Mr. Ayaz Parvez, member of the Housing Team of the JDLNA from GFDRR, conducting a “Housing and Living Standards” assessment and getting to know the community members of the village named Phonkham, in the district of Kham, Xiengkhuang province, Lao PDR - including this baby girl and her proud mother.
CHALLENGE
On June 24-25, 2011, Typhoon Haima hit the northern and central provinces of Lao PDR causing widespread flooding. More than 87,403 people from 362 villages in 36 districts had been directly affected by the disaster. At least 18 people were killed and one injured as a direct result of the floods. Flood water destroyed houses, crops, schools, hospitals, roads, bridges, electricity lines, communication systems, and caused widespread damage to irrigation schemes, aquaculture infrastructure and riverbanks.
At the provincial level, the Government of Lao acted swiftly to meet the immediate needs of victims, and requested assistance from United Nations (UN) agencies and the World Bank for a Joint Damage, Losses and Needs Assessment (JDLNA).
APPROACH
Within just 12 days of request, the joint assessment team—comprising government staff from key line ministries at the central level and development partners —was mobilized to undertake the JDLNA. GFDRR supported the assessment by providing financial and technical assistance.
RESULTS
Some distinctive features and immediate results of the World Bank and GFDRR’s post-Haima engagement with government and other development partners have included the following:
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Fully Government-led and Partner-supported Initiative: The assessment was a great example of the World Bank/GFDRR, UN agencies, regional, and civil society organizations working hand-in-hand in a government-led effort.
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Identifying Priority Needs: This multi-stakeholder project provides a coordinated basis for recovery and reconstruction planning through identifying the priority needs in key sectors which also factored in longer term disaster risk reduction. Several institutional resilience-building measures such as the institutionalization of the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) and disaster risk reduction mainstreaming are under consideration.
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Completed Assessments: Provides an Institutional Capacity Assessment and Options for Post Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction and a Strategic Results-based Framework for Recovery and Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Institutionalization which included timelines and key indicators for measuring physical progress and monitoring and evaluating (M&E) the performance and effectiveness of the proposed recovery interventions.
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Previous Engagement Pays Off: Benefited tremendously from preceding/ongoing GFDRR Track II (Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)) work on recovery preparedness before the disaster - in that the government employed many officials that were then been PDNA-trained (pre-Haima). The PDNA-related training courses and guidance notes have since been adapted to the local context through a World Bank/GFDRR project; thus, turned out to be a true manifestation of the strategic and iterative continuum that the World Bank/GFDRR uniquely offers in the field of DRR. Subsequently, the Lao Haima Joint Damage, Losses and Needs Assessment (JDLNA) identifies and will now inform various downstream DRM activities that GFDRR’s Track II Team will undertake in the future.
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Quick Turnaround: This assessment was the fastest GFDRR disaster assessment this year. In all, it took no more than two and a half months from the time the JDLNA was commissioned to when it became ‘an actionable implementation document’.
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Lessons Learned: Meets government expectations of getting a sense of the practical lessons learned from the PDNA process itself. The Government has expressed interest in using these lessons for knowing as to how the PDNA methodology can be further improved to suit the Lao context and how the PDNA can be further institutionalized in Lao government's recovery regime more substantially.
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Enhanced Assessment: The Lao Haima JDLNA is an improvement upon the last PDNA in Lao (Typhoon Ketsana during 2009) as it contains a central recovery strategy and a detailed results-based recovery framework.
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Capacity Building: The Lao example of needs-prioritization has been used by GFDRR's Learning Team to develop a model 'role playing ' exercise for PDNA trainings.
Ultimately, it is important to note that capacity building in the form of Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) training provided by GFDRR after Typhoon Ketsana in 2009 had begun to bear fruit in that it tailored the PDNA concept to the Lao context, and helped develop a cadre of professionals capable of supporting disaster impact assessments which greatly aided the JDLNA in 2011. This is a strong example of the various GFDRR business lines (Track I, II, and III) working together to provide strategic support and tangible results in Lao PDR, a donor earmarked country for GFDRR, to facilitate the mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction.
WAY FORWARD
Early Projectization of Recovery and DRM Needs identified in the JDLNA
Reallocation of Bank Portfolio to Support Transport Sector Recovery: The Government of Lao PDR has allocated US$ 12.5 million for the recovery of the damage, of which US$ 7.5 million will go to the transport sector. The Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) has reallocated US$ 3 million from the on-going International Development Association (IDA)-financed Lao Road Sector Project to its contingency component that will be used for reconstruction of key damaged roads.
Project for Mainstreaming DRM into Public Sector Investment Decisions: The World Bank and MPWT, Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and Lao Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) are now preparing a project on mainstreaming DRM into investment decisions within housing and urban planning, road, and irrigation sectors, using the Japan Policy and Human Resources Development (PHRD) and the Technical Assistance (TA) Program to Support Disaster Reduction and Recovery grant of US$ 3 million. The project includes risk assessment, hazard mapping, improvng technical standard specification with climate and disaster resilience for roads and irrigation, establishing building codes for housing, and developing technical guidelines for, and training, practitioners at central and local levels. The project will also include establishment of a mechanism for screening public investments from a climate and disaster resilience perspective. This will be in the form of pilot works for some damaged roads and irrigation schemes, which will be improved using new techniques and updated disaster and climate-sensitive standards.
Further Institutionalization: As a result of this assessment, the World Bank a Ministry of Planning and Investment, the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO), and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) which houses the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH) and the Water and Environmental Research Institute (WERI) have geared up efforts towards further institutionalization of the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) including database creation for baseline data which will aid potential future PDNAs, in addition to the design of early warning systems and hydrological-climate change modeling in Xe Bang Fai river basin (covering Khammouane and Savannakhet provinces).
Development Agencies Heightened Involvement in Disaster Risk Management (DRM)
In recent times, the Government of Lao PDR has heightened engagement with other organizations as well to strengthen the country’s DRM capacity. Below are some examples of ongoing or upcoming activities:
-The Laos Australia Non-governmental Organization Cooperation Agreement (LANGOC A), a consortium of Australian NGOs and the Lao PDR government and funded by Australian Aid, is working closely with NDMO to strengthen community-level preparedness and response to natural disasters.
-The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the NDMO have implemented the Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Development on Disaster Risk Management (DRM) in Lao PDR project to support initiatives at the community level and national initiatives including the development of a National Disaster Management Plan and ancillary legislation.
-The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (German Agency for Technical Cooperation) or GIZ and The European Commission's Humanitarian aid and Civil Protection Directorate General (ECHO) have provided support to prepare Flood Preparedness Plans for the provinces of Khammouane (population approximately 330,000, area more than 16,000 square kilometers, and located in the center of Lao PDR) and Savannakhet (population an estimated 850,000, area more than 21,000 square kilometers, and located in central Lao – below Khammouane).
-The Mekong River Commission (MRC) is currently implementing a Flood Mitigation and Management Program (FMMP) with the support of donors such as the Governments of Japan and Denmark.
-The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is preparing Technical Assistance (TA) for a flood management project.
-A Priority Investment Plan was developed for mainstreaming DRR into the agricultural sector by the NDMO and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry with technical support from Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) and GIZ.
-Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is supporting a pilot Riverbank Protection in the Vientiane Municipality.
Moreover, the JDLNA is now providing a common strategic and financing platform for the government's recovery programming, strategization and projectization efforts. The government arranged a meeting with development partners on 4 November 2011 to disseminate the results of the assessments. Also, the event helped to raise funds for the reconstruction of the damages caused by Typhoons Haima and Knock Ten based on the Typhoon Haima JDLNA report and the government’s own assessments using the DLNA methodology. As a result, various investment projects for supporting the recovery process have been committed.
NEXT STEPS – A BROADER UNITED NATIONS-WORLD BANK LED DRM PARTNERSHIP IN THE MAKING IN LAO PDR
Collaboration via Common Framework: The World Bank and UNDP are discussing a common framework under which the World Bank, UNDP, and other development partners can work together, with the overall objectives of strengthening the national DRM system, linking with Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) though a multi-sectoral and multi-hazard approach at all levels (national, provincial, district and village). The framework specifically aims to develop provincial, district and community planning, establish national and provincial emergency operation centers, build up information management systems, community-based early warning systems, reinforce coordination and information exchange among communities, districts and provinces with center, strengthen CCA and disaster risk reduction (DRR) linkages at center and local levels, strengthen search and rescue capacities at all levels, conduct disaster and climate change risk management trainings for NDMO and the National Disaster Management Committee (NDMC), and develop sectoral plans for priority sectors.
Donor Coordination: There has been discussion on establishment of a donor coordination working group platform to coordinate the DRM implementation. Ultimately, a strong donor coordination process leads to smoother project implementation and quick results.
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LESSONS LEARNED FROM POST-HAIMA JDLNA Learning from Strengths Prior development of customized sector guidance notes and data collection templates provided a head-start for the assessment – albeit with some last minute course corrections on data collection. Government’s own data collection at various levels was very impressive and provided most of the data in ready form to be transferred into the template form – particularly on damages. In future, data collection on the same central templates will enhance efficiency and consistency of process across provinces. Very rigorous data inventories available particularly for public sectors – a need for developing means of acquiring more private sector data advisable. Mechanisms for multi-tier and across sector validation successfully employed by government. Learning for Improving More “data preparedness”and detailed baseline information development required for more efficient future assessments. More harmonized approaches for damage classification across administrative domains and sectors required; Development of further means of data validation– such as through ready availability of data collection records; relative to baseline validation; cross sectoral validation; validation through satellite imagery. Clearer pre-disaster policies and strategies for (a) Building Back Betterand Smarter such development of “Standardized Recovery & BBB Strategies and Factors” for various sectors and various types and scale of disasters; (b) Relocation of Extremely Vulnerable Communitiesand Public Assets, and; (c) Incentives for Private Sector Recoveryand Livelihoods Restoration. A central multi-sectoral data input and analysis model for future PDNAs/JLDNAs would make the process more systematic and less-rigorous. Restricting Recovery to recovery– and avoiding overlaps with regular developmental agenda. Enhancing and strengthening medium to longer-term disaster risk reduction and preparedness – and institutionalization of DRM in regular development and making optimal use of the opportunity to address development issues that may be a root cause of such recurring disasters. Facilitating efficient and resilient recovery through : (a) Central Leadership, Oversight and Monitoring Mechanisms; (b) Multi-tier Public Sector Capacity and Skills Enhancement, and; (c) Use of Results-based Recovery Frameworkfor Effective Control and Management of Recovery programs. |
Article and photos courtesy of World Bank/GFDRR staff: Sombath Southvong, Khamlar Phonsavat, Ayaz Parvez, Roshin Joseph, and Jae Chung. For more information, please contact Christina Irene at cirene@worldbank.org.