Review of the IFRC-led Shelter Cluster
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Material Information

Title:
Review of the IFRC-led Shelter Cluster Burkina Faso September 2009 Floods Response
Creator:
Camila Vega
Disaster Risk Reduction Program, Florida International University (DRR/FIU) ( summary contributor )
Publisher:
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
Publication Date:
Copyright Date:
2011
Language:
English

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Floods ( lcshac )
Disaster response and recovery ( lcshac )
Emergency housing ( lcshac )
Genre:
non-fiction ( marcgt )
Spatial Coverage:
Africa -- Burkina Faso

Notes

Summary:
The report evaluates the impact and effectiveness of the coordination services undertaken by the IFRC-led Shelter Coordination Team in response to the September 2009 Burkina Faso floods. It identifies key lessons and recommendations to improve and inform future response. Heavy and persistent rainfall in late August and early September 2009 affected an estimated 150,000 people in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ougadougou. As per the IFRC commitment to provide leadership to the broader humanitarian community in emergency shelter response in disaster situations, the IFRC took the role of lead coordinator for shelter and NFIs. According to the Shelter Coordinator’s Terms of Reference, the main objective of the Coordinator was “to contribute towards the effective provision of emergency shelter assistance to the affected population through the timely and efficient coordination of shelter agencies within the Shelter Coordinator Group in support of the national authorities.” The report explains that the shelter coordinator arrived when the emergency phase was concluding. So, focusing on provision of emergency shelter assistance was no longer the priority but rather making sure that government plans to relocate people to transitional/permanent sites were comprehensive, financially viable, and included all basic services necessary. The Shelter Coordinator also focused on representing the shelter agencies and serving as intermediary between them and the Government of Burkina Faso. The evaluation found that the lack of additional time and support meant that it was not possible to dedicate sufficient time to ensuring the sustainability of efforts, as evidenced by the absence of adequate recovery strategies and limited capacity building activities. As in most other places, the handover to UN-Habitat suffered from a lack of time to put the necessary mechanisms in place and a lack of appropriate capacity and capacity building measures. In a country which does not traditionally face humanitarian crisis, and hence has not been exposed to the mechanisms of humanitarian coordination, the greatest achievement was to set up a mechanism that allowed partners to access and share information. According to the evaluation, a significant challenge that countries such as Burkina Faso face is a lack of capacity within their domestic institutions. So, it is the responsibility of the international humanitarian community to ensure that capacity building is prioritized, which will not only improve the ability of local partners to respond, but will also guarantee the sustainability of humanitarian efforts. ( English,English )
Subject:
Shelters
Citation/Reference:
Vega, C. (2011). Review of the IFRC-led shelter cluster Burkina Faso September 2009 floods response. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

Record Information

Source Institution:
Florida International University
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Disaster Risk Reduction