Rebuilding Lives a reflection on the experiences of disaster affected poor people Published 2009 Report compiled by Bijay Kumar (formerly the ActionAid Tsunami Management Team Convener and ActionAid Sri Lanka Country Director) and Moira O’Leary (formerly the ActionAid Tsunami Policy Director). contents Preface ..............................................................................................................................5 Introduction ........................................................................................................................7 1. People’s voices ............................................................................................................11 1.1 Affected people’s experience of disaster response .............................................11 1.1.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................11 1.1.2 Violence against women ...........................................................................11 1.1.3 Land rights and adequate housing ...........................................................13 1.1.4 Livelihoods ................................................................................................16 1.1.5 Disaster risk reduction ..............................................................................18 1.1.6 Governance ..............................................................................................19 1.2 Analysis of laws, policies & institutional frameworks for disaster management ..21 1.2.1 Violence against women ...........................................................................22 1.2.2 Land rights and adequate housing ...........................................................22 1.2.3 Livelihoods ................................................................................................25 1.2.4 Disaster Risk Reduction ...........................................................................26 2. Learning from practice .................................................................................................29 2.1 Rights-based approach in disaster management ...............................................29 2.1.1 Rights-based approach ............................................................................29 2.1.2 Rights-based approach in disaster situations ...........................................30 (i) Identity and exclusion..................................................................................30 (ii) Political analysis of land and housing rights ..............................................33 2.2 People-centred policy work .................................................................................36 2.2.1 Process .....................................................................................................36 2.2.2 A model to connect grassroots women’s concerns to policy makers ........36 2.3 Accountability to rights-holders ...........................................................................39 2.3.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................39 2.3.2 Mechanisms of accountability ...................................................................39 (i) Issues in operationalising accountability ....................................................39 (ii) Community Led Participatory Change Plans (CLPCP) ..............................40 (iii) Well-being ranking ....................................................................................40 3 (iv) Social audit ...............................................................................................41 (v) Community review .....................................................................................42 (vi) Public hearing ...........................................................................................44 (vii) Economic Literacy and Budget Accountability for Governance (ELBAG) ......44 2.4 Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) ..........................................................................45 contents 2.4.1 Community-led DRR .................................................................................45 2.4.2 Disaster free South Asia - policy work ......................................................47 Appendix: Methodology for the People’s Reports and field studies ................................50 4 © ActionAid India © a reflection on the experiences of disaster affected poor people a reflection on the experiences of disaster affected india: Fisherfolk were forced to fight for both their livelihoods and homestead land rights. Rebuilding lives: preface Disasters are not inevitable, nor are inequities was to go beyond the provision of support to meet in disaster response interventions. Communities basic needs and to respond in ways which could can increase their resilience to hazards and simultaneously facilitate the empowerment of prevent them from becoming disasters if they women and excluded social groups, enabling them have the necessary knowledge, skills, financial to claim their rights. We understand that a long- resources, infrastructure, institutions and term perspective is critical in disaster response linkages. The evidence clearly suggests that poor if the available resources are to be employed and excluded people – particularly women – are to support change rather than to merely restore disproportionately affected by disasters. people to their pre-disaster level of poverty. To address this inequality, those intervening must Learning how to institutionalise these lessons is take sides with people who are poor and excluded an outstanding challenge. Numerous evaluation if their vulnerability is to be reduced and their rights reports from a wide range of disaster responses fulfilled. in different locations reveal that too often what is practiced is not congruent with what is aspired This report, Rebuilding Lives: a reflection on the to in international conventions, national laws experiences of disaster affected poor people, and policies, standards and codes of conduct. reflects upon the experience of ActionAid While international laws are binding on signatory International’s Tsunami Response Programme, governments and multilateral and bilateral which covered India, Indonesia, the Maldives, institutions, and NGOs are committed to codes Somalia (Puntland) and Sri Lanka. It was compiled of conduct and standards such as the Sphere by Bijay Kumar and Moira O’Leary (formerly the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in ActionAid Tsunami Management Team Convener Disaster Response, it is evident that there is much and ActionAid Sri Lanka Country Director, and the to be desired to translate these into practice. ActionAid Tsunami Policy Director respectively). We must continue to learn and discern the Rebuilding Lives draws primarily from People’s processes and mechanisms and the accompanying Reports on violence against women; disaster risk attitudes and behaviours to ensure the space reduction; land rights and adequate housing; and for communities, their institutions and local civil fisheries-based livelihoods in the response to the society to take a central role in rebuilding lives and Indian Ocean Tsunami, prepared by alliances of livelihoods. around 350 organisations in the above countries. Richard Miller The reports and studies document the post- International Director, Human Security 5 disaster experience of poor and excluded ActionAid people and highlight the persistent structural Executive Director discrimination they face, even after disasters. This ActionAid UK discrimination may in fact be intensified through policies and practices which perceive the disaster preface to be an opportunity for economic investment and large-scale development projects, which in turn increase the vulnerability of poor people. Rebuilding Lives describes some of ActionAid’s experiences in operationalising a rights-based approach in the disaster response. The endeavour 6 © Jacobo Quintanilla/ActionAid Sri Lanka a reflection on the experiences of disaster affected poor people a reflection on the experiences of disaster affected Sri Lanka: Community reviews were held in affected villages to ensure public accountability of programmes. Rebuilding lives: introduction This report draws on affected people’s and droughts (CRED 2007). Developing countries, experiences and practitioners’ reflections of disaster many of which are already the most vulnerable to response. It is distinctive in its focus on poor and natural disasters, will be particularly affected by excluded people and the operationalisation of a climate change. The occurrence of disasters can rights-based approach in the post-disaster context. also be attributed to government policy (for example, Response interventions, while assisting affected promoting inappropriate “development”), population poor people to obtain their basic needs/rights, had growth, ad hoc urbanisation and community-level a simultaneous purpose to support affected poor resilience to natural disaster, all of which contribute people to organise and mobilise with others, have a to the degree of vulnerability that people experience voice and develop their power to negotiate in order (CRED 2007). to claim, secure and enjoy their human rights. The connection between poverty and vulnerability to The importance of reflecting and learning from hazards is clear, and the fact that disasters have the previous disaster response is crucial in light of the greatest