Women’s collectives	Disaster committees
What was the context?	A poor and marginalised section of the community in a rural town in Nepal	Rural coastal communities in Krabi Province, Thailand, affected by 2004 tsunami
How did the collective action emerge?	NGO facilitated the formation and initial running of self-help women’s collectives	Initiated by a wide range of international, national and local organisations, and the communities themselves; frequently built on existing committees
What was the motivation?	The NGO had a mandate for development and the women involved sought to better their material context	Concern over future coastal hazards, perceived lack of action of the government, and concerns over livelihood security
What were the activities of the collective action?	-Group savings -Budgeting -Sustainable business loans, -Advocacy to government, -Organisation for group projects	-Enhancement of disaster preparedness of the community -Capacity building for disaster risk reduction and early warning, -Mobilisation of support from local government and NGOs
Contribution to adaptive capacity	-enhances social networks for information dissemination -improves access to finances -provides a space to discuss and address new issues, such as climate change -facilitates individual empowerment through group action	-addresses underlying causes of vulnerability -builds capacity to cope with shocks -links disaster risk reduction with livelihoods, natural resource management, poverty reduction -integrates disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. -helps to better define and coordinate different actors
Relationship with local government	-Widespread mistrust amongst the community of government -Significant issues around mandate, structure and capacity -Established collectives lobbied their local councilors with relative levels of success	-Lack of trust amongst communities in government institutions -Lack of human resources, knowledge, experience and skills relating to disaster risk reduction and a lack of government initiative from sub-national authorities, -Challenges in the collaboration and communication between government and other stakeholders
What were the constraining factors	-Gender conflicts -Cultural and religious conflicts -Lack of resources at all levels -Political and social disempowerment -context of poverty	-Lack of experience and awareness of hazards. -Religious and cultural beliefs about destiny. -Lack of support from political and religious leaders. -Lack of resources. -Lack of information and guidance.
What are the enabling factors	-The commitment of individual actors, -Long-term funding commitment from international donors -Good staffing -Robust social networks	-Incentives that are beneficial for employment -Existing social networks -Support from political and religious leaders. -Integration with other priorities.