Asian Resilience Measurement Workshops: Summary Workshop Report – Volume 1

The event was comprised of workshop participants from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal, and the Philippines. Designed to train key USAID staff and partners on advanced resilience measurement practices, the event's goal was to prepare resilience-focused monitoring and evaluation (M&E) points of contact to effectively identify and monitor resilience-building efforts. The training built on existing understandings of resilience capacities and their relationship to M&E practices. The initial workshops were delivered in two complementary modules on rural resilience (Module 1) and urban resilience (Module 2). The first module was delivered in Cambodia, in the Siem Reap district, focusing on the rural resilience of local fisheries and farming livelihoods in the surrounding Tonlé Sap/Preylong region. Fieldwork was conducted with the assistance of the Rice Field Fisheries Enhancement Project (RFFEP). The second module was delivered in the Philippines, in the urban setting of Batangas city, focusing on urban resilience in the municipality of Batangas. The objectives of the learning event were accomplished through hands-on learning to assess resilience capacities, develop resilience indices, and apply these concepts through a program M&E framework. The objectives of the training were to advance resilience capacity assessment and measurement concepts in rural and urban settings, build implementing partner capacity to measure resilience, and build USAID staff capacity to construct appropriate scopes of work and provide technical guidance to implementing partners. The workshop in Cambodia, held from April 18-22, 2016, took place over five days and consisted of five sessions. Session 1 introduced resilience concepts and measurement principles, while Session 2 incorporated resilience indicators into assessment design and M&E frameworks. Session 3 involved field practice in the Tonlé Sap/Preylong region, and Session 4 provided a practical analysis of knowledge and concepts. Session 5 focused on resilience recurrent monitoring and implication for programming. The workshop in the Philippines, held from June 6-10, 2016, also took place over five days and consisted of five sessions. Session 1 introduced resilience concepts, analytical frameworks, and measurement principles through an urban lens, while Session 2 discussed resilience measurement components within a monitoring and evaluation framework. Session 3 involved fieldwork and interviews with communities, business, and government officials in Batangas, and Session 4 used a strategic resilience assessment framework to analyze field data. Session 5 introduced monitoring and evaluation methods through an urban resilience measurement framework lens. The training sessions aimed to enhance the understanding of rural and urban resilience for USAID and its partners, building capacity on resilience measurement through the understanding of the resilience framework, including how to efficiently manage the planning, implementation, and evaluation cycle and how to measure resilience within a rural and urban context.