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World  Vis ion  Vanuatu  

Cyclone  Pam  Emergency  Response  2015  

Lessons  Learnt  Event  REPORT  

 

 

 

 

 

 

World  Vision  Vanuatu  

September  2015  

By  Katharina  Witkowski  

Operations  and  Programs  Manager  –  TC  Pam  Response,  Vanuatu    

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1. Abbreviations    

CD   Country  Director  CTS   Commodity  Tracking  System  DPP   Disaster  Preparedness  Plan  JD   Job  Description  LLE   Lesson  Learnt  Event  LMMS   Last  Mile  Mobile  Solution  Logs   Logistics  P&C   People  &  Culture  RM   Response  Manager  SO   Support  Office  TC   Tropical  Cyclone  ToR   Term  of  References  WVV   World  Vision  Vanuatu    

 

 

 

 

   

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2. Table  of  contents  

 

1. Abbreviations…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………2  2. Table  of  contents………………………………………………………………………………………………………..….3  3. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…..…..4  4. Lesson  Learnt  Event  (LLE)……………………………………………………………………………………….……..6  5. Key  Findings……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….....9  6. Recommendations  from  WVV  Departments………………………………………………………………….10  7. LLE  –  Ways  Forward  and  Actions………………………………………………………………………………..…15  8. Annexes…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………23  

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure  1:  Tropical  Storm  PAM,  Vanuatu,  March  2015  

3. Introduction    

On  March  13th  2015,  the  small  island  nation  of  Vanuatu  was  struck  by  a  category  5  cyclone.  

Vanuatu’s  southern-‐most  islands  sustained  winds  of  250  km/h  and  gusts  of  up  to  320  km/h,  with  

the  cyclone  bringing  strong  wind  and  rainfall  to  the  whole  of  Vanuatu  (pop.  270,000)  according  

to  the  Fiji  Meteorological  Service  Tropical  Cyclone  Warning  Centre.  This  led  to  deaths  and  the  

widespread  destruction  of  people’s  homes,  food    

sources  and  livelihoods  across  the  country,  particularly  the  central  and  southern  provinces.  

Reports  from  NDMO,  OCHA  and  the  Health  Cluster  estimated  that  50-‐60%  of  the  total  

population  had  been  affected.  

World  Vision  Vanuatu  (WVV)  responded  immediately  with  NFI  distributions  on  Efate  followed  by  

NDMO-‐  supported  food  assistance  on  Tanna  and  Pentecost.  Due  to  the  support  from  the  World  

Vision  Partnership  and  various  Governments  across  the  world  WVV  has  been  able  to  support  

over  30.000  cyclone  affected  people  with  food,  tarps,  tools,  hygiene  kits,  solar  lights,  blankets,  

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Figure  2:  WVV  providing  immediate  relief  to  cyclone  affected  communities  in  Vanuatu  

jerry  cans,  and  vaccination  for  children  against  measles  within  the  first  3  months  after  the  

cyclone.  

On  2nd  June  2015  WVV  

conducted  a  Lesson  Learnt  

Event  (LLE)  in  Port  Vila  with  

22  WV  staff  from  Tanna,  

Pentecost  and  Efate.  The  

intended  purpose  of  the  

event  was  to  reflect  on  the  

WVV  Cyclone  Pam  

Emergency  Response  in    

 

order  to  capture  good  practices  as  well  as  areas  that  need  improvement  and  changes.  In  order  to  

provide  best  learning-‐  input  for  the  workshop  WVV  invited  WV  staff  who  had  been  deployed  to  

Vanuatu  for  the  emergency  response  and  who  had  already  left  the  country  to  submit  their  

feedback  prior  to  the  event.  Input  from  deployed  staff  as  well  as  WV-‐  Support  Offices  (SOs)  has  

been  combined  with  feedback  from  WVV  staff  and  was  presented  during  the  learning  event  in  

June.  

The  following  report  presents  outcomes  from  the  LLE  including  a  Cyclone  Pam  Emergency  

Response-‐  timeline,  reflections  on  the  response  from  each  department  &  function  in  WVV,  

participant’s  suggestions  for  a  Disaster  Preparedness  Plan  (DPP)  as  well  as  recommendations  

that  have  been  developed  by  each  WVV-‐  department  for  future  emergency  responses.    

 

 

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4. Lesson  Learnt  Event  (LLE)  

On  June  2nd  WVV  conducted  a  lesson  learnt  event  to  reflect  on  the  cyclone  Pam  response  and  to  

develop  recommendations  to  feed  into  a  disaster  preparedness  plan  in  order  to  improve  WVV’s  

performance  in  future  disasters.  

During  the  one  day  workshop  22  WVV  staff  participated  (2  from  Pentecost,  1  from  Tanna,  19  

from  Efate).    All  WVV  and  other  WV-‐  deployed  staff  who  participated  in  the  cyclone  Pam  

response  have  been  divided  into  the  following  8  departments  &  functions:  

Ø Programs  (including  M&E  and  Communication)  

Ø Operations  Pentecost  &  Efate  

Ø Operations  Port  Vila  

Ø Operations  Tanna  &  Erromango  

Ø Finance  

Ø Procurement  &  Logistics  

Ø P&C  

Ø WV-‐  Country  Director  &  Response  Manager    

These  groups  do  not  necessarily  represent  the  regular  departments  in  WVV  that  are  operating  as  

part  of  the  regular  National  Office  (NO)  program.  Following  the  cyclone  and  WVV’s  response  to  it  

the  office  has  internally  deployed  staff  from  non-‐  affected  areas  to  affected  areas  to  support  the  

relief  operations  and  staff  has  taken  on  new  roles  to  provide  better  support  to  the  sudden  

changes  in  WVV’s  program.  This  has  led  to  some  shift  between  departments.  Also,  the  above  

listed  8  departments  have  been  formed  for  the  LLE  in  order  to  better  capture  feedback  and  

reflections  from  staff  who  worked  closely  together  during  the  response,  e.g.  the  group  

“Operations  Tanna”  includes  the  food  distribution  staff  on  Tanna  as  well  as  the  Area  Manager,  

Commodity  Manager  and  the  WASH  Advisor  who  has  been  implementing  emergency-‐  WASH  

activities  on  Tanna.  The  group  “WV-‐  Other  staff”  includes  staff  who  has  provided  overall  support  

to  WVV  and  the  emergency  response  such  as  the  Country  Director  and  the  Response  Manager.  

All  8  groups  consist  of  national  and  international  WVV  staff  as  well  as  staff  that  has  been  

deployed  from  other  offices  to  support  the  Cyclone  Pam  response.    

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Two  weeks  prior  to  the  LLE  a  short  questionnaire  has  been  sent  to  the  8  departments  that  

supported  the  response  as  well  as  to  WV-‐  deployed  staff  and  WV-‐  SOs.  All  participants  have  been  

asked  to  provide  input  on  “what  went  well  &  what  were  good  practices”  and  “what  did  not  go  

well  &  what  needs  

improvement”  for  

their  respective  

departments  and  

functions  during  

the  response.  Each  

of  the  8  

departments  was  

requested  to  

present  their  

“positives”  and  

“negatives”  during  

the  LLE.  Circulating  

questionnaires  and  preparing  presentations  on  reflections  in  advance  allowed  field-‐  based  staff,  

who  was  not  able  to  travel  to  Port  Vila  for  the  one  day  LLE,  and  deployed  staff,  who  supported  

the  initial  response  but  had  already  departed  from  Vanuatu,  to  contribute  input  and  it  was  

ensured  that  everybody’s  voice  was  heard.    

During  the  LLE  each  of  the  8  departments  nominated  a  speaker  who  presented  the  “good  

practices  &  what  went  well”  as  well  as  “what  did  not  go  well  &  needs  improvement”  for  their  

respective  department.  During  the  second  part  of  the  LLE  and  after  all  8  presentations  had  been  

held  all  LEE-‐  participants  were  given  the  opportunity  to  provide  feedback  to  each  of  the  8  

departments  and  their  presentations.  The  feedback  was  provided  in  form  of  small  notes  that  

participants  stuck  on  the  relevant  presentation.  The  purpose  of  this  exercise  was  to  allow  every  

department,  after  they  presented  their  internal  reflection,  to  receive  external  feedback  from  

people  who  are  working  in  different  departments  and  functions.  This  method  was  chosen  to  

complement  each  department’s  idea  of  “what  have  we  done  well,  what  do  we  need  to  

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improve”  with  “what  do  other  people  think  we  have  done  well,  what  do  other  people  think  we  

need  to  improve”.    

All  presentations  including  the  feedback  that  each  department  has  received  can  be  found  in  the  

annex  (please  see  Annex  1).  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

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5. Key  Findings  

The  following  table  provides  a  summary  synthesis  of  the  top  5  of  “What  Went  Well”  and  “What  Needs  Improvement”  for  the  overall  WV  Vanuatu  Cyclone  Pam  response.  These  statements  have  been  chosen  based  on  an  analysis  of  the  most  common  statements  in  all  8  presentations  and  represent  World  Vision  Vanuatu’s  overall  lesson  learnt  from  the  Cyclone  Pam  Response.  Please  note  that  these  statements  are  in  no  specific  order.    

 

 

 

 

 

1. WVV  kept  local  staff  in  leadership  

positions  

2. Staff  care  was  good  (staff  care  fund,  

support  from  P&C,  encouragement  

from  CD,  debriefings)  

3. Emergency  Response  provided  

opportunity  to  take  on  new  role,  build  

staff’s  capacity,  take  responsibility,  

and  learn  new  skills  

4. WV  has  improved  relationships  and  

collaboration  with  Government,  other  

NGOs,  local  authorities,  and  donors  

5. International  deployments  were  very  

helpful  and  good  learning  experience  

 

1. Clearly  define  roles  and  

responsibilities  for  each  position  so  

that  staff  can  have  clarity  of  

expectations  and  Managers  can  

ensure  tasks  are  performed  properly  

2. Improved  information  flow  between  

departments  

3. Clearly  define  department  business  

processes  and  clear  communication  of  

these  processes  to  users  in  other  

departments  

4. Identify  suppliers,  casual  workers,  and  

transportation  companies  and  have  

agreements  in  place  

5. Share  information  with  all  staff  on  

selection  of  response  areas,  targeted  

communities,  proposed  interventions  

and  budget  available