ver 17 years ago, Sudan suffered the disastrous effects of a flood for which the desert country was ill-prepared. Some two million people were rendered homeless, while productive sectors of the country were ravaged. The recent Indian Ocean tsunami, too, was unprecedented in the annals of memory – or even known history. Nonetheless, there are some important lessons of recorded disasters that can aid the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in Sri Lanka.
Firstly, expectations from donor pledges need to be managed. Very often, the government and the media rush in to announce how much money has been raised, without indicating the time frame for disbursement. In the absence of proper and precise communication about the amount of funds available and the time frame for implementation, the credibility of governments, donors and implementing agencies is adversely affected.
Secondly, there needs to be strong coordination of donor assistance. The lack of a coordinated effort results in confusion. In my own experience, coordination by a credible organisation – with a programme-management structure – is a sine qua non for success. This applies to both governments and donors. Often, donors – although committed to coordination – end up operating in stovepipes, in overlapping procurement processes, separate project-management units, multiple financial and audit controls, uncoordinated implementation missions and so on.
Thirdly, a credible assessment and government commitment are critical for success. The government and the donors need to come together quickly and make a credible disaster assessment, including an economic and social impact, and physical needs assessment, to avoid unrealistic and often incorrect assessments. It is also important to reach agreement on the mitigation measures within the first three months. It becomes much harder to get politicians to focus on it once the memory of the disaster recedes.
Fourthly, speed is of the essence. While everybody recognises that the initial relief efforts need to be accomplished fast, many reconstruction efforts take far too long – with a loss of momentum and the failure to fulfil objectives. While the need for fiduciary and other safeguard controls are needed, there is a danger that spurious precision, risk aversion and lack of pragmatism on the part of donor agencies, multilateral banks and governments, can defeat speedy and effective implementation. From the intervention of The World Bank in the past, we have learnt how important it is to minimise bottlenecks in the recovery project’s cash flow to accelerate urgent reconstruction activities. We have witnessed the benefits of using ‘fast-track project processing’ in the past.
Furthermore, reconstruction must be within the context of the country’s overall development. Lives were lost and people left homeless when an earthquake ravaged Turkey’s industrial heartland – the Marmara region – in 1999. In response, The World Bank team developed a comprehensive framework programme in cooperation with the European Union, the UNDP, bilateral donors and national, regional and local governments. The project addressed not only reconstruction of infrastructure and natural-disaster housing damage, but also supported pioneering and innovative measures to mitigate future losses.
Lastly, local leadership is critical. It is often said that all development is local – and this is so true in the case of emergency reconstruction, as well. The need for strengthening the local social and organisational capacity was one key lesson learnt from a World Bank emergency rehabilitation programme responding to a series of earthquakes that struck the south-eastern region of Maharashtra, in India, in 1993.
And consider the aftermath of ‘Hurricane Mitch’ in the Honduras. There, Moralica town was destroyed – much of it washed away. The mayor heroically marched from the isolated town to emotionally call on the national media for help. He played a galvanising role in attracting and coordinating assistance in the construction of Nueva Moralica. His leadership sets an example for municipal authorities providing leadership at a local level for recovery efforts.
When disaster strikes, the eye of the disaster, like that of the tsunami, does not differentiate between race, class or creed; between ethnic segments of societies; and, for the purposes of this writing, between donors. What is important is for all parties to come together to ensure that the unprecedented surge of aid is used for the benefit of those affected and for the sustainability of the Sri Lankan economy – one that has taken a big hit.