Inter-Agency Real Time Evaluation of the Response to Cyclone Nargis

Much has already been done for capacity building but the IA RTE team observed many potentialopportunities that would benefit local agencies (including private sector), national staff andcommunities, notably in operational planning, aid delivery and DRR. An interesting illustration ofthis potential was the Sphere training provided by Yangon-based staff from the Department of SocialWelfare (DSW) which was so well-received that DSW requested the training be replicated at hublevel for its field staff.With few exceptions, national staff (of both national and international organizations) interviewedshowed relatively little awareness of strategic planning processes that were being discussed atYangon level or, more importantly, what the implications were for their particular roles.This appeared to the IA RTE team to be a reflection of the cultural context to a some extent, but thiscalls into question the appropriateness and long-term sustainability of agency programs if field staffwho interact with communities have little understanding of agency strategies.3.8.1 Capacity Building RecommendationsR.9. More international support is required for capacity building, of national staff in internationalorganizations, and of local partners. Immediate benefits can be realized if experiencedinternational staff spend more time in the Delta in advisory roles which would not onlyallow more capacity building, but help better understand capacity building needs.3.9 Early RecoveryEarly recovery planning has been integrated into overall planning through the establishment of anetwork, whereby each cluster is provided with a dedicated early recovery focal point. At the time ofthe IA RTE, the Early Recovery Strategic Framework remained in draft form and did not seem to bewidely distributed or available on the MIMU website (in fact, almost all documents from the ERcluster on the website were outdated). Most staff from national and international agencies at thehub level demonstrated little awareness of any recovery strategy beyond “seeds and tools”distribution type of activities. Broader recovery issues around food security, restoration of localmarkets and small-scale infrastructure were rarely mentioned.Capacity for early recovery planning and coordination has been limited. While UNDP deservescredit for deploying a team of early recovery specialists at an early stage of the response, it was shortterm in nature. Interviews suggested that UNDP’s attempts to build on this early mission were puton hold when one of the early recovery advisors had to be redeployed during June to fill the role ofOCHA Head of Office as the post had not been filled and was an urgent priority. Since early Julyearly recovery coordination has relied solely on one Yangon-based staff member within the ResidentCoordinator’s office, with no international field presence. While additional funding and posts havenow been secured, recruitment processes are still ongoing.UNDP was aided during the response by its pre-cyclone presence in the Delta and, due to donorrestrictions, an atypical structure which resembles more an NGO than a UN agency with a large fieldpresence and employing community-based approaches. From interviews and IA RTE observations itappeared that a significant amount of UNDP’s field capacity was still being devoted to distributions,despite an evident need for early recovery leadership and the presence of other agencies whichseemed to be better equipped to handle such activities.24