Disaster Risk Management and Resilience Assessment of Small Communities in Iran

One of the main challenges facing rural areas in Iran is a lack of disaster risk management. This calls for a comprehensive framework for assessing resilience in small communities. This study seeks to establish such a framework based on the general principles of the Sendai Framework. So, an attempt is made to use a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to operationalize and score indicators and risk management components, and then choose one of the rural areas in northern Iran as a sample for the framework’s implementation. The results show that a resilience assessment on small communities should do two things: outline the resilience situation and create a platform for dialogue and mutual thinking. Residents should be able to talk about risk reduction continuously and purposefully and take small, purposeful steps in this direction. It seems that Iran’s centralized planning system is more flexible in entrusting affairs to small communities and is more likely to form active cooperative cores. For this reason, it can be seen that voluntary activities have played an essential role in providing social services during the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine period, and the volunteers themselves have also benefited from voluntary activities. As a result, volunteer groups have gained opportunities to promote local development and foster ownership and responsibility. However, there are concerns about the sustainability of these activities, which are related to the two issues of ensuring financial stability and providing volunteers in the long term.