1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background On 18 th May 1998 fighting broke out between the armed forces of the Governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea along the common border of the two countries. The conflict continued for more than two years. It involved extremely heavy fighting resulting in tremendous causalities. Sponsored by the Organization of African Unity with the support of UN, USA and the European Union, the two governments signed on June 18, 2000 the Cessation of Hostilities. People living along the main 1000 Kms border areas of tension during the conflict on the Ethiopian side were internally displaced during May 1998 – June 2000 and were unable to return to their homes due to the presence of landmines and/or unexploded ordnance (UXO), or because their homes and/or their essential resources and infrastructure and basic services (water and power supplies, roads, school and health facilities) were damaged or destroyed. The internally displaced people (IDPs) were remained in temporary settlements or with host families in areas close to their home origins entirely depending on humanitarian assistance. Many of the IDPs left their homes with a few personal belongings and lost livelihood such as livestock and farm implements, and businesses and thus found difficult to return to their original homes/areas. Most of the areas in Tigray which had been occupied by Eritrean forces (1998-2000) suffered heavy destruction of the existing socio-economic infrastructure. According to preliminary assessment, 60 % of the houses (excluding Zalanbessa town) were completely destroyed, while 20 % were severely damaged and the remaining 20 % slightly damaged (ERPMU/MoFED, 2002) in the war zone. The situation of Zalanbessa town was characterized by total destruction of residential houses and commercial premises. Regarding community infrastructure 35 health facilities, 80 schools, 143 water supply facilities, 130 km of water pipes, 18 administrative buildings and 52 religious institutions were destroyed or damaged as a result of the war. The conflict also resulted in sudden return/deportation of large number of people of Ethiopian origin who had been permanently residing in Eritrea into Ethiopia. The majority of the deportees/returnees were women, children and elderly who arrived without or with few possessions and had no means of supporting themselves. 1 The conflict-affected population included families that lost their main breadwinners (civilians and militias) as a result of war causalities. Furthermore the presence of landmines and unexploded ordnance posed significant risks in all the conflict areas especially in “no man’s land” that run between trenches along the two confrontation lines. Such dense minefields containing a mix of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines laid out not only contaminated the environment but also created risks to human lives and livestock and thus prevented socio-economic movements and activities. Another problems caused by the conflict was the increased risk of HIV/AIDS transmissions in the war affected communities and the armed forces. The concentration of large number of relatively well paid soldiers together with the inflow of commercial sex workers and development of informal family arrangements has exposed communities in Tigray and Afar National Regional States to considerable health risks. Regular troops often bivouacked along communities rather than confined to separate facilities/garrisons. The risks were further exacerbated when the troops were deployed deeper into Tigray near to the civilian population following the Cessation of the Hostilities Agreement. The Federal Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (FDPPC) had taken a lead action in cooperation with the regional sector bureaus (health, education, water, agriculture and regional DPPC), national and international NGOs, and the UN country Team (FAO, UNICEF, Red Cross Society, WHO) in responding to the emergency needs of the problems resulting from the war. Together with the NGOs and donors the DPPC had played a key role in organizing and coordinating joint needs assessment for preparing consolidated appeals for international assistance and managing the allocation and delivery of relief resources. In this line, the Government of Ethiopia had approached the World Bank for assistance on emergency basis to provide a comprehensive package of intervention to cope with the aftermath of the conflict. Thus the rationale for the Bank’s (IDA) involvement in this Emergency Recovery Project was to address the immediate needs of the war affected people and to enable them restart their normal lives. The assistance was also intended to rehabilitate and restart development of the war-affected economy of the country. The Bank’s involvement was justified due to the large amount of resources needed. The Program also falls within the Bank’s Country Assistance Strategy and contributes to the Government’s medium and long - term development strategy of Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Program (SDPRP). 2 To effect the implementation of ERP activities, the Government of Ethiopia established an Emergency Recovery Program Management Unit (ERPMU) within the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. ERPMU’s main responsibility has been to coordinate the overall planning, management and execution of ERP activities at the country level and oversee implementation of de- mining and institutional support components. The institutional arrangement of ERP in the regions as well as in the city administrations of Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa (with the exception of Tigray and Afar regions, see below) is characterized by the establishment of federal project management units housed within the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness and Prevention Commission, FDPPC-PMU to coordinate other regions project management units and focal institutions, and reporting directly to ERPMU. The responsibility has been to undertake household rehabilitation activities for FDS and DPS. Other federal agencies involved in the implementation of ERP sub-components include ESRDF (community infrastructure in Tigray and Afar regions and household rehabilitation in Afar), EMAO (de-mining in Tigray and Afar), EEPCo (reconstruction and rehabilitation of power lines), ERA (maintenance and rehabilitation of roads), MoLSA (demobilization and reintegration of war veterans) and HIV/AIDS – Secretariat (HIV/AIDS care, prevention and support). In Tigray region, the implementation and coordination of the household rehabilitation component is undertaken by the Tigray Region Project Management Unit (PMU); while construction/ reconstruction of community infrastructure, roads and power supply has been the responsibility of ESRDF, ERA and EEPCo respectively. Under the Tigray region PMU, zonal and wereda 1 PMUs assisted by wereda and tabi 2 Rehabilitation Task Forces (RTF) have been established to implement ERP activities for IDPS, FDS and DPS. In Afar region, on the other hand, ESRDF has taken the responsibility of implementing and coordinating household rehabilitation efforts for IDPS, FDS and DPS as well as reconstruction and maintenance of community infrastructure. Against this background, the ERPMU of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED) commissioned a team of multi-disciplinary professionals to undertake the impact assessment of the ERP in the Tigray National Regional State, which is among the war-affected regions of Ethiopia. 1 Wereda is the smallest administrative unit above Tabia but below zone administration. 2 Tabia in Tigrigna is the Amharic equivalent of kabale administration. 3 1.2 Objective of the Impact Assessment Study The objectives of the study are to carry out impact assessments of assistance on: i) household rehabilitation assistance to enable the IDPs beneficiaries return to their homes and resume their normal livelihood; ii) assistance given to the FDs cope up with the death of their breadwinners and support themselves with farm and non –farm income generating activities; iii) and assistance given to the DPs get established with income generating activities; iv) repair and reconstruction of community infrastructure; and v) assess the impact of de-mining activities on the free movements of IDPs and their animals, on accidents, return to home and farm land for production. 1.3 Scope of the Impact Assessment The scope of this impact assessment is limited to ERP components and activities in the Tigray National Regional State. That is, impact assessment of the assistance given to internally displaced peoples, families of the deceased and deportees/returnees, community infrastructure, awareness creation on the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS and care and support to the susceptible population, de-mining the mine infested war areas, rehabilitation/construction of roads and power supply in the Tigray National Regional State only. 1.4 Organization of the Impact Assessment Report The Impact Assessment Report is presented in nine chapters. Chapter one is introduction consisting of the background, objectives and scope of the impact assessment, and organization of the report. Chapter two presents the methodology of the study and main characteristics and particulars of the respondent beneficiaries. Chapter three presents a brief description of the ERP covering objectives, components, and organization and management of the project. Chapter four is about the impact assessment of the ERP household rehabilitation assistance; the chapter discusses major achievements of the ERP household assistances