- How to deal with vulnerabilities and risks with training and technical support
- How to adapt local practices to reduce risk
- And share it with neighbouring communities
Inform policy
- Local knowledge to shape policy and implementation
- Informs local priorities and needs to reduce risk
- Participatory tool to engage in monitoring and planning activities
Monitors local progress
- Progress at community level can be monitored over time
- Monitors local perceptions as well as statistics
- Enables comparison between communities
Why is Frontline important?
A brief history of Frontline
Frontline’s roots go back to 2009 when GNDR launched Views from the Frontline.
Data dashboards
Find below a short video-tutorial on how to navigate the Frontline data dashboards, as well as a link to the dashboard itself for you to explore.
Tableau: analysing & presenting the data
Frontline data is made available through an intuitive visual data analysis tool called Tableau:
- If you are familiar with data analysis tools, Tableau will offer familiar ways to sort, filter, aggregate and compare Frontline data from all over the world.
- If you’re completely new to data analysis, Tableau is a gentle starting point into the field with a wealth of support and help resources available to you.
How to use findings
GNDR has developed some tools to support people to use the Frontline findings in their work, whether that is using the findings to undertake local action planning or as evidence in national advocacy.
Impact so far: case studies of impact through Advocacy, Coalition Building & Local Action
Browse and download Frontline learning publications, as well as a selection of case studies of local and national impact achieved through a combination of advocacy, coalition building and local action.
Impact at a local, national and global level

Local
Frontline is used at the local level to support community-led resilience building. In Kiribati the Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific Kiribati (FSPK) has provided a platform to raise awareness and strengthen the capacity of people with disability in dealing with disaster risk and climate change, and a chance to join forces with other organisations so that they may develop the necessary attributes and skills needed to help safeguard both the environment and their own health and livelihood.

National
The Frontline data can be used to support national planning processes. In Indonesia the national platform, PLANAS, is using the Frontline findings to engage with the national technical working group, the National Agency for Disaster Management and the Social Ministry to gain support for disaster affected communities which have been identified in the Frontline local case studies and national data.

Global
Frontline has allowed GNDR and other key partners to profile local realities and speak for the communities we work with in global and regional meetings, including SFDRR negotiations and indicators, COP21 advocacy, and SDG prioritisation. The evidence from Frontline has supported the development of a civil society position paper, the 85,000 voices paper, the Reality Check brochure and campaign, and other key documents
How to get involved
Frontline provides a valuable resource and opportunity for action at local, national and international level, based on its unique ability to gather and share local experience of threats, consequences, actions and barriers: providing a unique local perspective on building resilience.
GNDR members, civil society organisations, local and national governments, private enterprise, international organisations & frameworks, academic and research organisations, all have a part to play.
GNDR members
GNDR members can make use of the Frontline methodology to work with local communities and forge local level partnerships. Many organisations are involved already and more are invited to join as Frontline extends its scope in 2015-2016 and onwards. Their work also contributes to national and global databases which inform local and national governments and international frameworks as they seek more effective implementation strategies. Contact frontline@gndr.org for information and details on how to get involved.
Civil society organisations
Civil society organisations, from community organisations to national and regional platforms and networks can participate in Frontline, making use of the common methodology and its unique benefits. National and regional networks have already used the methodology for their own programmes, extending the Frontline dataset for everyone’s use. The methodology is open source and GNDR encourage organisations and networks to make use of it. Contact frontline@gndr.org for information and details on how to get involved.
Local and National Governments
Local and National Governments can collaborate with civil society to use Frontline’s unique local level information source, disaggregated from national down to community level to inform strategic resource allocation and implementation at every level. Ensuring that policies and budgets are shaped to address the clearly identified threats which households and communities face. Contact frontline@gndr.org for information and details on how to get involved.
Private enterprise
Private enterprise increasingly recognises the need to operate sustainably within resilientcontexts which include their operating territories, production facilities and customer bases. Supporting Frontline provides a valuable information source informing their strategy for sustainable operations in all global contexts. Contact frontline@gndr.org for information and details on how to get involved.
International organisations
International organisations and frameworks concerned with resilience, in particular with Disaster Risk Reduction, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Adaptation, are invited to support this programme which, founded on the capacity and experience of GNDR and the six years of development work lying behind Frontline, provides a unique source of local knowledge which can provide valuable local level monitoring post-2015. Contact frontline@gndr.org for information and details on how to get involved.
Academic and research organisations
Academic and research organisations can access a unique dynamically growing and updating database of local knowledge to deepen understanding of risk and resilience. GNDR already collaborates with universities in the UK and South Africa and invites further collaborations to make use of this unique source of risk and resilience knowledge. Contact frontline@gndr.org for information and details on how to get involved.



Donors
This Frontline microsite was made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this microsite are the sole responsibility of the Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
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