They also brought community leaders with experience in diagnosis of needs and programs to help their professional team. More than 100 participants attended. 30 Training workshops were given as a prevention strategy to volunteers and professionals in different regions of the country who subsequently trained their own staff from their own groups or institutions. A successful strategy implicated participation at all levels of strategic planning, local, regional and national, for disaster intervention and community recuperation, focusing on psychological, social and organizational aspects of community development and reconstruction after a natural disaster. Training facilitators for disaster intervention, including crisis analysis and grief process, to create a sense of ownership by the community of the tasks needed to be implemented in disaster relief, which reduces frustration and empowers participants.
Natural disaster affect men and women differently with respect to their responsibility and rights.
There was a dramatic increase in the number of women head of households with responsibilities and high demands for meeting the needs of their children and aging relatives. Special programs for women and children proved to be an excellent strategy in helping women to overcome the impact of disaster and loss. Humanitarian aid can be more efficient and have a greater impact when directed at helping women in a crisis situation. Humanitarian assistance targeted at women helped to strengthen and promote their role in the emergency and post disaster phase. Creation of a handbook, guidelines, indicators for action, checklists for programming, and evaluation, such as Reconstruction of Life Project and gender impact methodologies ensures accountability mechanism for activities and results.