Rapid Assessment for Resilient Recovery and ... - GFDRR

maintained to keep transparency, agree codes of conduct, mutual learning and develop
responsiveness to community initiatives. The collaboration that develops from this disaster
response may grow into an effective network in the long run.
Disbursement of Grants for Family and Community Activities
It is important to devise channels for disbursement of grants that are as direct as possible,
as has already been done with the THB 5,000 emergency response grants. Grants may
be transferred directly from government banks to people’s accounts, either group-wise
or through cooperatives. For community infrastructure, some community grants will be
needed, especially when micro-infrastructure needs to be improved or groups of families
decide to relocate.
Rehabilitation of Housing and Building Back Better
In particular situations ‘building back better’ may be a necessary policy. This may not only
be related to better construction of the houses themselves, but may also include correction
of the existing land uses. This is mainly for the safety of family assets, and for environmental
and health safety reasons (water quality, sanitation); in certain parts it may be
for hydrological reasons (to free waterways, reduce obstruction). The government will be
expected to respond to people’s aspirations to find better locations for their homes.
Non-structural actions in this context may need to start earlier than structural actions, as
communities need to decide on investment in better buildings as well on resettlement,
by their own analysis. Facilitation to communities will include information and technical
backup to develop building and settlement designs. Relevant local government agencies
will be required to provide appropriate inputs. Local community organizations may develop
roles related to risk prevention and mitigation (see section on Disaster Risk Management).
Recommendations for Reconstruction
General
Community-led: Lessons from previous experience (e.g. Indonesia earthquake, Pakistan
floods, Cyclone Nargis etc.) have taught us that placing affected people and communities
at the center of decisions and actions during the recovery and reconstruction
phases will achieve sustainable and successful results. Community commitments may
become the basis for government support to improved quality of settlements, rather than
disbursement of funds for rebuilding conditions as they were before.
Focus on vulnerable groups: It is likely that the families which have been inundated for
longer periods are also those who are more affected.
Special efforts to induce transparency of information and decision-making will make
a big difference in performance of all programs. Criteria need to be announced in written
form, and consistent among the regions. This is to avoid differences in interpretation and
distribution of supports, and reduce tendencies to deviate from rules. Communities need
to be involved in the assessment of damage, preparation of action plans, and management
of activities. It is expected that in such an environment mutual trust and effective
collaboration between government, people and civil society will grow.
158 THAI FLOOD 2011 RAPID ASSESSMENT FOR RESILIENT RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION PLANNING