Evaluation Report Evaluation of the Red Cross Disaster Response to Typhoon Xangsane and Durian in Vietnam (Storm Number 6 and 9, 2006)
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Evaluation Report Evaluation of the Red Cross disaster response to typhoon Xangsane and Durian in Vietnam (storm number 6 and 9, 2006) Figure 1. Blind couple that is beneficiaries for Red Cross house support after typhoon Durian destroyed their house in Tien Giang province (left). Non beneficiaries still living in a themporary shelter more than one year after typhoon Xangsane destroyed their house in Da Nang province. Consultant Richard Cewers, Team Leader email: [email protected] Vu Thi Phuong, Team Member Nguyen Van Tung, Team member December 2007 ‐ January 2008 1 Table of Contents Summary and Recommendations ................................................................................................... 4 Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 4 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................... 6 Background ..................................................................................................................................... 8 Method ......................................................................................................................................... 11 Limitations and constraints ....................................................................................................... 12 Findings ......................................................................................................................................... 12 Food and Nutrition .................................................................................................................... 13 Non‐food items ......................................................................................................................... 15 Shelter ....................................................................................................................................... 16 Livelihoods ................................................................................................................................ 22 Independence and impartiality ................................................................................................. 22 Coping strategies of the affected population ............................................................................... 25 Annexes ......................................................................................................................................... 27 2 Acronyms and Abbreviations VNRC Vietnam Red Cross Society IFRC International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies CPC Commune Peoples Committee RC Red Cross VND Vietnam Dong (local currency 16,000 VND = 1 USD) DW Development Workshop France 3 Summary and Recommendations Summary Vietnam is affected by annual typhoons and the constant stress from natural disasters on the most vulnerable people in the communities hamper their possibilities for development as they have to use their limited recourses for repairing houses and restoring livelihoods. The provinces in central Vietnam visited by the evaluation team have experienced both tornados and several occasions of flooding within one the year after the Xangsane typhoon. The Vietnam Red Cross Society (VNRC) played an important role to support the government of Vietnam to assist the people made most vulnerable after the Xangsane and Durian typhoons that hit central and South Vietnam in October and December2006. The VNRC carried out an impressive operation in coordination with the authorities both in early warning and evacuation, and to support the most vulnerable people after the typhoons. This report is focused on how VNRC best can support people made vulnerable by typhoons to get back to a normal life, and the findings focused on areas of improvement shall be seen in this context. Before the typhoons VNRC supported local authorities in early warning of the typhoons coming and to assist people to prepare and strengthen houses. Thanks to early warning and evacuation death toll and injuries could be limited. The first disaster response came just a few hours after the typhoons with instant noodle, rice and cash from the local VNRC funds at hamlet, commune or chapter levels, if funds were available. Staff and volunteers supported people with first aid (if they were trained in first aid) and transport to hospitals. Then came support from VNRC head quarters and IFRC appeals, with rice, household kits and housing as well other sources of support. Parts of the bilateral support with rice and household kits reached the beneficiaries seven months after the typhoons had hit, when the beneficiaries already had found other ways to cope with their situation. Food and nutrition ‐ Procurement and distribution of 435 tons of rice to 27,000 people was finalized in March 2007. Due to favorable procurement this was 30 tons more than the objectives. In Tien Giang province the rice was distributed in March, and did not meet the objective of the appeal to be distributed by February 2007. Almost all of the beneficiaries visited by the evaluation team received rice and noodles from many different sources. Cooking oil, sugar and spices was also distributed in many locations. The timing for the distribution of rice in the provinces visited by the evaluation team varied from October 2006 to March 2007. In the provinces of Hue, Da Nang and Quang Nam beneficiaries also received rice up to 7 months after typhoon Xangsane from bilateral Spanish Red Cross support. Beneficiary respondents claim that they will benefit more if they get the rice earlier after the typhoon. Non food items ‐ A total of 5700 household kits have been distributed to households up until March 2007. The objective in the appeal to distribute 10,000 household kits was not reached due to lack of funding. The evaluators note that there is no time frame for distribution of the 4 household kits. Beneficiaries visited by the evaluators have received household kits between October 2006 – May 2007, distributions after March from bilateral support. The evaluators find that the timing of parts of the total distribution is late; beneficiaries have already found other solutions to most of their problems related to the content in the household kit. The evaluators find it difficult to trace the distribution of rice as many beneficiaries cannot remember receiving rice from the Red Cross. One explanation to this can be that rice is divided and distributed in the hamlets in another way than according to the Red Cross selection. The evaluators find that late distribution of rice and household kits not using Red Cross criteria is more a matter of poverty reduction than disaster response. Rice and household kits should be delivered at the time when it will be most effective to support beneficiaries in order to overcome difficulties after a disaster. Most beneficiaries received aid several times from many different sources after the typhoon, for example, from the government, private companies, Vietnamese overseas, newspapers, pagodas, the youth union and others. Fortunately, it was difficult for the evaluation team to find people made vulnerable by the typhoons that had not received support from any source. Livelihoods ‐ Due to limited funding of the IFRC Emergency Appeal the livelihoods component had to be taken out of the appeal. Although, beneficiary informants point out that livelihood support will help them to help themselves to get resources to improve their lives, repair their house or improve their temporary shelter etc. Shelter ‐ A total of 650 houses were completed and handed over to families who lost their homes during the typhoons. The appeal objective of 2000 houses was not met due to lack of funding. In general the beneficiary selection for housing reflected the beneficiary selection criteria although the selection process was not as participatory and transparent as recommended in the guidelines. The local government, CPC, has the final saying on beneficiary selection by approving or not approving the selection made. One condition to receive RC house support is often that the beneficiary can come up with additional funding of 2‐ 5 million VND. Additional funding for the houses visited by the evaluators was between 0 – 70 million VND (Figure 9). The evaluators only found two cases where house support was granted without additional funding from the beneficiary. The evaluators are concerned that the people made most vulnerable by the typhoons are excluded from Red Cross house support as the beneficiaries often have to fund an additional 2‐ 5 million VND to be selected. Less than half of the beneficiaries visited had toilet or water tank (Figure 11). In Da Nang province the evaluation team found an old Red Cross houses from 1999 that withstand the Xangsane typhoon, only the extension roof that was not part of the original construction was destroyed (Figure 7). In contrast, a neighbor to this Red Cross house got their house totally destroyed in the typhoon and was now beneficiaries for Red Cross house support. This is a good example of the sustainability of constructing typhoon resistant houses. The 5 beneficiary in the typhoon resistant house did not have to use their limited resources to rebuild their house or to worry about their house being destroyed in the next typhoon. People who got their houses destroyed stayed temporarily with neighbors or moved to their parents while building a temporary shelter or repairing