humanitarian assistance in the pacific -...
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HUMANITARIANASSISTANCEINTHEPACIFICAnEvaluationofAustralia’sResponsetoCyclonePam
FEBRUARY2017
@DFATDFAT.GOV.AU/ODE THEOFFICEOFDEVELOPMENTEFFECTIVENESS 1
CommunitiesaffectedbyCyclonePamwereveryappreciativeofAustralianhumanitarianemergencyreliefsupplies.ThephotoshowsMarieNowai collecting a hygiene kit from a distribution point at Port Narvin School, Erromango Island, organised by members of the localCommunityDisasterCommittee(wearingorangejackets)withsupportfromCARE.Hygienekits includesoap,abucket,washingpowder,toothbrushesandtoothpaste.Photo:PallenPhilip,WorldVision.
WhenCyclonePamhitVanuatuinMarch2015,itwasthemostpowerfulcycloneeverrecordedinthesouthernPacificregion.OverhalfofVanuatu’spopulation,anestimated188,000people,wereaffected.Manyhomes,livelihoodsandessentialservicesweredamagedordestroyed(Figure1).
Asthescaleofdestructionexceededtheresponsecapacityofnationalsystems,theVanuatuGovernmentrequestedinternationalassistance.ManygovernmentsandhumanitarianorganisationsrespondedandaglobalappealraisedA$58million.
TheVanuatuGovernmentactivatedcomprehensivedisasterplans,andmadeitclearthatitintendedtoleadandcontrolthehumanitarianresponse.Thiswaschallenginggiventhesizeoftheinternationalresponseandbecausemanyresponders,workinginthewaystheyareaccustomedto,prioritisedspeedoveraligningwithandsupportinglocalsystems.
AustraliarespondedrapidlytospecificrequestsforassistancefromtheVanuatuGovernmentallocatingoverA$15milliontoareliefandrecoveryoperation(Figure2).TheAustralianDefenceForcealsomadeamajorcontributionprovidingpersonnelandassetsat
THEOFFICEOFDEVELOPMENTEFFECTIVENESS [email protected]/ODE
ascaleandwithafunctionalcapacitythatwouldnothavebeenavailableotherwise(estimatedtohavecostA$17million).
TheOfficeofDevelopmentEffectiveness(ODE)evaluatedAustralia’sresponsetoCyclonePamtoidentifywhatshouldbedonetoimprovetheeffectivenessoffuturehumanitarianresponsesinthePacific.Theevaluationfocussedonthemost
severelyaffectedislands–Tanna,ErromangoandEfate.
Overall,theevaluationfoundthatAustralia’sresponsealignedwithcommitmentsinthedepartment’sHumanitarianActionPlanandwaseffectiveinsupportingtheVanuatuGovernmenttodelivermuchneededassistancetocommunities.
FIGURE1:THEPATHANDIMPACTOFCYCLONEPAM
FIGURE2:SOMEOFTHEACHIEVEMENTSOFAUSTRALIANASSISTANCE
THEOFFICEOFDEVELOPMENTEFFECTIVENESS [email protected]/ODE
SummaryofEvaluationFindings
¨ Australia’srapid,largeresponsewasjustified.
¨ TheAustralianwhole-of-governmentresponsewascoordinatedandcoherent.
¨ Strategicuseofestablishedpartnershipsfacilitatedthefastandefficientdeliveryofmuchneededassistance.
¨ Aftertheinitialrapidresponse,assistancecouldhavesloweddowntoalignwiththespeedoflocalsystems.
¨ AclearpriorityforDFATwassupportinglocalownership.Providingtechnicalassistancetosupportgovernmentcapacitywascrucialintheresponsephase.Directfundingtothehealthandeducationministriesenabledthemtoleadrecoveryprocesses.
¨ Localprivatesectorandcivilsocietyexpertiseandcapacitycouldhavebeenmorefullyutilised.
¨ Distributionofreliefitemsfocussedonthemostseverelyaffectedprovincesandkeyneedsforshelterandfood.
¨ ThedistributionofreliefitemswasuniformasrequestedbytheVanuatuGovernmentandcommunities.
¨ Disadvantagedcommunitiesandindividualsthatweremorevulnerablewerenotgivenadditionalassistance.
¨ Assistancecouldhavebettersupportedabroaderrangeofneedsincludinglivelihoodrecovery.
¨ Cashtransferscouldnotbeusedassuitablemechanismshadnotbeenestablishedinadvanceofthecrisis.
¨ ThecapacitytobuildonAustralia’sdevelopmentprogramswaslimitedbythelackofsuitablefundingmechanisms.
¨ ThescaleoftheresponseandcomplexityofbalancingcompetingprioritiesstretchedthecapacityoftheAustralianHighCommissioninPortVila.
¨ LessonslearnedwereusedtoimprovetheresponsetoCycloneWinstoninFiji.
Localpeoplehavetheknowledgetodelivereffectivesolutionstolocalproblems.Afterthecyclone,foodwasinshortsupplyontheeastern side of Tanna, but in the fertile Middle Bush area,perishablefoodwasabundant.JohnBIll(pictured),drawingonalongtraditionofbarterbetweentheseareas,borrowedatruckfrom the local government organised a food exchange. Fallencoconuts from the eastwere exchanged for cabbage, taro andcassavafomPhoto:KarenOvington,DFAT.
RECOMMENDATIONSTheevaluationmadefiverecommendationstoimprovetheeffectivenessoffuturehumanitarianresponsestorapidonsetcrisesinthesouthPacificregion.
Recommendation1.DFATshouldcontinuetoprogressworktosupportnationallyledresponsesandlocalisationby:
• definingwhatismeantbylocalisationandunifyingimplementingpartnersaroundacommonunderstandingoflocalisation;
• inadvanceofacrisis,identifyinglocal,nationalandregionalpartners,includingfromtheprivatesectorandcivilsociety,whocouldcontributeeffectivelytoahumanitarianresponse,andmechanismsthatcouldbeusedtosupportthemintheeventofacrisis;and
• exploringoptionsforPacificcrisisresponseteams.
SummaryofEvaluationFindings
THEOFFICEOFDEVELOPMENTEFFECTIVENESS [email protected]/ODE
Recommendation2.DFATshouldseektoimprovethetargetingofassistancetothosemostinneedandtobettermatchneedsby:
• workingwithpartnergovernmentsaheadofandduringacrisistoidentifyhowassistancecanbetargetedtothosemostinneed;
• workingwithallimplementingpartnersandAustralianagenciestoincrease,wherepossible,alignmentofassistancewithstrategicpriorities,notablygenderequalityandwomen’sempowerment,disabilityinclusivenessandprotection;
• exploringmechanismsthroughwhichsmallandmedium-sizebusinessescanbesupportedtorecoveraftercrises;and
• establishingmechanismsandrelationshipssothatcashtransferprogrammingcangraduallybecomeastandardfeatureofhumanitarianresponsesinthePacific.
Recommendation3.DFATshouldworktofurtherbridgethehumanitarian–developmentdivideby:
• identifyingpriortoaresponsethestrengthsandrelationshipswithinthebilateralprogramthatcanbeleveragedinahumanitarianresponseandincorporatingsurgefundingcapacityintobilateralcontracts.
Recommendation4.DFATshouldstrengthenitscommunicationandaccountabilityby:
• developingashortwrittenstatementoractionplanthatoutlinestheoverallpurpose,strategicpriorities,suiteofpartnersandapproachofAustralia’sassistance,andmakingtheplanavailabletopartnersattheoutsetofaresponse;and
• encouragingandsupportingimplementingpartnerstoimproveaccountabilitytonationalgovernmentsbyprovidingtimely,concisereports.
Recommendation5.DFATshouldensureitsinternalcapacitytodeliverhumanitarianactionisappropriateby:
• ensuringstaffatpostshavebeenprovidedwithappropriatetrainingabouthumanitarianprinciples,policyandoperations;and
• exploringmechanismsforlengtheningandimprovingthephasingofshort-termhumanitariandeployments.
DFATmanagementhasagreedwithalloftherecommendations.Thefullevaluationreport,includingthemanagementresponse,isavailableatdfat.gov.au/ode.
OfficeofDevelopmentEffectiveness
DFAT’sOfficeofDevelopmentEffectiveness(ODE)monitorstheperformanceoftheAustralianaidprogram,evaluatesitsimpactandcontributestointernationalevidenceanddebateaboutaidanddevelopmenteffectiveness.
Stallholders from the Local Mamas Business Group. Photo:LindaKenni,PortVila.
TheLocalMamas’BusinessGroupwasestablished15yearsago.The87membershadstallsatamarketplaceinPortVilathatwasdestroyedbyCyclonePam.TheMamaswereallocatedspaceinanewmarkettoestablishtheirstalls.Whilethiswasverywelcome,manyofthemstruggledtofindthefundsneededtobuildtheirnewstalls,since,atthetime,theywerealsotryingtorepairtheirhomes.
Ayearafterthecyclone,thegroupwasstillstrugglingtosurvive.Touristshadstartedtoreturn,butsaleswerestillsmall.OneMamatoldhowpreviouslyshecouldaffordthebusfaretothemarketbutnowhadtowalkforabout90minutestoreachthemarket.AsmostoftheMamasarethemainbreadwinnersfortheirfamilies,theyestimatethatthelivelihoodsofabout500peoplehavebeencompromisedbytheimpactofthecycloneontheirbusinesses.
Themanagementresponsetotheevaluationhasidentifiedopportunitiesandactionstohastentherecoveryoflocalenterprisesandmarketsinfuturecrises.Theseinclude,increasingaccesstoinsuranceandprovidingcashtransferstovulnerablegroupstoinjectcashflowintolocalmarkets.