Inter-Agency Real Time Evaluation of the Humanitarian ... - alnap

IA RTE of the humanitarian response to Pakistan’s 2010 Floods crisis
separate latrines…) to address women’s access to assistance. However, the response was
generally gender blind on most fronts.
The current response plans are based on individual agency and sectoral early recovery needs
assessments. Most organizations are preparing new assessments but few of these are
coordinated centrally to ensure that they are aligned to GoP’s recovery strategies and efforts.
While only a few sectors claim to have clarity of early recovery scope and needs, today, there is
no comprehensive assessment of outstanding recovery needs. Disaster response better meets
requirements where assessment is an ongoing process and is responsive to changing conditions
and feeds into programming.
Multi‐sector area based approaches are best suited for disasters of this size as sector or cluster
based approaches soon spread thin. Geographical area based approaches allow for better
coverage, they are more adaptive to changing needs and they provide better opportunities for
interlinkages between relief, recovery and rehabilitation.
Effectiveness, efficiency and accountability of some UN agencies and INGOs have been
questioned by donors, GoP and implementing partners. Some donors questioned UN’s added
value with high transaction costs and multiple implementation layers before reaching
beneficiaries. In general, there is insufficient commitment to the aid effectiveness agenda,
specifically in areas of accountability.
Pakistan is a disaster hotspot exposed to recurrent hydrological and meteorological events.
Despite the existence of national and sometimes also provincial plans, to date disaster
management has been reactive as investments in DRR are insufficient. The civilian disaster
management capacity at provincial and district level is low and coordination capacity is not
always functioning properly. The links between national and provincial disaster management are
generally weak and preparedness was insufficient to provide a more effective and efficient
response. Pakistan is one of the eight pilot countries where the One UN has been rolled out and
disaster risk management (DRM) is one of the five strategic priorities, however, contingency
planning with a clear division of labour among the government and the international community
is generally missing. The next disaster is “just around the corner” as the next monsoon season
will soon start. The risk for a new emergency situation is high due to the concentration of poor
people living in hazardous areas along river shores. Today there is a clear need to consider DRM
and preparedness into UNDAF process, led by One UN within the joint programming approach
Pakistan has been a key test‐ground for the humanitarian reform and currently faces some of
the most important humanitarian challenges. However the humanitarian community is suffering
from a chronic amnesia as it does not take stock of lessons learned from prior evaluations. A
more systemic follow up on previous recommendations is needed as it would help improve the
effectiveness and efficiency of the humanitarian system’s response to future disasters, both
within Pakistan and globally. A strong UN leadership must engage and ensure a continued and
close dialogue with Pakistani authorities as well as ensuring that stakeholders and partners are
held accountable.
Riccardo Polastro, Aatika Nagrah, Nicolai Steen and Farwa Zafar
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