Empowerment means let them make decisions. Empowerment means letting go of power.

Darare Gonche, MIONet-IREMO, Kenya​

sclr

sclr

Survivor and community-led response (sclr) is a way of working which recognises that crisis-affected people are the first and last responders in any disaster. Sclr provides a means for aid actors to strengthen the scope, scale and impacts of this autonomous self-help and build on its collective nature.

By rebalancing the relationship between locally-driven responses and external support, sclr allows humanitarian aid to better strengthen the communal resilience of affected people, whether in sudden-onset or protracted crises. It is designed to complement, not replace, existing humanitarian programming.

Sclr uses a range of mechanisms (including appreciative inquiry, rapid transfer of microgrants and networking of knowledge and capacities) to enable large numbers of self-organising groups to quickly identify and implement their own self-help initiatives. The approach can go to scale while retaining relevant levels of accountability, compliance and cost-effectiveness.

Sclr and community-led initiatives around the world are supported by our evolving network of sclr Hubs. These communities of practice meet regularly to exchange best practice and peer learning between sclr practitioners, and to support NGOs and community organisations through training in sclr and other community-led methods.

Key Resources

NEW! Sclr Short Course

A short overview of sclr

[AR], [EN], [FR], [SP]

HPN 84: Lessons and recommendations from implmenting sclr

[AR], [EN], [FR], [SP]

Training materials and courses

Why sclr?

Sclr provides a rapid and effective means of empowering communities to lead their own multiple responses to rapid onset and protracted crises.

Timely & Relevant

sclr enables multiple affected groups to respond rapidly to their own differing and ever-changing opportunities and needs, in ways that respect local culture, practice and value.

Social Cohesion

supports local initiatives contributing to communal well-being, by strengthening local networks and connections that improve opportunities for addressing not only material, but also emotional, mental and spiritual needs.

Strength-based

sclr uses appreciative inquiry tools that support people to identify and build on their existing solutions, initiatives, knowledge, capacities and opportunities for improving well-being.

Dignity

by promoting local ownership and agency, sclr builds self-worth and confidence to avoid the victim-saviour mindsets and learned helplessness that can arise from much of externally implemented aid.

Transformative

sclr supports communities to learn, rebuild and look to the future, providing new opportunities to build on short term gains to  tackling persistent root causes of vulnerabilities and threats.

Why sclr?

Sclr provides a rapid and effective means of empowering communities to lead their own multiple responses to rapid onset and protracted crises.
Silhouette of a child crosses in front of the camera with a silhouette of a woman carrying a bundle on her head in the background (Darfur, Sudan)

Timely & Relevant

sclr enables multiple affected groups to respond rapidly to their own differing and ever-changing opportunities and needs, in ways that respect local culture, practice and value.

Social Cohesion

supports local initiatives contributing to communal well-being, by strengthening local networks and connections that improve opportunities for addressing not only material, but also emotional, mental and spiritual needs.

Strength-based

sclr uses appreciative inquiry tools that support people to identify and build on their existing solutions, initiatives, knowledge, capacities and opportunities for improving well-being.

Dignity

by promoting local ownership and agency, sclr builds self-worth and confidence to avoid the victim-saviour mindsets and learned helplessness that can arise from much of externally implemented aid.

Transformative

sclr supports communities to learn, rebuild and look to the future, providing new opportunities to build on short term gains to  tackling persistent root causes of vulnerabilities and threats.

Guiding Principles

A number of core guiding  principles are emerging from our experience implementing sclr in a number of different contexts. Though the methodology is evolving as we work with local actors and communities to respond to different crises, these Guiding Principles provide the foundation of the approach.
See the guidelines

Would sclr work for us?

Sclr is an adaptive methodology that has already been successfully used in a wide range of different sudden-onset and protracted crises, including natural disasters, active conflicts, the effects of climate- change. A core part of the approach is that the teams who are directly applying it are first facilitated to adjust to fit their particular operational contexts.
There is a growing community of practice sharing lessons from implementing sclr in different contexts. If you are involved in implementing sclr and would like to join this network please get in touch.

How can we implement sclr in our project?

Take a look through the resources available on the website to see how sclr might work in your context. If you would like have further questions about incorporating sclr into your humanitarian, protection or conflict transformation programming project please get in touch. We can help organise a co-design/training session for your team and partners and put you in touch with the growing community of practice so you can discuss directly with practitioners in a country near you.

Guiding Principles

A number of core guiding  principles are emerging from our experience implementing sclr in a number of different contexts. Though the methodology is evolving as we work with local actors and communities to respond to different crises, these Guiding Principles provide the foundation of the approach.
See the guidelines

Would sclr work for us?

Sclr is an adaptive methodology that has already been successfully used in a wide range of different sudden-onset and protracted crises, including natural disasters, active conflicts, the effects of climate- change. A core part of the approach is that the teams who are directly applying it are first facilitated to adjust to fit their particular operational contexts.
There is a growing community of practice sharing lessons from implementing sclr in different contexts. If you are involved in implementing sclr and would like to join this network please get in touch.

How can we implement sclr in our project?

Take a look through the resources available on the website to see how sclr might work in your context. If you would like have further questions about incorporating sclr into your humanitarian, protection or conflict transformation programming project please get in touch. We can help organise a co-design/training session for your team and partners and put you in touch with the growing community of practice so you can discuss directly with practitioners in a country near you.