Assessment of Rehabilitation work in

Tsunami Prepared By Maj K C Monnappa

For Oxfam Trust – New Delhi

This report has been prepared by Maj KC Monnappa, mailto:monaps1@gmail.com, for Oxfam Trust, New Delhi purely for policy and strategy development use. This report in no way claims to be authoritative and exhaustive.

INTRODUCTION The Tsunamis that hit coast of India on 26 December 2004 were caused by a massive earthquake in the Indian Ocean near Sumatra in Indonesia. Tamilnadu and the

Islands of Andaman and Nicobar were one of the worst affected due to the Tsunami. The devastating tidal waves that lashed several coastal districts of Tamilnadu and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have left thousands dead and rendered many people homeless. Immediately after the tsunami tragedy, Oxfam Trust did a spurt of media and communications work, which yielded quite good results. They were able to raise some amount of funds through appeals and applications that they made. Based on the field visits made they also had a strategy for intervention in the tsunami-affected areas of Tamil Nadu and Andaman and islands. They were able to establish contacts with some organizations who were actively involved in the relief and rehabilitation work that was under way and they had been able to identify the issues on ground. They were in regular touch with national, local and international NGO and people’s movement processes around sharing experiences and plans. Oxfam was also a part of a Tsunami Relief Coordination Cell based in Chennai. This was a group of eight to nine NGOs. They were the facilitating point of the Cell in Delhi with respect to corporate donations from the state and national industry associations, national and international media coordination, contact building, central government liaison and coordinating individual donations and volunteers at the national level. The NGO Coordination Cell at Chennai was headed by Dr. Jacob D. Raj with a national Contact Point at Delhi facilitated by Gurinder Kaur, Executive Officer (EO) of Oxfam Trust. MEDIA, COMMUNICATION AND FUND RAISING

During the period, the Agency was actively involved with the media (national and international) and trying to feed stories on the condition of the area and the work that they were doing. The EO was interviewed by NDTV (Hindi) and by NDTV (English). OT got constant attention of national and international media on its work. As a result of two appeals in leading Indian dailies both in Hindi and English they were able to raise Rs. 10 lakhs in cash and medicines, blankets and other resources in kind. HUMAN RESOURCES The following people were involved in the execution of the tsunami project:- Executive officer Program Manager Media Officer Program Officer Project Officer Volunteers Consultants Evaluators

TOTAL FUNDS MOBILIZED IN CASH AND KIND S. No. Grant Total Amount Rs. 1 Canada Fund Rehabilitation Programme (FCRA) 17,28,600.00 2 Novib (Coordination Grant) (FCRA) 11,15,000.00 3 Oxfam International (FCRA) 19,49,657.00 4 Individual Donors (FCRA) 2,31,125.99 5 Individual Donors (Indian) 11,19,197.00 TOTAL 61,43,579.99

Rice Utensils Blankets Bleaching Powder Water Purifier Tablets Garments Misc All the above items were valued at Rs 6,64,333.00/ approx. A volunteer K C MONNAPPA helped the Agency in transporting some of the items to Chennai through Jet Airways free of cost. FIELD VISITS Tamil Nadu

The Chairperson, Executive Officer, Program Manager, two volunteers and consultants to the affected areas of the state, made Field visits. Contacts were established with government, with NGO networks, NGO Co-ordination Cell Nagapattinam, and international NGOs.

Ellen Waters, Communications Advisor with Oxfam Trust and Kalpana Deswal, Fundraising Consultant visited the tsunami-affected areas of Tamil Nadu. The objective of the visit was to obtain good quality, high resolution photos of Oxfam Trust’s partner programs that can be used in program reports, donor communications and on Oxfam Trust’s website. They also met the beneficiaries of Oxfam Trust’s funded programs and gathered case studies for use in program reports, donor communications and on Oxfam Trust’s website and got an overview of the work carried out by the partners.

Oxfam Trust’s staff and board members - Minar Pimple, Chairperson, Gurinder Kaur, Executive officer and Madhusree Banerjee, Program Manager - visited the tsunami affected areas of Tamil Nadu to assess the program work carried out by Oxfam Trust’s field partners and other agencies working in the area. She also visited the field areas of various agencies to identify potential partners for Oxfam Trust program strategy and proposed activities. She also visited the proposed sites for implementing the telemedicine project of Oxfam Trust. One of the volunteers, Adwitya Mal visited nine villages in the Nagapattinam district to assess the relief and rehabilitation needs of the tsunami affected people.

Andamans & Car Nicobar A consultant, KC Monnappa hired by OT toured Andaman and Car Nicobar. He carried out an assessment of needs in the area. He was able to get a tribal pass and

went into Car Nicobar, which was out of bounds for non-Indians. He also visited Camorta, Tressa, Katchal. He also visited the nearby islands in the high security zone. The consultant met up with the Tribal Council there through which all development initiatives normally happen. He also established contact with formal institutions at all levels. PROJECT AREA AND TARGET GROUP The project area was restricted to the Tsunami devastated regions of Tamilnadu with the target group being women, children and men, all victims of the Tsunami. The following areas were identified for the implementation of the projects: Chennai Thenniyrayampattinam Karaikal Nagapattinam Vedaranyam Poompuhar Pondicherry GOALS, OBJECTIVES AND COMPONENTS The following were the objectives of the rehabilitation program:-

General Objectives. The general objective of the project was to implement rehabilitation and reconstruction program encompassing livelihoods, basic health care and shelter, to address the mid-term needs of the people affected by the Tsunami tidal wave disaster in Tamilnadu. Specific Objectives. The specific objectives of the project were: (a) to provide assistance to women from the weaker sections to re-establish

lost livelihoods; (b) to replace school text books for resumption of basic education for school children; (c) to assist in the development and delivery of an employment generation program at the village level for affected farmers and fisher families; (d) to provide immediate and preventive health care, including psycho-social counseling primarily to women and children, through a telemedicine program.

The project plan envisaged the following program components:-

(a) Livelihoods for women. (b) Basic Education. (c) Employment generation program. (d) Telemedicine and community health care. (a) Initial and medium term rehabilitation related programs (ISED) (b) Toys distribution (c) Doll making project (SADHU)

IMPLEMENTATION PARTNERS AND ARRANGEMENTS Execution of the project commenced with the appointment of a project officer for the CIDA project. After short-listing about ten organizations, the project officer was joined by a consultant who assisted in further short-listing the potential partners for final selection. A field trip was conducted from 09/June/05 to 17/June/05 in order to do the same. The following NGOs were finally short-listed by Oxfam Trust:-

(a) Un-organized Workers Federation. Purasiwalkam (b) Kaingkarya Ashok Nagar (c) ISED Alwarpet (d) PEDA Karaikal (e) Boat Carpenters Federation Kasimedu (f) RECO Vedaranyam (g) Kalvi Kendra Villupuram (h) SADHU Doming Kuppam

The total CIDA budget for was Rs. 17,28,600.00.The budgetary outlay for the program was as follows:- (a) Livelihoods for women. Rs. 3,34,300/-

(b) Basic Education. Rs. 99,950/- (c) Employment generation program. Rs. 1, 22,134/- (d) Telemedicine Rs. 4,24,004/- Total Rs. 9,80,388/-

The budget for utilized for the Oxfam Trust Related program was under:- (a) Initial and medium term rehabilitation related programs (ISED) Rs. 2,62,513/- (b) Toys distribution Rs. 96,000/- (c) Doll making project (SADHU) Rs. 1,67,000/- TOTAL Rs. 5,25,513/- IMPACT AND EFFICIENCY OF THE PROGRAMS (REFER EVALUATION REPORT) ANALYSIS The response to the tsunami of Dec 26 in Tamilnadu and Andamans by Oxfam Trust was initially at a very professional as well as on expected lines. The Organisation

teamed with the tsunami Coordination cell at Chennai and was able to help it in terms of volunteers as well in portraying the tasks being undertaken by the Cell. Oxfam Trust by its proactive involvement in the media was able to highlight the actual ground position of the various activities being undertaken in the tsunami-affected areas. This was possible due to the active involvement of the agency in the Tsunami coordinating cell. It was able to act as a conduit for foreign news agencies to help them focus on specific issues of interest, which helped in aid being channelized into the right areas at the right time. Active involvement with the media also ensured that the Agency was able to collect a large sum of money within a short frame. It also helped the agency in garnering support from some real good quality volunteers, who later were instrumental in helping the organization in needs assessment, program identification, execution and evaluation. The assessment team from Oxfam Trust tried to understand the situation and the advocacy needs. Based on these assessment reports, data and case studies from other organizations and with the help of the primary and secondary data, the program team at the Delhi office identified prominently the following issues, which needed immediate and consistent attention: Lack of information about govt. policies, entitlements etc. Land of a width of 500 meters along the coast was proposed to be vacated from inhabitation and other use by the fisher folk. It was feared that alternate

use might be made of it for commercial purposes. Land title of the resettlement land was one of the major issues. NGOs demanded joint title between men and women. Location of proposed new settlements. People’s need to be involved in selection of location of village land and house sites.

A need for people centered approach towards Rehabilitation policies. Need for monitoring of programs at four levels, viz., central level, state level,

district level and for community involvement at Panchayat level. Proposed "modernization" of fishing industry which will not be able to focus on the rights of traditional fisher folk using less intensive fishing technologies in a three or four kilometers strip of the sea. Housing: Design and materials of the temporary shelters.

Rehabilitation houses (permanent): Involvement of community needed in procuring materials locally and in involving the people themselves as workers in the construction activities.

Negligence of the affected agricultural laborers in the rehabilitation program.

The above identified advocacy issues were to be strategized and addressed through a formal strategy paper. Three main strategic objectives identified by OT included: To initiate and support pro-active advocacy at different levels on the emerging issues relating to the government, bilateral and multi-lateral

organizations long term policies and programs. Strengthening current relief work and moving towards sustainable long-term rehabilitation. Undertake innovations with a scope to scale up. But the above could not be concretized in the form of implementable programs due to various reasons. Interviews conducted by the author of key

stakeholders involved in the entire process of the tsunami rehabilitation identified four key issues:- Relative inexperience of the Agency in handling disasters Paucity of funds No confidence of OI in the Agency Lack of Alternative strategies Miscellaneous Relative inexperience of the Agency in handling disasters

As per the respondents answers, the author could deduce that the reason Oxfam Trust could not involve itself in strategic interventions which included all the above components was due to the fact that it was relatively inexperienced in handling disasters. Moreover the Agency lacked the requisite staff to be able to handle the various technical aspects that are crucial to the successful intervention of a program. Paucity of funds Relative inexperience led to the next phase wherein the parent organization .e. OI did not disburse the fund that it had promised the Agency. It may be relevant to mention here that OI had promised the Agency that a central pool was being created wherein funds would be pooled in centrally and Agencies (Oxfam Affiliates) could bid for their share by submitting proposals. The Agency did submit various proposals but was not able to attract any funds from OI. The Agency could not garner funds from independent sources as it was instructed not to seek funds from external sources by OI. No confidence of OI in the Agency The above analysis leads to the obvious conclusion that the parent body. OI had no confidence in the Agency’s ability to independently handle emergency related programs. The reason for OI’s deductions is not clear at this stage. It could be due to the presence of other bigger, more experienced Oxfam Affiliates. But in denying Oxfam Trust its share of the rehabilitation experience, valuable and crucial lessons as well as experiences that could have been learnt have been permanently lost. This situation needs serious consideration for the reason that if Oxfam Trust has to mature bloom as Oxfam India, the invaluable experiences that it gains through involvement in the various

humanitarian programs will stand it in good stead in future disaster interventions, for India is a land characterized by innumerable disasters, and Oxfam willingly or un-willingly will have a crucial role to play. Lack of Alternative strategies Over reliance on OI to give the Agency direction led to the non-formulation of alternative strategies for the involvement in the tsunami. All the above factors identified led to the involvement of the Agency in very small projects that had a very minimal impact on a very small cross section of the population. This is generally unacceptable to an Agency carrying the Oxfam Brand name. Miscellaneous The factors for the relatively lightweight involvement were further exacerbated by a general lack of involvement of the Agency in crucial meetings of OI and its affiliates. This trend of non-inclusion in OI meetings later changed and the Agency was invited to he meetings albeit as an observer with little participation in these meetings. Nothing of importance was contributed by the Agency in these meetings. The aspect of management of the project from New Delhi needs to be analyzed in detail. While the initial involvement of the staff was commendable, there seems to be overwhelming evidence that the aspects of attributing importance to the projects at Chennai were somehow diluted at the later stage. Lack of documentation, periodic reports, internal evaluation, case studies, visits to the project location by the staff involved etc, were either minimal or were non-existent. Another aspect of concern was the relatively low importance that was accorded in hiring a capable person as a project Officer. When questioned as to the reason, the respondents replied that due to paucity of funds, they could not recruit a person as per Oxfam standards. The project officer though qualified in interacting at the grassroots level, was however deficient in areas that were crucial in the development sector. Since the projects itself was very small in nature this therefore did not prove to be a real hindrance, but did play up especially with UWF. RECOMMENDATION Overcoming the constraints of existing systems is an absolute necessity. In relief operations, all agree that ways of doing relief in a more developmental way is crucial, but when the crisis hits and decisions have to be made quickly with minimal information, managers shy away from taking the risk of using other than the tried and tested responses. Emergency management is a complex system, which contains many actors, all of whom need to participate in a change process if the end product of the system, relief delivery, is to change. Keeping the above in mind the following recommendations are made:- As an implementing agency

Altering staffing structures and attitudes In composing teams, it should be assured that sufficient expertise is

included and responsibility assigned for focusing the activities on developmental implementation and maximizing utilization of community capacity. Staff training programmes needs to include the concepts of programming relief for development.

Programming standards In order to practice developmental relief, agencies must set themselves high and defensible humanitarian standards. OT should subscribe to the standards laid down in the Code of Conduct for The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief. It is also essential that staff are conversant with the same.

Specialized competence and co-ordination Large relief programmes attract large numbers of external relief agencies. In order to improve the effectiveness and quality of the services delivered, it is therefore recommended that OT critically examine its own strengths and seek to develop greater competence, in limited fields if necessary, rather than a breadth of mediocrity in service delivery.

Altering budget structures It is recommended that OT build into its plans of action and associated budgets the flexibility necessary to address longer-term perspectives, building on local capacities as well as addressing vulnerabilities. This requires a change to current budgeting practices.

Supporting local people and structures OT should seek to further strengthen local capacities by employing local staff, purchasing local materials and trading with local companies. Wherever possible, agencies should work through local humanitarian organisations as partners in planning and implementation, and cooperate with local government structures.

Programming for sustainability, disaster prevention and preparedness OT should seek to sustain livelihoods as well as lives. Relief programmes must not undermine the long-term sustainability of the assisted population. All relief programming should address the issue of sustainability and disaster preparedness.

Consistency of action, policy and messages OT must examine its present policies for disaster response and adapt them to reflect a developmental approach to relief. In addition it should ensure that its publicity and advocacy material is consistent with this approach and that it advocates rigorously for its partner organizations in government and the international community to also address relief in a developmental fashion.

Programme reviews Many relief programmes go on year after year in the same way. OT should

review programmes periodically/annually to identify changes that progressively make more use of local leadership, skills and capacities. Sharing experience with donors and the media

OT needs to get better at sharing field experience of success and failure with donors and engage in a dialogue about needed policy change. This is possible only through a holistic process of internal as well as monitoring as well as evaluation.

As a donor Agency Linking relief and development programming

The present organizational structure and funding mechanisms of many donor institutions reflects the view of relief and development as two divorced activities. OT therefore should seek ways of promoting dialogue between relief and development and seek ways of allowing a degree of development funding into relief programmes.

Accountability, measuring the quality of relief programmes Measuring the quality of developmental relief programmes requires a different set of parameters and associated skills from evaluating simple relief delivery. OT should therefore explore new ways of evaluating and reporting in relation to relief programmes, which reflect the attributes of a developmental approach.

Support for local structures in relief and disaster preparedness Working through, enhancing and supporting local structures is central to the developmental approach to relief. OT therefore should recognize and support the legitimacy of funding local structure strengthening as part of disaster preparedness and relief programmes.

Supporting review activities Promoting new ways of working require an enhanced learning process. OT should support both national and international relief programme reviews with a view towards promoting developmental relief.

CONCLUSION In conclusion, the relief effort of OT while starting with a promising note petered out towards the middle as well as the ending phase. Various reasons

contributed towards this dilution of its momentum, some beyond its control while some well within its control. OT as of date is relatively new in comparison to the other organizations involved in relief. Moreover being an affiliate of a greater as well as an older organization such as OI, there was bound to be certain glitches both that could have been anticipated as well as a few unanticipated obstacles. But herein lies the imagination, innovativeness as well as the experience of the leader, who should have used the experience of management as well as tact to have overcome the various obstacles and ensured that the Agency play a more proactive role in the tsunami relief process.

This led to the implementation of a few mediocre programs that had a small and negligible impact on a small cross section of people. Wonderful opportunities were lost in the Andamans despite obtaining information of the actual needs of the affected population. While the Agency cannot be blamed here for lack of its participation, still a logical argument could have made the powers to be at OI to see the Agency’s point if it was conveyed in a manner that was acceptable.

This is not to take away credit of an otherwise satisfactory job done by the Agency with its limited experience, budget, manpower as well as mandate for operation in the area. The future is bound to provide more opportunities for the agency to be able to implement its various programs in a more proactive way as expected from an organization of the stature of Oxfam, hence the author would like to bring to notice the following for future planning of programs in emergencies. In February 1995, the International Federation, in collaboration with the Danish Red Cross, the European Community humanitarian office (ECHO) and DANIDA undertook an examination of a number of recent relief operations to identify those factors which should typify a relief programme that uses a developmental approach to implementation. In the author’s opinion, the same would be relevant for most of the agencies involved in disaster relief. Future programs of OT could be framed on the following lines:-

Building on capacities as well as addressing vulnerabilities: The need to access vulnerabilities is recognized as being important, but relief programmes that deliberately seek out and work with capacities, skills, resources and organizational structures within the disaster survivors, will be more effective than those that assume the survivors are a passive, helpless, recipient community.

Identifying the needs and capacities of the diverse groupings of disaster survivors: Developmental relief programmes recognize that the survivor population is made up of many groups with different capacities, vulnerabilities and needs. The relief programme is shaped to address these diverse groups and their capacities as well as their different needs.

Participation: Developmental relief programmes deliberately involve disaster survivors in the decision making process which empower them to re-take charge of their lives. Even in particularly difficult situations, such as relief to large-scale displaced populations a beginning may be made by engaging diverse community leaders in the assessment of the situation, and identifying the resources that they have available to cope.

Accountability: In relief programmes, agencies traditionally see themselves as being accountable upwards, towards their headquarters and donors, but they should also practice accountability towards the disaster survivors. At a minimum, information on the planning, execution and expected duration of the relief programme should be openly shared with the programme beneficiaries.

Strategies based on the reality of the disaster faced: Relief programmes address many different types of disasters, those triggered by natural events, those which develop slowly over vast areas of a country, those caused by war

and economic collapse. Developmental relief programmes adapt their strategies to suit the environment of the disaster rather than relying solely on pre-packaged delivery derived from a model of only one type of disaster.

Decentralized control: A developmental relief programme allows management decisions to be taken as close to the beneficiary population as possible.

Demonstrating a concern for sustaining livelihoods: Developmental relief programmes are concerned with what comes after relief as well as how the relief programme is carried out. They provide assistance that complements rather than competes with the normal means of livelihood of the disaster survivors.

Building on local institutions: Imposed relief programmes can undermine local structures, often use them without strengthening them and often abandon them after the relief operation. Developmental relief programmes look to work with local institutions and build their capacities to carry on humanitarian work after the need for relief has passed.

Setting sustainable standards services: Relief programmes often set in motion the development of service and welfare systems, in health, education and water provision which will need to carry on after the relief ends. These should be of a standard and provided in a manner which has a realistic chance of being sustained after the relief operation ends.