[PICTURE]
Children of the [NAME] family in Bay Sarkand Kariz (district Gosfandi) in front of the completed shelter
FINAL PERFORMANCE REPORT JULY 2014 - APRIL 2015
“TRANSITIONAL SHELTER ASSISTANCE SAR-E PUL”
Funded by
THE OFFICE OF FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA) UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (USAID)
AID-OFDA-G-14-00140
Organization: ZOA
Headquarter Contact Person:
Field Contact Person:
Program Title: Transitional Shelter Assistance Sar-e Pul
USAID/OFDA Grant No: AID-OFDA-G-14-00140
Country/Region: Afghanistan, Sar-e Pul province
Sub-sector: Emergency/Transitional Shelter Shelter Hazard Mitigation
Project Period: July 1, 2014 – February 28, 2015 with extension until April 30, 2015
Reporting Period: Final Report by date April 30, 2015 for USAID
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LIST OF ACRONYMS
AOG Armed Opposition Group ACTED Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (French NGO) ADEO Afghanistan Development & Education Organization (local NGO) AFG Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ANDMA Afghan National Disaster Management Authority CDC Community Development Council HH Household IOM International Organization for Migration NGO Non-Governmental Organization NPO/RRAA Norwegian Project Office/ Rural Rehabilitation Association for Afghanistan (local NGO) NRC Norwegian Refugee Council NSP National Solidarity Project (World Bank funded development projects) PASSA Participatory Approach for Safe Shelter Awareness OFDA Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance RRD Provincial branch of Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNOCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs USAID United States Agency for International Development
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF ACRONYMS ...... 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... 4 I. INTRODUCTION ...... 5 I.1. Summary ...... 5 I.2. Objectives of the Final Report ...... 5 II. PROCESS OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES ...... 6 II.1. Beneficiary Selection team...... 6 II.2. Selection of beneficiaries ...... 6 II.3. Project staff hiring and orientation/training ...... 9 II.4. Agreements with Beneficiaries ...... 9 II.5. Alignment of the Shelters ...... 9 II.6. Construction of Shelters ...... 10 II.7. Construction of Ramps ...... 13 II.8. PASSA-DRR training ...... 13 II.9. Challenges ...... 15 III. PROGRESS ON INDICATORS...... 16 III. 1. Results of the number of vulnerable families assisted ...... 16 III. 2. Realization on Shelter Construction ...... 17 III. 3. Realizations in Hazard Mitigation ...... 18 IV. FINANCIAL OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECT ...... 19 IV. 1. Realization versus Budget ...... 19 IV. 2. Cost-effectiveness of Project ...... 20 V. LESSONS LEARNED from 2014 Flood Response Review ...... 21 VI. 1. Pictures of Shelter Construction ...... 22 VI. 2. Interview with Disabled Beneficiary of a Shelter ...... 23 VII. 1. ANNEX: M&E Report on the PASSA outcomes ...... 25 VII. 2. ANNEX: A signed agreement between ZOA and the beneficiary family on the mutual responsibilities for the construction, signed/stamped by the CDC and local government...... 29 VII.3. ANNEX: PASSA-DRR training report ...... 30
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I. INTRODUCTION
I.1. Summary
Severe flooding and landslides during the month of April and May 2014 in Northern and North- Eastern Afghanistan destroyed many houses, increasing the exposure of thousands of already vulnerable families, who then had no access to reliable shelter to protect them from weather elements. In Sar-e Pul province alone a total of 685 houses were verified to be "completely destroyed" (Category A), mainly in Sar-e Pul City, and Gosfandi, Sayyad, and Sozma Qala districts. In May 2014 additional flash-floods in the south of Sar-e Pul province (districts Balkhab and Kohistanat) destroyed 48 more houses, bringing the total number of destroyed houses at 733. The Shelter Cluster with support from UNHCR and UNOCHA coordinated the shelter construction in the NR of Afghanistan. OFDA approved the funding of 400 shelters, but after adjusting the budget in October 2014, the total number of shelters increased from 400 to 452 shelters. Originally 400 of the most vulnerable families in the districts of Balkhab, Kohistanat, Gosfandi, Sozma Qala and Sayyad were selected, and the construction of the 400 shelters started during the first quarter of the project. The project adjustment for assistance to an additional 52 families was approved by OFDA on October 20, 2014. During the second quarter of the project - October, November and December 2014 - construction of all 452 shelters took place, and 449 shelters were completed by December 31, 2014. Different techniques were used to make the shelters more water resistant from raised plinth using local materials to plastering lower part of walls with cement. The PASSA training was done with women and men, but at the beneficiary and community level. Main emphasize was on building shelters in a safe location. Ramps were added to 5 shelters, to improve the mobility of disabled adults who were head or part of the beneficiary families. ZOA participated in the Review of the 2014 Flood Response that was held under the responsibility of the Afghanistan Shelter and NFI Cluster North and with strong support of UNHCR. Lessons learned of this review are included in this report. I.2. Objectives of the Final Report
The main objective of this Final Report is to present the final results of the project, both in terms of the construction of the shelters as well as the training of the beneficiaries.
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II. PROCESS OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES
II.1. Beneficiary Selection Team
The total number of houses destroyed in the Province of Sar-e Pul was 733; the 507 in Balkhab, Gosfandi, Kohistanat, Sayyad and Sozma Qala that were assessed by ZOA, and an additional 226 in the Sar-e Pul district. During the coordination in the Shelter Cluster it was agreed that the needs of the Sar-e Pul district would be served by NRC, an International NGO, and the other five districts would be assisted by ZOA.
The selection process as facilitated by ZOA staff was mainly community based, in collaboration with representatives of the local governmental agencies. Included were representatives of ANDMA (Afghan National Disaster Management Authority), RRD (Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development), and the district and provincial governor offices. The community is represented by members of the Community Development Council (CDC), a body elected in the context of the NSP project in each community to serve as focal point for NGOs and to manage/promote community owned development in their villages. Table 1 shows the total number of houses destroyed in the 5 districts, and the 452 beneficiaries selected in the different districts for shelter assistance.
Table 1: Number of Houses Destroyed and Number of Families selected per District.
Number of Houses Number of Beneficiaries District Destroyed (Category A) Selected Balkhab 26 26 Gosfandi 60 60 Kohistanat 22 22 Sayyad 256 218 Sozma Qala 143 126 TOTAL 507 452
From the beneficiaries 400 were selected during the first quarter of this project, and 52 were selected during the second quarter of the project.
II.2. Selection of beneficiaries
The project targets those in the community in need of immediate housing, which are the families whose houses were completely destroyed during the flooding. Priority in selection has been given to households headed by women, elderly and disabled, and other vulnerable households that have no means to construct their own home. The selection of households was undertaken in a participatory manner with the communities, taking into account easily identifiable selection criteria that the community members can understand so as to prevent conflicts within the communities. These criteria were communicated through the CDC representatives and the local mosques. The total number of beneficiaries for these 452 shelters is 3,589, which is higher than the 2,400 that were foreseen in the original proposal. During the implementation it became clear that these most vulnerable families have more family members than the average family.
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All 452 families selected are vulnerable in their own way. Female heads of households count for 18% of the total families in the project area, which is normally a widow whose husband died or was killed. A child as head of the family has not been reported among these beneficiaries, which in general is rare anyway. Most of the time there is a mother, but she needs her son (even when he is not an adult yet) to get around in the community, because in these conservative villages a woman is not allowed to leave the house by herself. Therefore the so- called child-headed-households are in reality woman-headed households.
A total of 273 or 55% of the households have an elderly head, which seems high. However in the cultural context it is common for families to live together with their parents, even after marriage. This often leads to a situation where the "old man" is still the head of the family.
In 5 cases the head of the family is a person with disability. ZOA staff has included a ramp in the construction of shelters for people with disabilities who need this for access to their house.
Table 2: Different categories of vulnerable heads of family.
District Female Elderly Disabled Child head Balkhab 0 26 1 0 Gosfandi 2 54 3 0 Kohistanat 0 22 0 0 Sayyad 26 160 0 0 Sozma Qala 42 11 1 0 TOTAL 70 273 5 0
Most of the vulnerability is the result of the economic situation of the families. The number of “poor” and “low income” families has been registered in table 3. Poor families are described as having no employment, and surviving from a small plot of land (subsistence agriculture). Low income families are a different category in the understanding of the villagers. People with low incomes, who do not own land, nor have livestock, but who survive through working as seasonal labourers. During the wheat harvest they work in the field, and often they have to temporarily migrate to big cities like Mazar-e Sharif for work, or even to neighbouring countries Iran or Pakistan. Both categories are seen as vulnerable as they just survive and have no means to build a decent shelter after the disaster destroyed their houses.
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Table 3: Economic vulnerability of family’s beneficiaries
Livelihood District Poor Low Income Balkhab 18 8 Gosfandi 50 9 Kohistanat 7 14 Sayyad 10 176 Sozma Qala 8 98 TOTAL 93 305
[NAME] Family's shelter # in Camp [NAME] (district Sozma Qala)
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II.3. Project staff hiring and orientation/training
In July 2014 ZOA recruited the project staff; a total of 16 community mobilizers (8 male and 8 female) were hired for 50% of their time. ZOA hired 16 field engineers for 50% of their time. Hiring part-time engineers and social organizer was only feasible because they also worked part-time in the NSP program. The high number of part-time community mobilizers and engineers allowed ZOA to reach the 52 different villages in 5 districts of Sar-e Pul province.
All staff received a 13 days training in PASSA (Participatory Approach for Safe Shelter Awareness) and 5 days of DRR training. This was especially important for the community mobilizers who has to train beneficiaries and CDCs in both DRR and PASSA.
II.4. Agreements with Beneficiaries
All 452 beneficiaries signed an agreement with ZOA, the first 400 during the first quarter and the other 52 during the second quarter of the project. In this agreement the beneficiaries take responsibility for providing skilled and unskilled labour for construction of the shelter. Also water and other local materials are provided by the shelter owners. The whole process was organized by the beneficiaries from the foundation until the completion of the shelter, under technical supervision of ZOA engineers. One of these 452 agreements is added as example in Annex VI.2, and is signed/stamped subsequently by the beneficiary (often fingerprint), the CDC of the village, the ZOA engineer, and the representative of the district governor office.
As part of the project ZOA provided a cash grant of 150 USD for skilled labour, divided into three payments: the first when the lintel level was reached, the second after the roof was covered, and the last payment after completion of the whole process. As not everybody made equal progress, the distribution of the payment was not at exactly the same moment in each village, however by the end of December 2014 all three payments were completed.
The OFDA funded project provided a window (with glass), one inside (wooden) and one outside (metal) door, and lintels. Katiba braces were included in the walls for reinforcing the corners, and roofing material consisted of ten (10) I-beams, plastic sheeting, thirty-two (32) Khar wood planks of different sizes, two (2) gutters and wall plates. Khar wood planks were used to make the roof strong enough to carry the weight of heavy snowfall as these districts in Sar-e Pul often receive much snow during the winter months.
II.5. Alignment of the Shelters
Based on the UNHCR design ZOA technical staff assisted beneficiaries in the alignment of the shelter, which is the lay-out of the exact size of the shelter foundation with the help of white powder (lime or ashes). This was all done according to the proposed design and with the understanding that the beneficiary families would be having ample space to add more rooms to the OFDA funded 1-room shelter.
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II.6. Construction of Shelters
All beneficiaries but one started the construction at once. In that one specific case the head of the household is a very old and sick man and ZOA staff organized some extra support for this case. Also this shelter was completed by the end of December.
Between October and December 2014 a total of 452 shelters were constructed. By October 15 most of them reached lintel level. Tool kits were distributed to all beneficiaries, as well as the other materials already mentioned in II.4. The vetting process of the suppliers took more than a month time, which caused a delay in the materials distribution. In the higher elevation (Kohistanat and Balkhab) it started snowing by the time the windows, doors, and roof material could be shipped. The weather became less favourable for the construction, as the local materials used for building walls needs to dry. Beneficiaries worked hard and most of them succeeded in completing the shelter before the end of December. The shelter design is adapted from the UNHCR shelter design: a one-room shelter with a small corridor, measuring 21 m². Some organizations who were part of Shelter cluster decided to build 2-room shelters, but this reduced the number of beneficiaries that could be supported with the available funding. Although Sar-e Pul is a province with low seismic activity in the recent past, the shelters have been built with Katiba braces in order to enhance seismic resistance. The corners of the walls are reinforced with Katiba braces, according to the UNHCR BoQ and design. Extra nails have been used to connect the I-beams with the wooden wall plates. Minimum size of doors and windows were placed in a way that the whole structure becomes more seismic resistant. However, the main threat in Sar-e Pul is flooding, and both frequency and the size of flash floods seem to increase. At the community level ZOA has trained the beneficiaries and the communities in PASSA, in order to make them less vulnerable for flooding. The ideal foundation would have been constructed of rocks with cement, however this option was clearly too costly. As much as possible the families have constructed their shelters ZOA on higher grounds to prevent flooding. Plastic sheeting was placed under the foundation to reduce wicking of water into the foundation and the walls. The shelters were built on top of a 1 meter raised plinth. The plinth itself was built up with rocks and/or compacted soil, whatever was locally available. The raised plinth has been protected against water with a 2.5 cm cement plaster (1:3) of 1 meter high. The following pictures show the way the different locations, different available local material, and the different techniques have been applied to protect the shelters as much as possible from water during rain and flooding.
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Rocks and cement foundation of a shelter in Kohistanat. Shelter # of the [NAME] family in [VILLAGE], district Kohistanat
[PICTURE]
Example of how the plastering of 100 cm was done in order to protect the walls against water. Shelter # of family [NAME] in district Sozma Qala
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Raised plinth constructed with local available rocks in Sayyad district Shelter # from [NAME] family in [VILLAGE] (Sayyad)
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II.7. Construction of Ramps
In five cases we found that proposed beneficiaries were disabled and were unable to use steps. These shelters were constructed according to the modified design, which was incorporated in the original proposal. In most of the cases disabled people have no wheelchair - these are not practical in rural Afghanistan where roads are not paved and sidewalks do not exist. However the ramps definitely facilitate the life of disabled people as they can hold on to the handrails, while moving up slowly. The design used was original developed by Handicap International1. Doors in the shelter are 90 cm, which is in accordance with the standards.
[PICTURE]
Shelter # [NAME] in Balkhab (more information about this disabled man in chapter IV.2)
[PICTURE]
Another ramp was built for [NAME] in Sozma Qala Shelter # [NAME] (family of 2 adults and 2 children) in Saha Bazar, Sozma Qala
II.8. PASSA-DRR training
All shelters were built with Katiba braces in the walls, which provides the structures with enhanced seismic resistance. PASSA and DRR training was included for the sustainability of the shelter construction efforts.
PASSA stands for Participatory Approach for Safe Shelter Awareness, and is a process that guides community groups through eight different participatory activities, which enable the participants to work on the safety of their shelters in the context of the specific community. ZOA has included the shelter beneficiaries and the community leaders in this process.
Main steps in the process are:
Develop the awareness of the participants of shelter safety issues in their specific context. Identify hazards and vulnerabilities that create risk related to shelter. Recognize and analyze causes of shelter vulnerability. Identify and prioritize potential strategies to improve shelter safety. Make a plan to put those shelter safety strategies into place, based on the local capacities. Monitor and evaluate the progress.
1 How to build an accessible environment in Developing Countries, Manual 1 http://www.handicap-international.org.uk/Resources Final Report April 2015 ‘Transitional Shelter Assistance Sar-e Pul’ Page 13
AID-OFDA-G-14-00140 From each CDC an average of 3 representatives were trained together with a member of each beneficiary family. In total 664 people were trained compared to 608 planned participants. The increase was mainly because more shelters were constructed than originally in the proposal.
The number of women trained was less than planned: in the proposal it was estimated at 50%, but in reality only 20% of the participants were women (see table in Annex VI.3). The insecurity in an already conservative province like Sar-e Pul reduces the mobility of women up to the point that it becomes nearly impossible for them to participate in trainings.
At the end of the training the CDCs had made a plan for the community. The knowledge of the different participants was evaluated 2 months after the training - see paragraph III.3.
PASSA training of men in Sozma Qala (tent from UNHCR)
[PICTURE]
PASSA training in Balkhab - women in mosque
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II.9. Challenges
The implementation came with several challenges, which were dealt with by both ZOA staff and the beneficiaries.
Vetting process - the vetting process of the suppliers took about a month, which was a crucial delay. The shelters had to be completed before the winter as the walls have to dry, and in the cold winter weather this does not happen. Most of the beneficiaries succeeded in completing the shelter.
Insecurity - insecurity in general is always a problem in the province of Sar-e Pul. In the Kohistanat district (22 shelters) and 1 village in Sayyad (5 shelters) we were not able to get the GPS coordinates as it is too dangerous for ZOA staff to walk around with the GPS tool. We do have pictures from all shelters, but not all of them have GPS coordinates.
Specific case of insecurity - on November 5, 2014 a truck with sand belonging to a construction firm that working on a development project (NSP) in Sayyad was stopped by AOGs near the village of Ganda. The truck was burned and driver and his helper were only released after a few days of negotiations. At the same moment ZOA had 5 trucks with construction supplies ready for the shelter project in Sayyad and the route was going through Ganda. It took several days for ZOA to discuss this with the CDCs of the villages where the shelters were being constructed. These leaders organized a group of men from their villages and accompanied the trucks so that all the materials arrived safely at the building locations.
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III. PROGRESS ON INDICATORS
III. 1. Results of the number of vulnerable families assisted
The following table of indicators reflects the final results of the project by the end of April 2015.
Table 4: final results
Sector Name Shelters and Settlements
To provide life-saving transitional shelters to vulnerable Objective families before the start of the 2014-2015 winter who have lost their houses in the devastating floods.
Planned Realized
400 (adjusted to 452) 452 households with 3,589 Number of households, i.e. 2,712 beneficiaries according to People Targeted beneficiaries baseline.
Number of IDPs Targeted 2,712 IDPs, all these families 3,589 IDPs, all these families are flood-IDPs are flood-IDPs
Gosfandi, Sayyad, Sozma Gosfandi, Sayyad, Sozma Geographic Area(s) Qala, Kohistanat, and Qala, Kohistanat, and Balkhab districts in the Sar-e Balkhab districts in the Sar-e Pul province Pul province
As foreseen in the adjusted proposal 452 families were assisted with the transitional shelter. These families include more members than foreseen in the proposal, so the total number of IDPs assisted has increased from 2712 to 3589 - see also the explanation in II.2. The planned number was based on the average of 6 people per household, but in reality these poor families had more than average number of children.
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III. 2. Realization on Shelter Construction
Table 5
Sub-sector Name Emergency/Transitional Shelter
Planned Realized
452 households in the 449 households in the program area Indicator 1 program area receiving completed their own transitional shelters. transitional shelters.
452 households in the 449 households in the program completed program area receiving their own shelters; 3 shelters were damaged Indicator 2 transitional shelters (1 in Sozma Qala and 2 in Sayyad) due to rain pursuant to SPHERE during the construction of the walls. project standards and FOG guidelines.
16% of total affected 18% of total affected population (452 out of population in the 2,460 families) in the program area received Indicator 3 program area receiving transitional shelter assistance (50% men, 50% transitional shelter of women - see information in ZOA Baseline assistance (50% men, Study). 50% of women).
USD 879,535 or 77% of approved project budget USD 893,464 or 72% was spent on goods and for services in affected host country: construction Indicator 4 emergency/transitional materials, plinth plastering, skilled labour, food shelter spent on goods for training, transportation, local office costs. and services produced in the affected host country economy.
The project implementation is based on the requirement that people build their own houses, and this 1-room shelter is only a first step. Families are encouraged to continue building more rooms, not only to house the members of their households, but also to store tools, forage, and for livestock. The percentage for Indicator 3 was higher than planned because of the extra 52 shelters that were added to the project. For details see Annex in VI.1
As 3 shelters have technical problems due to the abundant rain during the construction of walls these shelters were not completed by the end of April 2015. The 3 beneficiary families did received the cash grant for skilled labour and all the construction materials (window, doors, roofing materials, etc.). These families were encouraged to recycle the materials and build their shelter, which they did. Also these 3 shelters were completed by the end of June 2015.
III. 3. Realizations in Hazard Mitigation
Sub-sector Name: Shelter Hazard Mitigation
Planned Realized 449 shelters were completed with Katiba braces 400 + 52 shelters included in the corners of the walls to enhance incorporating Indicator 1: seismic resistance; the bottom 100 cm of the wall DRR/PASSA was plastered with cement mortar to reduce the measures risks in case of future flooding. In 74 villages for all shelters the above- 52 villages adopting mentioned improvements were adopted and Indicator 2: DRR/PASSA demonstrated. Also for the location of the measures shelters in the villages the DRR and PASSA recommendations were followed. 456 people or 75% 578 people or 87% of people retained shelter of people retaining and settlements DRR/PASSA knowledge two shelter and months after training. The evaluation of this Indicator 3: settlements indicator was done with a sample that covered DRR/PASSA about 15% of the male and female participants of knowledge two the training. months after training
All shelters were built with Katiba braces in the walls, which provides the structures with enhanced seismic resistance. PASSA and DRR training was evaluated in March 2015, which was more than 2 months after the training was held. With the adjusted number of shelters the number of villages and CDCs increased from 52 to 74.
In order to measure the outcome for indicator 3, ZOA M&E officer organized a survey. In total 21 females and 84 males were sampled, which number was conform the percentage of males and females participating in the PASSA training. After questioning these 105 participants the results shows that 87% of them remembered the main issues of the training, which was better than expected (75%). For more details see the M&E report in Annex VI.1.
IV. FINANCIAL OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECT IV. 1. Realization versus Budget The following table shows an overview of the project expenses in order to analyze the differences between budgeted and realized expenses.
Negotiated Costs Incurred Balance as per until April 30, Line Items Budget 2015 April 30, 2015 1. International Staff Salaries $32,250 $28,239 $4,011 1. National Staff Salaries $124,550 $124,653 -$103 1. Total Field Staff Salaries $156,800 $152,892 $3,908 2. International Staff Fringe Benefits $11,288 $13,727 -$2,439 2. National Staff Fringe Benefits $18,682 $15,145 $3,538 2. Total Field Staff Fringe Benefits $29,970 $28,872 $1,098 3. Short-term Non- Employment Labor $67,800 $67,650 $150 4. Travel International $3,000 $2,980 $20 4. Travel In Country Air $4,000 $2,439 $1,561 4. In Country Per Diem $3,000 $1,170 $1,830 4. In Country Ground Travel $68,250 $68,509 -$259 4. Total Travel $78,250 $75,098 $3,152 6. Program Supplies - Construction Materials Shelters + Ramps $629,868 $632,973 -$3,105 6. Program Supplies - Construction Materials Plinth Plastering $38,872 $38,356 $516 6. Program Supplies - Generator $3,000 $3,169 -$169 6. Total Program Supplies $671,740 $674,497 -$2,757 7. Direct Costs - Office $26,900 $27,710 -$810 7. Direct Costs - Transportation of goods $35,000 $39,800 -$4,800 7. Total Direct Costs $61,900 $67,510 -$5,610 8. Beneficiaries Training $20,300 $19,895 $405 9. Branding and Marking $1,600 $1,808 -$208 12. Audits $10,000 $10,000 $0 Sub-Total Direct Costs $1,098,360 $1,098,222 $0 Indirect (Overhead) Costs - NICRA $143,336 $143,428 -$92 Grand Total $1,241,696 $1,241,650 $46
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IV. 2. Cost-effectiveness of Project
This project was realized within the approved budget. Originally this budget was approved for construction of 400 shelters, but during the start of the project an adjustment was made and approved that allowed the project to even support the construction of 452 shelters.
In one case, an extreme vulnerable family with an elderly, disabled head, living in a remote place in Balkhab could not build their own shelter. The project management decided to construct the shelter for this family. This affected the budget with a slightly over-spending of the project material line-item. it also explains the 150 USD positive balance of the Cash Grant (line- item #3). This family didn't receive a cash grant, but instead they received a complete shelter.
The line-item "salaries and benefits", and "travel" (line-items 1,2,4) were slightly under-spent, but not significantly. These funds were used to support directly the construction of the shelters and the transportation of materials.
"Transportation of Goods" (line-item #7) was more expensive than expected. The province of Sar-e Pul is very mountainous, and the shelter construction took place in 74 villages in 5 different districts. The estimated costs of transportation of the construction materials was therefore much higher than foreseen.
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V. LESSONS LEARNED from 2014 Flood Response Review
The Emergency Shelter and NFI Cluster (North) organized a review of the 2014 Flood Response in February and March 2015. It comprised a survey of organizations implementing shelter recovery projects, joint observations to eight recovery sites and a concluding meeting on March 18, 20152. ZOA participated in this review and a visit ZOA constructed shelters in Sozma Qala was included. In the context of the OFDA funded shelter project the following lessons learned are important for future interventions. In italic are some selected lessons learned from this review and for this final report these comments were mirrored with the way the OFDA funded shelter project was designed and implemented.
Coordination before Assistance: organizations should not rush to distribute assistance without consultation with wider coordination bodies from both the Provincial authorities and UN humanitarian agencies. This is to endure that the greatest and most critical needs, rather than the easiest to access are being addressed. ZOA comment: ZOA did participate in the Shelter Cluster as well as in the Operational Coordination Team (OCT), which helped us to make the planning of shelter construction in Sar-e Pul more effective.
Shelter Standard and Design: in the course of implementation there were major deviations from the standard Shelter Recovery Plan (SRP) and the Shelter Cluster Guidelines, like 1 meter high stone foundation, and the 2-room permanent. ZOA comment: these shelter guidelines were not followed by the OFDA funded project as this would make the price per shelter too high. In the future the cluster should decide to adapt the guidelines as there is a gap between the ideal of helping as much victims as possible and the ideal of respecting the standards.
Factoring Vulnerable Families in Project Costs: Project cost planning is based on the majority of beneficiary families being complete and male headed households without specific vulnerably. However, selection criteria rightly prioritize the most vulnerable families. ZOA comment: in the OFDA funded project a 150 USD amount per shelter was included for skilled labour and this worked out as enough to build a 1-room shelter. It is clear that it is unrealistic to expect from communities that they will help their neighbours building a shelter, while they themselves often have damaged houses that need repair. If too much participation is expected from the beneficiaries an organization would end up to decide that some families are too poor to be a beneficiary, which is a contradiction in itself.
Latrines: the inclusion of latrines was considered a significant protection and health component. However, beneficiaries did not accord the facilities the same level of importance. It is estimated that only 60% of latrines were completed and are being used as intended. ZOA comment: in dialogue with the OFDA experts it was decided not to include latrines, because of the fact that many families didn't have a latrine before the flood. It would require more time to work on behaviour change regarding the latrines to ensure proper use. Under the circumstances this turned out a wise decision considering the problems other NGOs experienced in implementing this component. As ZOA works in Sar-e Pul for a longer period the structural improvement of sanitation should be included, but not in a short-term shelter project.
2 According to UNHCR the document will soon be available - https://www.sheltercluster.org/response/afghanistan Final Report April 2015 ‘Transitional Shelter Assistance Sar-e Pul’ Page 21
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VI. 1. Pictures of Shelter Construction
Woman assisting in construction of her shelter.
[PICTURE]
[NAME], a widow in [VILLAGE] (district Sozma Qala) helping the mason during construction of her shelter
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AID-OFDA-G-14-00140 VI. 2. Interview with Disabled Beneficiary of a Shelter
The following is a short interview with a disabled man, who is the head of his family. ZOA constructed a ramp instead of steps in front of his shelter in order to increase his mobility.
[PICTURE] Name of Interviewed Person: Occupation: Jobless District: Balkhab Province: Sar-e Pul Date of Interview: 10/01/2015 Interviewer:
My name is [NAME] and I live in [VILLAGE] village of Balkhab district. There are 4 people in my family and I am disabled, so it is hard for me to feed my family properly. Years ago I was growing wheat, and during the harvest a bag of wheat fell on my leg and it broke. Since then I have been disabled and my family lives in poor conditions. This year's flood was devastating and I lost my entire house, and almost all our equipment that I had gathered in the past years. My family and I lived in difficult circumstances, when ZOA staff came to survey the flood damage. We were selected as beneficiary for a shelter, and I thank them for their support. During the training ZOA staff explained us about safe shelters. Of course the main thing is to build in a higher place, far away from where the flood normally reaches. Also informing each other when the flood is coming, so that people have time to move up before the flood reaches our homes. This shelter means a lot to me. After losing my house in the flood my family didn't know how to live, and we just stayed outside in the open. I love this new shelter and will take care of it, because it let us return to our normal life. We received a 10 day training about the protection of our shelters by ZOA trainers. I will build a wall around the yard, to protect the shelter from rain, and melting snow. We will also thatch the roof each year to prevent it from leaking.
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VI. 3. Interview with a Widow, Beneficiary of a Shelter
[PICTURE]
The following is a short interview with a widow, who is the head of her family.
Name of Interviewed Person: Occupation: House wife District: Sayyad (GPS: Province: Sar-e Pul Date of Interview: 12/02/2015 Interviewer: My name is [NAME], and I live in [VILLAGE] village of Sayyad district. I am an illiterate house wife and there are 4 members in my family, and we all live together. My husband died 10 years ago after he got sick. Since then I have been struggling to feed my family. Our life was going on normally, but with a low standard until the flood came and destroyed almost everything I have, including the house. I am very thankful that the project allowed me to build a new shelter. The flood this past year was very unpredictable, and I had not seen such flooding in all my life. The water destroyed the house and took nearly all our belongings. We lived outside, when ZOA staff came to see what damage was done in our village. I was so happy that we were selected as beneficiaries of a shelter. We were not able to build a house ourselves as we don't have enough money to pay someone to dothe work for us. Also we will remember the training about preventing damage of the house by flood in the future. Our village is working together to warn each other in case such weather happens again. We also learned about construction of homes on higher ground, and building a wall around the home for protection against water. I like this shelter, and will take care of it by thatching the roof each year before the winter comes.
Final Report April 2015 ‘Transitional Shelter Assistance Sar-e Pul’ Page 24
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VII. 1. ANNEX: M&E Report on the PASSA outcomes
Evaluation Report of PASSA Training Introduction
This report presents a summary and analysis of evaluation results accomplished by M&E team two months after completion of the Shelter project and DRR/PASSA training in Sayyad, Balkhab, Kohistanat, Sozma Qala and Gosfandi districts of Sar-e-Pul Province. This report provides substantiated information on percentage of people retaining shelter and settlements DRR/PASSA knowledge two months after training.
Sar-e Pul province in Northern Afghanistan needed an urgent transitional shelter intervention. A total of 682 houses were completely destroyed (Category A)3 in this province during the spring flooding of April 25, 2014 in the districts Sar-e Pul Center, Sozma Qala, Gosfandi, and Sayyad. More houses were destroyed in Balkhab and Kohistanat districts during a flash flood in May, which brought the total of completely destroyed houses at 730. With a harsh winter approaching the most vulnerable families had difficulty to survive, especially because of the higher elevation of this province.
During Shelter Cluster meetings both ZOA and NRC4 showed interest in helping with the construction of shelters in the Sar-e Pul province. NRC took responsibility for Sar-e Pul Center District, and ZOA took responsibility for the remaining districts. In these five districts the total number of destroyed houses was 507, and ZOA planned to build 400 transitional shelters as focused on the most vulnerable families.
DRR training was focused on safe shelter awareness, according to PASSA5 curriculum developed by ICRC, in order for the families in these vulnerable areas to be better prepared for disasters. Representatives of the 400 households that received a shelter in this project were trained as well as 208 CDC members6 from the 52 villages in which these shelters have been constructed. This project have been successfully completed on 31 December, 2014. In one of project indicator the post evaluation was mentioned as follow: Indicator 3:
456 people or 75% of people retaining shelter and settlements DRR/PASSA knowledge two months after training (228 men and 228 women)
ZOA M&E team have done this evaluation two months after completion of project.
3 Category A is used for "completely destroyed houses", while category B and C are partially damaged houses. 4 Norwegian Refugee Council - international NGO. 5 PASSA: Participatory Approach to Safe Shelter Awareness 6 CDC = Community Development Council Final Report April 2015 ‘Transitional Shelter Assistance Sar-e Pul’ Page 25
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Methodology ZOA monitoring department uses different methodologies for evaluation with the aim of tracking the project results and collect required data in order to measure actual results against expected results. Keeping in mind the overall dynamics of monitoring and evaluation, M&E officer together with NSP staff used experiential monitoring methodology to collect evaluation data. This methodology was: Structured interview
M&E team had interview with samples of beneficiaries from targeted village across Sayyad, Balkhab, Kohistanat, Sozma Qala and Gosfandi in order to find results against indicator 3. M&E team was equipped with a questionnaire. The sample size for interview was 105 people (84 male and 21 female), 15% male and female beneficiaries from different communities who were participated in PASSA training.The number of sampling is listed in below table: No District Total Male Female Participants interviewee interviewee 1 Sayyad 319 32 10 2 Sozma Qala 182 20 5 3 Gosfandi 90 10 4 4 Balkhab 40 4 2 5 Kohistanat 33 3 0 Total 664 84 21
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Results In result of interview with different people from different communities 105 questionnaires have been filled out by the M&E team. The filled questionnaires were analyzed by M&E officer. A total of 89 respondents could give the correct answers and 16 respondents could not give correct answers. The result of analysis is shown below.
PASSA Evaluation Report
Answers with Percentage code
No Question Answer 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 Does ZOA implement 1. Yes Shelter project in your 2. No 105 0 0 100% 0% 0% village 2 Do you receive shelter 1. Yes 28 76 29 0 72% 0% from this project? 2. No % 3 Did you receive any 1. Yes training beside the 2. No 104 1 0 99% 1% 0% shelters? 4 What was training for? 1. PASSA training and taking care of Shelters 15 89 6 10 85% 0% 2. I don't know % 3. He /She don't know 5 Can you explain, what is 1. A participatory process PASSA / PASSA Group? for Taking care of Shelters and awareness for safe and 10 immune shelters 89 5 11 85% 5% 2. I don't know % 3. He /She don't know 6 What is objective of 1. capacity building PASSA? training for community people in order to reduce risk 16 for shelters 88 1 16 84% 1% % 2. I don't know 3. He /She don't know 7 Can you explain, what 1. Correct Answer was responsibilities and a. Identification of activities of PASSA shelter risk Group? b. Preparation of village map for risk analysis c. Recording the 89 10 6 85% 9% 6% risks and problems
2. I don't know 3. He /She don't know Average 91.4 7.4 6 87% 7% 6%
The graph of results
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VII. 2. ANNEX: A signed agreement between ZOA and the beneficiary family on the mutual responsibilities for the construction, signed/stamped by the CDC and local government.
[PICTURE]
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[PICTURE]
Final Report April 2015 ‘Transitional Shelter Assistance Sar-e Pul’ Page 29
AID-OFDA-G-14-00140 VII.3. ANNEX: PASSA-DRR training report
Training progress report for the Shelter Project
Training Report of PASSA-DRR for Sar-e Pul Province
Training Date Participants Trainees Number Duration No Province District of PASSA Group shelter beneficiaries (Days) Villages Start Finish Male Female Male Female Male Female
1 Sar-e Pul Balkhab 4 CDC 1/9/2014 30/12/2014 10 8 6 16 10 24 16
Kohistan 2 Sar-e Pul at 11 CDC 1/9/2014 30/12/2014 10 11 0 22 0 33 0
3 Sar-e Pul Gosfandi 17 CDC 1/9/2014 30/12/2014 10 20 10 57 3 77 13
Sozma 4 Sar-e Pul Qala 13 CDC 1/9/2014 30/12/2014 10 40 16 122 4 162 20
5 Sar-e Pul Sayyad 29 CDC 1/9/2014 30/12/2014 10 51 50 207 11 258 61
Subtotal 554 110
Grand Total 664