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FINAL REPORT “Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigation of NaturalDisaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western Afghanistan”Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigationof Natural Disaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western AfghanistanFINAL REPORTDECEMBER 2011Karte Parwan, District Four, Kabul - Afghanistanphone: +93 797 551123, e-mail: afghanistan@intersos.org1

FINAL REPORT “Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigation of NaturalDisaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western Afghanistan”TABLE OF CONTENT___________________________________________________________________________1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 32. INTRODUCTION 53. PRELIMINARY ACTIVITIES 54. PROJECT ACTIVITIES PROGRESS REPORT 74.1 Sourestan and Gerdab villages 74.2 Ali Abad and Gerdab villages 84.3 Jalwardi village 114.4 Talas village 134.5 Community mobilization and DRR awareness campaign 155. MONITORING AND EVALUATING 166. MAJOR CONSTRAINS AND CHALLENGES 167. RECOMMENDATION FOR THE FUTURE 178. ATTACHMENTS 17Karte Parwan, District Four, Kabul - Afghanistanphone: +93 797 551123, e-mail: afghanistan@intersos.org2

FINAL REPORT “Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigation of NaturalDisaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western Afghanistan”1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARYAfghanistan is very prone to different types of natural disasters, resulting in heavy casualties anddamages to infrastructure. According to the CRED-International Disaster Database, the top 10 naturaldisasters in Afghanistan from 1900 till 2011 have killed an estimated 16,025 people and affectedapproximately 6 million. Climate change is also fuelling an escalation in the frequency and intensity ofdisasters. Seismic maps indicate that almost 70 percent of the territory is in the earthquakes risk zone.Other types of disasters which the population mostly faces are flash floods, heavy snow fall, avalanches anddrought.It is widely recognized that recurrent disasters, such as Afghanistan’s, have a large impact inundermining the ability of communities, regions, nations and the global community itself to meet basicdevelopment goals. Over the past two to three decades, the economic losses and the number of peoplewho have been affected by natural disasters have increased more rapidly than both economic andpopulation growth. The top 10 natural disasters in Afghanistan from 1900 till 2011 has caused alone morethan 451 million USD of damage cost. The impacts of the disasters are deeply related with the socioeconomicconditions, tradition, culture and climate of the communities. In addition, the intensity, andpossibly the frequency, of natural disasters are likely to be exacerbated by climate change. In light of thesethreats, disaster risk reduction (DRR) is central to meet local and global development objectives and toadapt to climate change. The importance of DRR is recognized globally in the key agreements of the HyogoFramework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015, signed also by Afghanistan.Moreover, there is growing evidence to show that most top-down disaster risk management andresponse programs fail to address specific local needs of vulnerable communities, ignore the potential oflocal resources and capacities and may in some cases even increase people’s vulnerability. As a result, abroad consensus has been reached among disaster risk management actors to put more emphasis oncommunity-based risk reduction programs (CBRRP). This means that vulnerable people themselves will beinvolved in planning and implementing disaster risk reduction measures in collaboration with local,provincial, and national authorities. CBRRP is a process of disaster risk reduction in which at riskcommunities are actively engaged in the identification, analysis, treatment, monitoring and evaluation ofdisaster risks in order to reduce their vulnerabilities and enhance capacities. This means that people are atthe heart of decision making and implementation of disaster risk reduction activities.Since 2003, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in partnership with different agencies of the UnitedNations and other organizations has developed key policy documents such as the National DisasterManagement Framework, National Strategy for Disaster Management, National Disaster ManagementPlan, and Provincial Disaster Management Plans. The National Emergency Commission, under theleadership of the President, has been established and the Afghanistan National Development Strategy(ANDS) has been developed where Disaster Management (DM) has been targeted within the SocialProtection Sector. The National Disaster Management Programme (NDMP), developed in 2003, advocates acomprehensive risk management approach. The Department of Disaster Preparedness (DDP) has the leadrole and is the nodal agency for coordinating disaster management activities at the national level and is theagency through which risk reduction strategies are coordinated. However, despite the rapid progress madeKarte Parwan, District Four, Kabul - Afghanistanphone: +93 797 551123, e-mail: afghanistan@intersos.org3

FINAL REPORT “Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigation of NaturalDisaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western Afghanistan”in the past few years, there is still urgent need for strengthening and building the capacity of ANDMA) andkey ministries for the implementation of an effective disaster preparedness and response country strategy.During the years 2010/2011, Afghanistan continued to cope with recurring natural disasters andongoing conflict that have resulted in chronic displacement and significant humanitarian needs throughoutthe country. In September 2010, U.N. agencies estimated that approximately 319,000 people remaineddisplaced, including 120,000 people displaced by conflict between June 2009 and December 2010.Widespread flooding during the spring and summer of 2010 affected approximately 500,000 peoplethroughout Afghanistan. The capacity of the Government to respond to natural disaster and conflict-relatedhumanitarian needs remained low, therefore, additional assistance was required to the internationalcommunity to ensure that immediate relief needs were met.The natural disaster management in the country focuses more on post-crisis activities which includesdamage assessments and relief. There are no early warning systems in place, no measures (short-term andlong-term) to prevent or reduce the impact of natural disasters. Generally, in Afghanistan the localconditions within the DRR sector are lacking behind. Communities are disorganized and look up to theprovincial governments for help. As opposed to the aspirations of the local population, the provincialauthorities work quite inefficiently in such impending challenges and rely most of the time on theassistance provided by the international military forces. There is a breakdown of communication betweenANDMA at the national level and provincial level that claim to handle the disasters and support thecommunities in the disaster-prone areas. Despite the designing of several disaster management plans andthe implementation of different programs supported by the international community to identify the typesof various disasters that can hit the country, no DRR initiatives or campaigns have yet been started. Inaddition, ANDMA lacks a focus on the topic of organizing the local communities. This breakdown keeps thecommunities in perpetual danger of hazards and questions the efficiency of the local and traditionalgovernance structures. Instead of preparing for the disasters, people in the communities rather accept the“inevitability” of whatever “fate” has written for them and the inaction of the local authorities. Within thisscenario of weak disaster management governance, the communities depend on the local and internationalrelief- and development organizations.UNDP started implementation of the Comprehensive Disaster Risk Reduction Project (CDRRP) for aperiod of five years (2007 – 2011) in 2007. CDRRP was reviewed in 2009 and re-named as “NationalDisaster Management Project” (NDMP) for a period of two years (2010 – 2011). NDMP aims to enhancenational, provincial and community disaster risk reduction and response capacities of the relevant Afghaninstitutions. It supports policies on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and assists ANDMA to developcomprehensive disaster management plans at national, provincial and district levels. The project is alsodesigned to build the resilience of local Afghan communities to disaster. However, being the primarybeneficiaries the governmental agencies both at national and provincial levels and academic institutions,focus is more on capacity building than on empirical interventions in the field, also considering that “TheAfghanistan Disaster Management Framework” as a priority DRR policy will be reviewed by NDMP andsubmitted to ANDMA for endorsement only during the third quarter of 2011.Within the framework of the broader UNOPS Program EDPER (Enhancing Disaster Preparedness andEmergency Response in the Western Region) INTERSOS has established in November 2010 a partnershipwith UNOPS for the implementation of the project “Hazard Risk and Vulnerability Mapping and CapacityKarte Parwan, District Four, Kabul - Afghanistanphone: +93 797 551123, e-mail: afghanistan@intersos.org4

FINAL REPORT “Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigation of NaturalDisaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western Afghanistan”Building of the Provincial Afghan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) in the Provinces ofHerat, Farah and Badghis, Western Afghanistan” aimed at contributing to the improvement of capability ofANDMA in Herat, Farah and Badghis Provinces in disaster preparedness and response, enhancing theinformation sharing with the district level through improved data collection and information managementsystem capacities. The project focused on enhancing the participation of provincial and district authoritiesin collection, maintenance, update and dissemination of information to decision makers.The above mentioned project, ended in October 2011, included two main components which tackledboth capacity-building of ANDMA personnel at provincial level, in terms of training courses to improveEnglish and PC skills, as well as the districts and community capacity for disaster risk reduction, improvedresponse, and recovery management, starting from the implementation of an accurate assessment of risksand vulnerability in the three targeted Provinces which led to the establishment of an on-line data basewhere the data collected where stored and one staff from ANDMA Herat has been trained in datamanagement and analysis in order to guarantee the sustainability of the process.With the present project “Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction andMitigation of Natural Disaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western Afghanistan” Intersos aimed atcontinuing to support ANDMA and the other relevant local authorities (PDMC/DDMCs) in the developmentof disaster resilient communities in Herat Province through the implementation of community baseddisaster risk reduction strategy and community disaster management awareness campaign.2. INTRODUCTIONThe present report summarizes the outcomes and results of the project “Implementation of CommunityBased Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigation of Natural Disaster Impacts in the Province of Herat,Western Afghanistan” implemented by INTERSOS between August 2011 and December 2011 incollaboration with UNOPS.The report describes the activities foreseen by the project, both structural and non-structural, with ananalysis of the effectiveness of Intersos implementation mainly focused on the CBRR approach andduplicability of the intervention.A series of attachments completes the report.3. PRELIMINARY ACTIVITIESDue to the short timeframe and the approaching winter season, INTERSOS had started the first twoprocesses of the project, namely- the identification of vulnerable locations and communities and- the identification of risk reduction activities and plan of interventions.Immediately after the signature of the contract.Karte Parwan, District Four, Kabul - Afghanistanphone: +93 797 551123, e-mail: afghanistan@intersos.org5

FINAL REPORT “Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigation of NaturalDisaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western Afghanistan”After broad consultations with ANDMA and DRRD at Herat level, the district of Injil had beenselected for the implementation of disaster risk reduction pilot projects, being the district more accessiblefrom a security point of view and the district where the assessment reported an high percentage of villagesthat have experienced flood and heavy rains disasters in the recent past (87%).The local authorities (DDMC, arbabs, shuras) have been involved in the selection process since thebeginning through a participatory disaster risk assessment approach. During the field visits conducted withANDMA and DRRD, meeting with arbabs and members of shuras have been organized in order to introducethe project and explain objectives and methodology. The local communities of Injil district had alreadycollaborated with Intersos in the hazard/risk and vulnerability assessment conducted in the previousproject and the deep knowledge of the communities by Intersos had facilitated and streamlined thepreliminary phases of the project.Namely, the selected targeted communities were Ali Abad and Garmi Abad, Sourestan, Gerdab andKarta and Jalwardi.Please find the mentioned locations in the map here below.Karte Parwan, District Four, Kabul - Afghanistanphone: +93 797 551123, e-mail: afghanistan@intersos.org6

FINAL REPORT “Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigation of NaturalDisaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western Afghanistan”Second step of the CBRR strategy implementation was to identify, together with the targetedcommunities, proper activities for risk reduction. Given the short timeframe of the present project, Intersoshad conducted during the month of July community consultations in each of the selected villages tounderstand from the communities themselves which type of intervention would reduce the impact offuture natural disasters. As mentioned above, the major hazard in Injil district is flood, therefore, localleaders and villagers had always indicated activities aimed at mitigating the negative effects of the floods.As result of these preliminary community consultations, INTERSOS identified the followinginterventions:- Construction of 380 meters of retaining wall, divided in two sections on 200 meters and 180meters, along the river bank of Karbar river between Sourestan and Gerdab Villages;- Construction of 600 meters of protection wall in Ali Abad and Garni Abad villages along the riverbank of Hariroud River;- Construction of 6.4 meters culvert in Jalwardi village along the road that connects the villages ofUrdo Kan, Asad Bik, Faraidon Abad, Rabat, Waisi, Shesh Marda, Naqash, Peric Nisan, Nawabadam,Saleh Abad, Nanq Abad with Herat City;- Construction of a 3 meters concrete suspension water channel in Jalwardi village;- Construction of 80 meters of drainage channel in Jalwardi village, beside and under the roadconnecting the villages of Urdo Kan, Asad Bik, Faraidon Abad, Rabat, Waisi, Shesh Marda, Naqash,Peric Nisan, Nawabadam, Saleh Abad, Nanq Abad with Herat City.Following the contract signature on the 22 nd of August 2011, the first step implemented by INTERSOShas been to obtain the letter of approval for the project from ANDMA, DRRD and the Department ofEconomy which, based on the national NGO law, officially authorizes to start the activities.Karte Parwan, District Four, Kabul - Afghanistanphone: +93 797 551123, e-mail: afghanistan@intersos.org7

FINAL REPORT “Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigation of NaturalDisaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western Afghanistan”4. PROJECT ACTIVITIES PROGRESS REPORTFollowing the preliminary phase, core activities of the intervention have started from September 2011. Atthe end of August INTERSOS, in order to enhance the effectiveness of the planned interventions onbeneficiaries’ living conditions, settled a close collaboration with the Italian Civil Protection. Thiscollaboration was realized trough CIMA Research Foundation – International Centre on EnvironmentalMonitoring. CIMA is a no-profit organization based in Savona with the main aim to sustain researches inenvironmentally related fields, focusing on public health and safety, civil protection and the preservation ofterrestrial and water-related ecosystems.During this cooperation, Intersos international Project Manager was trained with 4 days course inSavona both on structural interventions and community awareness campaign activities. The training wasmainly focused on general information on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), specific understanding ofmonitoring water-related issues (river water level, rate of rainfall and snowfall) and punctual analysis of thestructural interventions planned for the implementation of the project.After the movement of Intersos PM in the targeted areas (Herat Province, Western Afghanistan) thecoordination between Intersos PM and CIMA staff has kept working and resulted in the substantialmodification of part of the designed structural works.4.1 Sourestan and Gerdab villagesIn the area between Sourestan and Gerdab the construction of two masonry walls, respectively of200 and 180 meters, aimed at preventing the erosion of the banks of the Karabar river was planned. In fact,each year Karabar River is eroding several meters of cultivable land and, due to the increased soil erosionfaced during the beginning of 2011, seriously damaged a water channel bringing water to the surroundingvillages and the road connecting Sourestan to Herat City. After the second technical assessment and theconsultation with the line departments, the communities involved and mainly thanks to the constantsuggestions and advices from CIMA staff based on the data collected on the field and the satellite images ofthe relevant areas, INTERSOS decided to change the typology of intervention and to build a 650 meters longwooden picket fence, divided in two parts of 280 and 350 meters each, instead of the mentioned masonrywalls.This new typology, suggested by the high friability of the soil and the next arrival of the rainy season,would have allowed to cover a longer part of the river bank, minimizing the risk of collateral effectspotentially caused by the intervention and guaranteeing an easier community based maintenance of thestructure as well as a more sustainable reproduction of the intervention in the future. After the officialauthorization by UNOPS for the change of intervention received on 6 th of October, INTERSOS started theprocurement procedures for the needed materials namely wooden poles, stones for the basement of thewooden fence, iron material (galvanized wire, nails and screw) and gabions for the reinforcement of thestructure. At the same time INTERSOS conducted a deep community mobilization in order to ensure thecollaboration of the involved community during the works, both for explaining them the benefits of theintervention and for recruiting of daily workers.INTERSOS utilized one loader and one excavator for arranging the access to the site, essential for thetransportation of the materials to the working site, and for modifying the river banks as per project.Moreover, the machineries were used to deviate the water from the working site digging two channels ofKarte Parwan, District Four, Kabul - Afghanistanphone: +93 797 551123, e-mail: afghanistan@intersos.org8

FINAL REPORT “Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigation of NaturalDisaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western Afghanistan”totally 400 meters. The daily workers provided by the communities supported and assisted the heavymachineries during the first phase, lasting up to the Eid holidays (5 th of November). Unfortunately, due tothe adverse weather conditions occurred during Eid, a sudden flood occurred in Sourestan/Gerdab androughly wasting almost 50% of the works done up to date and damaging the stream which was bringingwater to the nearer villages. After a further inspection conducted once the water level in the sitedecreased, INTERSOS, together with UNOPS and ANDMA representative, decided to cancel the plannedintervention and stopped the procurements related to the construction of the picket fence.In order to compensate the damages occurred to the communities initially targeted as beneficiaries ofthe intervention (damage of the stream and loss of the soil already moved in the first phase of theimplementation), INTERSOS dealt with the communities through the Injil District Governor Office in orderto reestablish the provision of water to the cultivable lands and to allows to the beneficiaries to start theseeding of the lands. The disputes among the communities have been settled and INTERSOS identifiedanother location for the implementation of the works.4.2 Ali Abad and Garmi Abad villagesThe construction of a 600 meters long protection masonry wall was planned in the area near the villagesof Ali Abad and Garmi Abad. In fact, due to the soil erosion caused by the seasonal floods, the communitiesliving in these areas have been obliged to leave the houses built along the banks of Harirud river andmoreover they have lost several hectares of cultivable land and grassland. After the second technicalassessment and the consultation with the line departments and the communities involved, INTERSOSdecided to partially change the typology of intervention, mainly thanks to the constant suggestions andadvices from CIMA staff based on the data collected on the field and the satellite images of the relevantareas, opting for a 600 meters long gabion protection wall instead of the masonry wall. This decision wassuggested by the instability of the ground in the area and the approaching of the rainy season, period whenit would have been difficult working with big quantities of cement on open air. Moreover, this typology ofintervention would guarantee both a higher resistance to the pressure exerted by the water in case of floodand a better adaptability to the eventual movements of the ground beneath, due to the inherent propertiesof the gabions, and would allow the beneficiaries to periodically maintain the protection wall. After theofficial authorization by UNOPS for the change of intervention received on 6 th of October, INTERSOS startedthe procurement procedures for the needed materials namely gabions stones for filling gabion and ironmaterial (galvanized wire and gabion net) for the participation of the community to the process ofconstruction of a part of the needed gabions.At the same time INTERSOS conducted a deep community mobilization in order to ensure thecollaboration of the involved community during the works, both for explaining them the benefits of theintervention and for recruiting of daily workers.INTERSOS started the activities for the implementation of the project during the month of October. Thefirst phase was the digging of foundation for the 600 meters long protection gabion wall: in order to speedup the works, INTERSOS utilized an excavator and the first phase has been completed within the 27 th ofNovember. At the same time, INTERSOS started the trainings for the workers in order to support them withthe needed knowledge for the implementation.Karte Parwan, District Four, Kabul - Afghanistanphone: +93 797 551123, e-mail: afghanistan@intersos.org9

FINAL REPORT “Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigation of NaturalDisaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western Afghanistan”The planning of the construction works, the definition of technical specifications and the technical drawingswere arranged by INTERSOS International PM, the PM assistant and the chief engineer in cooperation withANDMA technical office. The management of the working site was assigned to INTERSOS site engineer, whoensured the proper attendance of the workers on site and the adherence to both the technicalspecifications and the working plan.The intervention was carried out through both skilled and unskilled workers –on an average 60 workers perday. The activities were managed as per following tree diagram:Karte Parwan, District Four, Kabul - Afghanistanphone: +93 797 551123, e-mail: afghanistan@intersos.org10

FINAL REPORT “Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigation of Natural Disaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western Afghanistan”Ali Abad and Garmi Abad working site tree diagramKarte Parwan, District Four, Kabul - Afghanistanphone: +93 797 551123, e-mail: afghanistan@intersos.org11

FINAL REPORT “Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigation of NaturalDisaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western Afghanistan”As soon as the digging of foundations was completed, the community started to fix and to fill the gabions,as per work plan. During the Eid holidays also Ali Abad/Garmi Abad were affected by heavy rains and flood,but fortunately without the consequences faced in Sourestan/Gerdab. In Ali Abad/Garmi Abad INTERSOSwas forced to stop the activities for three days, then the water came back on the normal level and theworks started again.After the cancellation of the intervention planned in Sourestan/Gerdab, INTERSOS received at the endof November the authorization from UNOPS to extend the length of the protection gabion wall up to 650meters, as well enhancing the strength of the wall with several back reinforcement made with gabions.The implementation of the works in Ali Abad proceeded as per work plan, despite the incoming of thewinter season, with a good commitment of the communities and the workers involved. The constructionworks lasted more than two months and ended during the last week of December.4.3 Jalwardi villageThe construction of 80 meters long masonry channel and a culvert was planned in the area near thevillage of Jalwardi in order to reduce the risk of the partial or total erosion of the road connecting Jalwardiand surrounding villages to Herat city on one side of the existing stream connected to Karouk river, and theloss of agricultural land on the other.Moreover, the construction of a 3 meters long concrete aqueduct was planned, in order to replacethe traditional water channel and minimize the risk for Jalwardi community to be disconnected from theirmain water source. For Jalwardi interventions, INTERSOS started the procurement procedures and thecommunity mobilization during the month of October. The first phase of the work, constituted in diggingthe new channel location, was completed in October.The planning of the construction works, the definition of technical specifications and the technical drawingswere arranged by INTERSOS International PM, the PM assistant and the chief engineer in cooperation withANDMA technical office. The management of the working site was assigned to INTERSOS site engineer, whoensured the proper attendance of the workers on site and the adherence to both the technicalspecifications and the working plan.The intervention was carried out through both skilled and unskilled workers –on an average 25 workers perday. The activities were managed as per following tree diagram:Karte Parwan, District Four, Kabul - Afghanistanphone: +93 797 551123, e-mail: afghanistan@intersos.org12

FINAL REPORT “Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigation of NaturalDisaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western Afghanistan”Jalwardi working site tree diagramAfter the cancellation of the intervention planned in Sourestan/Gerdab, INTERSOS received at the end ofNovember the authorization from UNOPS to extend the length of the masonry channel up to 145 metersand to cast 2 additional concrete slabs for facilitating the movement of people and animals from one sideto the other of the masonry channel.Moreover, the construction of the masonry channel was subject to qualitative modifications aimedto enhance the strength and the durability of the intervention and to ensure a higher security of the placeafter completion of the works.INTERSOS completed the implementation of the above described works during the third week ofDecember. The community of Jalwardi was highly committed and supported INTERSOS staff reallyproficiently.Karte Parwan, District Four, Kabul - Afghanistanphone: +93 797 551123, e-mail: afghanistan@intersos.org13

FINAL REPORT “Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigation of NaturalDisaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western Afghanistan”4.4 Talas villageAfter the cancellation of the intervention planned in Sourestan/Gerdab due to the flood occurred at thebeginning of November, INTERSOS together with UNOPS, representatives of ANDMA and DoA (Departmentof Agriculture) evaluated several options for the implementation of a substitutive intervention.As result of this additional evaluation process, Talas village, placed in Gozarah district of Herat Province,was selected. Here a secondary branch of Hariroud river eroded a substantial part of cultivable lands,destroying the bank of a stream bringing water for cultivation. As result of the erosion, the community ofTalas was suffering of a critical lack of water for the irrigation of lands and the agricultural production wasseriously at risk.In order to reestablish the normal water flow, INTERSOS planned the construction of a 120 meters longprotection gabion wall running on the side of the river as support of the existing soil embankment.The planning of the construction works, the definition of technical specifications and the technical drawingswere arranged by INTERSOS International PM, the PM assistant and the chief engineer in cooperation withANDMA technical office. The management of the working site was assigned to INTERSOS site engineer, whoensured the proper attendance of the workers on site and the adherence to both the technicalspecifications and the working plan.The implementation of the works in Talas proceeded as per work plan, despite the incoming of the winterseason, with a good commitment of the communities and the workers involved. The construction works,started during the first week of December and ended during the last week of the same month, for a totalduration of 3 weeks.The intervention was carried out through both skilled and unskilled workers –on an average 25 workers perday. The activities were managed as per following tree diagram:Karte Parwan, District Four, Kabul - Afghanistanphone: +93 797 551123, e-mail: afghanistan@intersos.org14

FINAL REPORT “Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigation of Natural Disaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western Afghanistan”Talas working site tree diagramKarte Parwan, District Four, Kabul - Afghanistanphone: +93 797 551123, e-mail: afghanistan@intersos.org15

FINAL REPORT “Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigation of NaturalDisaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western Afghanistan”4.5 Community mobilization and DRR awareness campaignINTERSOS started the implementation of the DRR awareness campaign during the month ofOctober, through the selection of the 30 villages beneficiaries of the community mobilization activities.The selection was based on the vulnerability criteria, extracted from the data base realized duringthe implementation of the first phase of UNOPS EDPER project.INTERSOS conducted the DRR awareness campaign in the following villages: Mazre Haji Qayom,Saleh Abad, Rabat Afghana, Dogh Abad, Bishi Mukhtar, Kariz Naw, Reselat Saq Salman, Sufian, Ghawgha,Khosh Rood, Nagahan, Chondagar, Asad Bik, Rabat Waisy, Qala Farahi, Nawen Olya, Nawen Sufla, TurkanOlay, Qala Barakziha, Jalal Abad, Koshk Bad Saba, Sainan, Jebraeal, Awal Walid, Rawashan, Hasan Abad,Jalwardi, Buzdan Anjil and Buzdan Alinjan.The community mobilization team was composed by two female DRR awareness trainers and twomale social workers which conducted two visits foe each of the selected villages, one aimed to serve themales of the beneficiaries’ communities and one for females.The trainings were focused on the following subjects:- Flood: definition of flood, cause of happening, activities and action to be undertaken in order toreduce the effects of flood;- Heavy rain: definition and event season identification, activities and action to be undertaken inorder to reduce the effects of heavy rains;- Soil erosion: definition and explanation of causes of soil erosion, identification of the risks forcultivable lands, animals and human beings, activities and actions to be undertaken in order toreduce soil erosion;- Hygiene promotion: description of general policies and actions to be undertaken to improve thehygiene conditions (use and management of drinkable water, caring of houses hygiene conditions,caring of personal hygiene conditions).The community mobilization team was also involved, together with the national engineer and siteassistants, in the technical workshops aimed at providing to the needed skills and know-how for theimplementation of the project to the communities of Sourestan, Gerdab, Jalwardi, Ali Abad, Garmi Abadand Talas.Karte Parwan, District Four, Kabul - Afghanistanphone: +93 797 551123, e-mail: afghanistan@intersos.org16

FINAL REPORT “Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigation of NaturalDisaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western Afghanistan”5. MONITORING AND EVALUATINGAs main monitoring tool, Intersos utilized direct observation and site visits regularly conducted in orderto closely monitor the progress of the activities. Moreover, during all the duration of the project, regularmeetings with villages’ members of shuras and arbabs have been held by Intersos team in order tounderstand community concerns and degree of satisfaction with Intersos approach and methodology.Inspections have been organized in cooperation with the relevant Provincial Department and inaccordance with present Afghan National Standards and Ministries directives.Beside UNOPS reporting requirements, the project manager prepared and submitted monthly ProjectProgress and Financial Report to INTERSOS Head of Mission. Intersos Head of Mission, based in Kabul, hasbeen responsible to maintain the relationships with UNOPS for the overall implementation of the action.Intersos Country Administrator has been responsible to oversight the administrative management of theaction, guaranteeing that the procurement procedures were in line with Intersos procurement regulationand that financial reporting was compliant to donor's requirements.Regular narrative and financial reports have been provided to UNOPS, according to the specificreporting guidelines of the agency.6. MAJOR CONSTRAINS AND CHALLENGESDuring the activities implementation several challenges and concerns have been encountered.- Implementation during cold season: one of the more problematic challenges faced was the need toimplement the construction projects starting from the end of September up to the end ofDecember, meaning when the weather was worsening and the probability of rain falls wasincreasing. For this reason INTERSOS was forced to cancel the intervention in Sourestan andGerdab and to slow down the works both in Ali Abad/Garmi Abad and in Jalwardi.- Weakness of national authorities (ANDMA) in effectively plan and coordinate stakeholders’response within a broader DRR scheme for the Province of Herat: The intervention developed in acontext where a number of actors were involved in similar projects not having a clear provincialDRR plan to which to refer to. This weakness caused cases of overlapping as well as effectivenessloss. INTERSOS promptly reported to ANDMA about the above mentioned issues, trying to minimizethe related risks. However, it is advisable to further invest in the capacity building of national actorsin order to enhance their analysis and planning skills so as to guarantee better coherence to futureinterventions.- Poor effectiveness of community based approach for duplicability of interventions: INTERSOSimplemented all the projects involving directly the community in the works. In all the locationswhere INTERSOS worked the result of the works and the commitment of the communities weremore than satisfactory. The main problem INTERSOS faced with the communities was the difficultyto convince them to duplicate the intervention by themselves – without receiving any payment outof the benefit of the intervention itself - once the planned work has been finished. This happened,out of the indubitable need of money, mainly because of the poor sense of common responsibilityKarte Parwan, District Four, Kabul - Afghanistanphone: +93 797 551123, e-mail: afghanistan@intersos.org17

FINAL REPORT “Implementation of Community Based Activities for Risk Reduction and Mitigation of NaturalDisaster Impacts in the Province of Herat, Western Afghanistan”within the communities’ members and the lack of understanding of the common utility of theworks done.7. RECOMMENDATION FOR THE FUTUREAs out coming of the observation of the challenges faced during the project implementation, INTERSOSsuggests to:- Plan eventual further construction projects of DRR only starting from March/April up to October,focusing during the winter season on the software activities;- Create an evaluation and monitoring team in coordination with ANDMA, DRRD and Department ofAgriculture for the creation of a general plan of intervention in Herat Province, highlighting theareas to prioritize and standardizing the typologies of intervention. The out coming of thisevaluation would be a general plan of intervention that the NGOs or the agencies that are willing towork in DRR sector in Herat Province should follow. This plan would avoid the occurring of furtheroverlapping and the presence of different standards of implementation;- Consider as effectively duplicable only the interventions that are based on a good life practices(reforestation, planting of grasses, cleaning of the drainage channels) and focus on the involvementof the communities in this kind of activities through sustainable seedling distributions and crossingover trainings about agro and DRR management. For the implementation of structural projects thecommunities should be considered as beneficiaries and actors directly involved in the works, butwithout expecting as logically consequent the duplication of the intervention.8. ATTACHMENTSPlease refer to the folder attached to the present report.Karte Parwan, District Four, Kabul - Afghanistanphone: +93 797 551123, e-mail: afghanistan@intersos.org18