Emergency Response to Earthquake Batagram District, Pakistan Save the Children USA
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Emergency Response to Earthquake Batagram District, Pakistan Save the Children USA Stephen John Kirkby (ETC UK Ltd) Assisted by Anita Cole (formerly of SC Pk) Waseem Afzal Jadoon (SC Pk) August 2007 Contents Page Contents Page..............................................................................................................................i Selected Acronyms ...................................................................................................................iii Executive Summary..................................................................................................................iv 1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................1 2. Context of the Emergency ..................................................................................................1 2.1 The Earthquake Event...................................................................................................1 2.3 Operational Problems for Save the Children ................................................................3 3. Methodological Issues ........................................................................................................6 4. Assess the emergency planning process and determine how useful preparedness activities were in the initiation and development of the emergency response. Develop recommendations concerning preparedness planning for the future.......................................................................7 4.1 Emergency Response Manual.......................................................................................7 4.2 Emergency Preparedness Plan ......................................................................................8 5. Assess the needs assessment, development and implementation of the programmes and determine whether the choice of programme areas was appropriate in the light of the needs highlighted through the various needs assessments and whether the quality of the program adhered to SPHERE standards.................................................................................................11 5.1 Stipulations of the Emergency Response Manual ......................................................12 5.2 Needs Assessments .....................................................................................................12 5.3 Strategy and Programme Development ......................................................................17 5.4 Programme Implementation and Quality....................................................................23 5.5 Adherence to Sphere Standards ..................................................................................26 6. Assess the management of the programmes including management support from the Pakistan country office, the Asia Area Office and CEC. Identify any bottlenecks or stresses in management and support functions. ........................................................................................28 6.1 Secondment of Save the Children Pk Staff to Emergency Response .........................28 6.2 Support by TDYs ........................................................................................................29 6.3 Recruitment of Staff in Country .................................................................................30 6.4 Development of the Emergency Response Team .......................................................32 7. Assess whether or not there has been adequate participation by beneficiaries, including children, in program planning and implementation.................................................................35 7.1 Instrumental and Transformational Participation .......................................................35 7.2 Participation by Children ............................................................................................38 7.3 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................39 8. Assess the role of SCF-US as a leader in meeting the needs of children in emergency situations and determine how effective the program teams were in coordinating with other organizations to promote best practices in this area. ...............................................................40 8.1 Overall objectives of Save the Children’s Programme for Children in Emergencies and Crises.............................................................................................................................40 8.2 Measures of Leadership .............................................................................................42 9. Taking into account the operating environment the teams were working in, assess how effective Save the Children has been in actualizing its humanitarian principles and working within the Red Cross and Red Crescent Code of Conduct and SPHERE guidelines. .............45 9.1 Operational Environments ........................................................................................45 9.2 Save the Children’s Humanitarian Principles.............................................................45 9.3 Code of Conduct of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief......................................................................................................................46 9.4 Sphere Standards / Guidelines ....................................................................................50 i 9.5 Convention on the Rights of the Child ......................................................................51 Annex 1 - Terms of Reference.................................................................................................53 Annex 2 - Consultants’ Programme of work ...........................................................................57 Annex 3 - Field investigation of beneficiary perceptions of Save the Children Activities in Allai..........................................................................................................................................60 ii Selected Acronyms CD County Director CGI corrugated galvanised iron sheets CMO Community Mobilisation Officer ELT Emergency Liaison Team ERT Emergency Response Team HR Human Resource NWFP North West Frontier Province RHC rural health centre SMT Senior Management Team TDY temporary duty staff iii Executive Summary Save the Children faced big challenges in the physical, cultural, social and security environments of North West Frontier Province in response to the 8th October 2005 earthquake. The report answers six key questions in the ToR. Main recommendations and lessons are included. Assess the emergency planning process and determine how useful preparedness activities were in the initiation and development of the emergency response. Develop recommendations concerning preparedness planning for the future. The Save the Children Pakistan Country Office (PkCO) successfully co-ordinated with Alliance partners (UK, and Sweden). Though there was no PkCO Emergency Preparedness Plan (EPP), or Joint Alliance Preparedness Plan, PkCO had several advantages allowing a quick, effective and efficient response. These significant advantages allowed a quick start up. Recommendation: that Save the Children seek to maintain their powerful competitive advantage by maintaining an updated list of suppliers, Recommendation: that, in other countries, as in Pakistan, Save the Children preposition remote communication technology for use in inaccessible areas. Recommendation: that SC PkCO maintain a live list of suitable staff with emergency skills, for office and field because operational support skills/procedures are transferable between emergencies. Recommendation: that SC PkCO, with the participation of senior and field staff prepare a generic EPP and contingency plan for Pakistan. Violent conflict and complex emergency scenarios could also be included. iv Assess the needs assessment, development and implementation of the programmes and determine whether the choice of programme areas was appropriate in the light of the needs highlighted through the various needs assessments and whether the quality of the program adhered to SPHERE standards. In the early response, SC PkCO followed the SC Emergency Planning Manual. Between days 2 and 9 they made eight separate or joint scoping assessments. Recommendation: that in initial assessments SC PkCO should, while taking advantage of the fortunate location of staff who happen to be in the disaster area, consider the gender of assessors and follow more closely the Sphere and Manual Guidelines, to provide more detailed and standardized reports. Specifically qualified staff collected more detailed information for programme development. SC PkCO led a major multi-sectoral; multi-agency needs assessment in the Allai Valley after the winter, when people were still returning from IDP camps. It showed that needs were far from being met and long term intervention was needed. Recommendation: that in monitoring implementation, SC PkCO include changing, unmet or ineffectively-met needs for ongoing need assessment. Strategic planning was based on need assessments and the experience of SC PkCO staff in previous emergencies. The Asia Area Director and a TDY used Tsunami experience to advise on strategy. From day 4, food, Knifes and tents were distributed. Health, food and shelter were seen as prime needs. On day 7 the PERT was formed. Within two weeks work started on three