Shelter and Reconstruction

Update

The ProVention Secretariat is currently engaged with various partners in planning several potential projects relating to post-disaster shelter provision and reconstruction.

Together with the Shelter Centre, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the IFRC, ProVention is planning a workshop with the heads of national reconstruction agencies from recent large disasters, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the 2005 South Asia earthquake, and the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake. The workshop will be titled ‘Improving Disaster Response and Recovery Assistance: Listening to and Learning from Governments’ and will gather governmental task force and ministry leaders as well as key players from bilateral donor agencies, International Financial Institutions, NGOs, and other agencies supporting recovery efforts. The goal is to listen and learn from the experience of government reconstruction leaders, and to develop actionable recommendations for improving future disaster response interventions.

ProVention is also working with UN Habitat, the IFRC Shelter Department, and UNDP to develop a set of projects on disaster risk analysis and mapping in relation to shelter planning for potential support within the Emergency Shelter Cluster. Preliminary discussions have focused on the possible adaptation of the RADIUS project tools for use in collecting basic risk analysis information and organising it to facilitate decision-making for immediate and longer-term shelter provision. There is also interest to adapt a set of tools for estimating shelter needs under different disaster scenarios as a contingency planning tool and develop guidance for the cluster to coordinate the collection of detailed assessment information about damage to housing and community facilities and subsequent shelter needs.

Description

Experience from recent large disasters has reinforced the critical importance of risk reduction in post-disaster sheltering, rebuilding, and reconstruction. The TEC findings from the evaluation of the response to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami highlighted this issue, saying:

“The tsunami response has rarely enhanced local preparedness in terms of significantly reducing structural vulnerabilities … Crucially, how people conceptualise and respond to risk in organising their own recovery has been, so far, inadequately addressed.”

ProVention’s own recovery studies have raised similar issues in regard to the reconstruction activities in Honduras after Hurricane Mitch, in Bangladesh after the 1998 floods, and in Mozambique after the 2000-2001 floods. ProVention has supported the development of a series of IFRC studies on rebuilding and reconstruction after the tsunami to identify lessons learned in promoting and strengthening community roles in the rebuilding process.

ProVention is interested to continue both further recovery studies and dialogue with key actors to better understand the factors and conditions that are critical for effectively promoting risk reduction and safe rebuilding in disaster response and recovery processes. The planned workshop with IOM and the Shelter Centre will offer an opportunity to hear and learn directly from government reconstruction agencies and related ministries. In addition ProVention will also develop further studies to explore key aspects and approaches to reducing risks in recovery.

Outputs & events

Workshop on ‘Improving Disaster Response and Recovery Assistance: Listening to and Learning from Governments’

Currently being planned together with IOM and the Shelter Centre for mid-2008.

IFRC studies of community roles in rebuilding

ProVention supported the development of a set of recovery lessons within the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. These lessons focused in particular on community engagement in shelter and reconstruction activities in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake as well as a retrospective look at a housing reconstruction program after Hurricane Mitch. Three of the studies have been published, including:

A fourth study on the community rebuilding programme in Yogyakarta is still in development. The studies will also be translated into Arabic, French, and Spanish.

Next Steps

  • Hosting of workshop with IOM and Shelter Centre on ‘Improving Disaster Response and Recovery Assistance: Listening to and Learning from Governments’
  • Translation of IFRC community rebuilding studies into Arabic, French, Spanish.