UN Joint Disaster Response and Recovery Mission to Central America as a Follow-up to Hurricane Mitch

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Children's Fund
Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization

TABLE OF CONTENTS

VOLUME 1
I. INTRODUCTION
II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
III. FINDINGS
IV. CONCLUSIONS AND LESSONS LEARNED
V. RECOMMENDATIONS

VOLUME 2 (presently being finalized)
VI. ANNEXES


CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

1. Mitch, the most powerful hurricane to hit Central America in two centuries, and which would have overwhelmed the most sophisticated disaster management structures, left behind unprecedented levels of destruction and hundreds of thousands of shattered lives.

2. Following his visit to the region, the UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Sergio Vieira de Mello, recommended the fielding of an inter-agency mission to the four countries most seriously affected by the combination of a phenomenon of horrendous proportions, and extreme poverty, environmental degradation and poor disaster response resources.

3. This is the outcome of this Mission See Terms of Reference in Annex 1., whose objectives were:

a) to produce, both an assessment of UN system coordination in responding to the emergency, and guidelines on how the preparedness and response capacities of the system can be further improved;

b) to identify additional resources required by UN Country Teams for them to further support, develop, streamline, manage and monitor assistance activities during the current rehabilitation and recovery phase; and

c) to present a set of proposals ensuring the integration of disaster reduction components in current, forthcoming and future recovery, reconstruction and development programmes.

4. The ultimate objective, for each of the four countries, is to strengthen governmental and civil society capacity to cope with natural and man made disasters by:

a) introducing disaster prevention and mitigation in the planning and carrying out of national programmes, as well as in drawing up and implementing local projects; and

b) improving national and local preparedness and response capacities, while advocating for the participation of each strata of the social fabric in the promotion and enforcement of disaster reduction sensitivity and measures.

5. The Mission requests that its recommendations be promptly put forward to the Inter-agency Standing Committee (IASC) to ensure an urgently needed co-ordinated follow-up.

6. OCHA, PAHO/WHO, UNICEF and UNDP joined forces to cope with the challenging task through the assignment of: Alfredo Witschi Cestari, designate UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident Co-ordinator for Turkey (Team Leader); Bernt Bernander, former Executive Director, UNOPS (OCHA consultant); Fabrizio Gentiloni, Deputy Chief, Disaster Response Branch, OCHA; Jean Luc Poncelet, Sub-regional Advisor, Emergency Preparedness and Relief Co-ordination Programme, PAHO/WHO; Gary Stahl, Programme Co-ordinator, Lima Area Office, UNICEF; John Rogge, Senior Advisor, Disaster Reduction and Recovery Programme (DRRP), Emergency Response Division (ERD), UNDP; and Maria Olga Gonzalez, Disaster Management Specialist, DRRP/ERD.

7. All members of the Mission are indebted to the four Resident Coordinators See Organisations Met in Annex 2. and their teams went out their way to provide the Mission with supporting facilities and guided it through the intricacies of complex situations. The mission is also profoundly grateful to the members of the UN Country Teams, who devote many hours to lengthy discussions, supplemented with massive documentation.

8. Our gratitude goes also to the many interlocutors from the diplomatic corps, co-operation agencies, international NGOs, financial institutions and to other actors from the international community who willingly shared their time and views in an open and constructive manner.

9. A special word of thanks is due to members of national and local institutions, of civil society and, in a very special way, to the victims themselves. All of them, with sincerity, patience and comprehension, allowed the Mission to obtain an insight of their personal distress, as well as to understand their tireless efforts, worries, expectations and hopes; without omitting the exceptional courage many of them showed during unforgettable moments.

10. Last, but not least, the Mission wishes to present the most sincere thanks to the national authorities. From the highest echelons to the local levels, they allowed the Mission to understand the reality that their countries and communities are facing, the complexity of their tasks and the magnitude of the challenges confronting them.

CHAPTER II: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1 Hurricane Mitch affected most of the population of Honduras and Nicaragua, large tracts of Guatemala and El Salvador, and to a lesser extent Belize and Costa Rica. The mission visited the four most affected countries from mid-January to early-February 1999.

2 The heavy death toll, disruption to livelihoods and damage to social and economic infrastructure placed the spot-light on the situation of structural poverty and social exclusion in these countries. The poorest were the hardest hit given their lack of access to adequate land and sustainable livelihoods and, therefore, their habitation in high-risk marginal areas. Large-scale deforestation and cultivation of marginal lands, together with inadequate regional watershed management, exacerbated the vulnerabilities.

3 The scale of Mitch would have overwhelmed even the best disaster management structures. The initial regional response suggested constraints in early warnings, information gathering, processing and dissemination at all levels, and only sporadic contact between countries.

4 Each Head of State invoked a national emergency committee structure to oversee the national response which incorporated existing disaster management structures.

5 Coordination of the response at local levels was generally in the hands of emergency committees consisting of municipal authorities and civil society. The private sector played a key role in transport and delivery of emergency aid. Despite all efforts, many communities were inaccessible for weeks after the disaster due to infrastructure damage. Political environments and lack of resources were added constraints.

6 The international response was massive, in cash, in-kind and in services, including a wide array of foreign military and civilian assets, notably from Latin America.

7 The UN system Disaster Management Teams (DMTs) were overextended, but managed a coordinated response which was perceived as timely by NGOs and governments in the region. Under the leadership of the Resident Coordinators and Country Teams, information was gathered and disseminated to coordinate actions between the municipal, national and international communities.

8 The situation on the ground pointed compellingly to the need to view relief and recovery/development requirements in an integrated manner. The UN launched a Transitional Appeal to fill the resource gap following the immediate emergency relief actions. The Appeal was perceived to be either too premature or too late and for not being sufficiently comprehensive in its analysis or field driven. The programmes contained in the Appeal however, require urgent and continue to require funding, particularly at the critical stage of recovery.

9 As the countries move to longer-term recovery and reconstruction, it is evident that neither the ad-hoc emergency committees nor the established civil defense structures have played significant role in future planning to ensure the inclusion of disaster reduction components.

10 The Mission is in particular concerned about the fact that, due to the lack of viable options, a large number of people are rebuilding houses at their former vulnerable sites. In this context, the UN system should focus its efforts on assisting governments and civil society in addressing long-term needs.

11 DMTs are more effective when they base emergency activities on on-going inter-agency collaboration and the field presence of humanitarian response agencies to support the UN system's work. Field operations established during the initial phase have been effective in information sharing, co-ordination, local capacity building and enabling real participation of communities in the development of national programmes.

12 Co-ordination between the DMTs and NGOs was most effective when carried out via NGO network structures and through the Red Cross Societies. Both should be invited to participate in DMT meetings to strengthen coordination and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the response.

13 UNDAC teams were valuable to Resident Coordinators in compiling and disseminating information, allowing the UN system to play an important coordinating role among the international community despite the numerous constraints. National and international UNVs also played a key role in this process.

14 In addition to the production of regular Situation Reports, the Country Teams also faced the additional pressure of regularly responding to the media with insights on how the UN system and its partners were addressing the emergency. Thus, improved co-ordination and communications support are recommendable for future emergencies.

15 Existing provisions for immediate contingency funding for effective emergency responses also require revision, and all DMTs should have up-dated information on the organizational division of responsibilities at UN Headquarters.

16 The UN system should consolidate its linkages with government and civil society to ensure the strengthening and mainstreaming of disaster preparedness, mitigation and prevention components into all country programming, with a solid base in communities to guarantee adequate inputs into national programmes. One way to achieve this is through the Theme Groups already established in some of the four countries that are tasked with formulating long-term programmes with governmental, non-governmental and bi-lateral partners and also to build on the experience acquired by some agencies.

17 In this highly inter-dependent region, it is of paramount importance to intensify efforts to address river basin management and global environmental issues at the regional level.

(continued)

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