Fiji

More documents

Recommendations

Info

FIJI Post-Disaster Needs Assessment Different social groups have been affected in distinct ways by TC Winston. Housing serves different functions for different household members. For example, due to their role in reproductive work and lack of access to jobs in the formal economy, women often derive income in their homes. Men, on the other hand, use homes for resting and recuperating, and their economic activities tend to not be home based. For example in Ra and Tailevu (Western and Central Divisions respectively), most women were engaged in mat and basket weaving at home 94 before the cyclone; however, since the cyclone, their economic activities have come to a halt due to the destruction of houses, kitchens, raw materials and equipment. Destruction of homes could, therefore, have more far-reaching consequences for women than men. Homes are places for nurturing and security for children, and loss of housing is likely to compound the traumatic experience of having endured a Category 5 cyclone (as noted in Chapter 3.2.2 of this PDNA, which considers the effects of TC Winston on the health sector). Housing also offers shelter and security for women and young girls from potential violence. While most families have returned home and are no longer in emergency shelters, many are still seeking shelter with relatives and friends while waiting to rebuild their homes. Therefore, the lack of access to privacy, and cramped living arrangements with extended family and friends, can lead to increased vulnerability for exploitation and put women and girls at a heightened risk of sexual and physical violence. Such risks are also high for households headed by women who are still living in transitional shelters. Female-headed households make up about 12 percent of all Fijian households. Assuming that approximately 12 percent (or 3,529) of total houses destroyed belong to female-headed households, such households would incur total damage and losses in excess of F$93 million. While female-headed households are usually economically better off than male-headed households, 95 statistics show that female-headed households, where the head is divorced or has never married, have a 71 percent higher poverty rate, making them susceptible to severe disaster impacts, livelihoods stress and poverty. 96 Homes headed by single women are, therefore, more likely to be poorly constructed and maintained and, accordingly, to have sustained extensive damage from TC Winston. Furthermore, households belonging to widows, the elderly, PLWD and single women may also struggle to rebuild their homes due to a lack of physical strength and/or resources to rebuild quickly. Home reconstruction programmes should prioritize the most vulnerable households to ensure they have access to resources to build their homes. The Help for Homes initiative should ensure that the targeting and verification of beneficiaries reaches the most vulnerable households. The appropriate share of the allocated F$70 million should reach all households that earn less than F$50,000 a year, including single women, divorced women and widows, PLWD and the elderly, as these groups are often among the poorest. The data used by the PBS managed by the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation could be a starting point in identifying the poorest households. Both women and men must also participate and benefit from home reconstruction programmes. As such, training women in masonry skills to support home construction could also assist women, who are underrepresented in the labour force, augment their livelihoods. Recovery and Reconstruction Needs for the Housing Sector (F$857 million) Early recovery of Fiji’s housing sector began through the efforts of private households assisted by government agencies, the private sector, NGOs and other donors within a week after the cyclone. This included clearing debris in the villages and salvaging materials for housing and other building repairs. The government established a dedicated CIU in the Ministry of Finance’s SPO to coordinate the preparation of a recovery strategy in the housing and other sectors. The CIU has received a wealth of voluntary support from Fiji’s private sector, notably from members of the FIE and from NGOs through the Shelter Cluster, providing detailed technical costing and recommendations for the future. On April 9, 2016, H.E. Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama announced the Help for Homes initiative, which is at the core of the housing reconstruction strategy; an initial amount of F$70 million from the government’s 2016 budget was announced at the strategy’s launch. The Help for Homes reconstruction strategy recognizes that households are responsible for rebuilding and repairing their own homes. However, in order to ‘jump start’ private households’ resources, the government will provide a construction materials grant to every affected household earning less than F$50,000 97 according to the level of damage. Three grant amounts will be offered as shown in Table 48. 94 Based on interviews conducted by the Department of Social Protection, ILO, UN Women and UNDP on 13 April 2016. 95 This is largely due to the fact that most female-headed households are supported by migrant spouses who sent remittances. 96 Fiji Bureau of Statistic 2011: Republic of Fiji Poverty Trends, Profiles and Small Area Estimation (poverty maps) in Republic of Fiji (2003- 2009). 97 According to the limited available income information (HIES 2008/2009), the average annual income was F$23,000 for urban households and F$11,068 for rural households. Therefore, almost all affected households are expected to be eligible to receive a materials grant. 76 Tropical Cyclone Winston, February 20, 2016
FIJI Post-Disaster Needs Assessment Table 48: Materials Grant for Different Levels of Damage in the Housing Sector Level of Damage Materials Grant Amount (F$) Purpose Minor damage to the roof 1,500 Sufficient to jump start partial repairs Major damage to the roof 3,000 Sufficient to jump start partial repairs House destroyed 7,000 Sufficient to construct one room (15m 2 floor area) and withstand Category 3 wind speeds Source: Estimations by Assessment Team. Following vetting by the Department of Social Welfare, eligible households will be issued e-cards (provided for free by Vodafone Fiji Ltd.) to hold the small grant funds. The e-cards may be used to purchase materials from eligible, pre-qualified (by the Ministry of Finance) materials suppliers. The e-card system is expected to be effective by May 2016 and the first round of grants (up to F$70 million) will close in June 2016. Owner-led housing reconstruction approaches, similar to the Help for Homes initiative, have been successfully implemented in a number of countries and aim to ensure that limited public funds are spread widely to assist as many affected families as possible. However, in order to be successful, and to ensure that no household is left behind during the reconstruction, house repairs are carried out to an acceptable construction standard and suitable building materials (even where salvaged) are used, the household repairs process must be supported. Ideally and in keeping with a strong rural housing tradition in Fiji, households will initially be encouraged to form ‘buddy’ groups of five to 10 households to work together to purchase necessary construction materials in bulk and to repair or reconstruct the houses in their group. Furthermore, provinciallybased, mobile support units consisting of building advisors and community caseworkers will be fielded (contracted in from the private sector to supplement government staff) to closely monitor progress being made by all households/groups and to provide on the spot design and construct advice and social counseling as needed. There is a need for: the provision of pre-approved model house plans 98 that can be incrementally extended; training of local builders in cyclone-resilient construction; a well-coordinated and ongoing public information and education campaign urging households to make use of sound construction techniques and properly specified building materials; and information regarding where to obtain building and counseling advice throughout the reconstruction. Furthermore, particularly in informal settlements where tenure security is not yet unambiguously recorded, a simple addressing system with occupancy rights may need to be introduced, where appropriate, to underwrite householders’ own willingness to invest personal resources into the houses. Overall, approximately 38 percent of building materials will need to be imported; for example, required quantities of suitable treated framing timber is already in short supply. 99 The government aims to complete the initial phase of Help for Homes recovery within 24 months. These ‘softer’ support activities should be established as soon as possible and should be fully funded for an initial three years. They should then be funded at a lower level of intensity for an additional two to three years, recognizing that once households have undertaken initial repairs/construction of one room with the Help for Homes materials grants, incremental improvements and additions will continue to be made to the homes over many years by households using only their own resources. Full recovery of the housing sector to pre-Winston levels (particularly in regards to the size of houses) and incrementally strengthening the housing stock for future extreme weather events is likely to take at least a decade to achieve. The value of the total recovery and reconstruction needs for the housing sector are F$857.3 million. Table 49 provides the breakdown of total recovery needs for the housing sector. More information on how the recovery will make use of the supported owner-group reconstruction approach (Help for Homes) is set out in Annex 5: Supplementary Material for Housing Sector. Table 49: Total Recovery and Reconstruction Needs for the Housing Sector (F$ million) Preparatory work and strengthening the regulatory and technical environment Design, construction and reconstruction of homes, and replacement of household items Recovery Reconstruction Resilience Total 0.3 19.5 19.8 834.1 834.1 Transportation costs 3.4 3.4 Total 0.3 857.0 857.3 Source: Estimations by Assessment Team. Note: A detailed breakdown of recovery needs by sector is included in Annex 2. 98 The house plans also should incorporate design features to counter domestic violence risks, for example, two external doors on the main room. 99 According to one expert opinion, over and above the normal framing timber requirements, the short-term housing reconstruction needs show an immediate shortfall of 10,000 m 3 treated framing timber. Tropical Cyclone Winston, February 20, 2016 77
Page 1 and 2:
Fiji Post-Disaster Needs Assessment
Page 3 and 4:
Fiji Post-Disaster Needs Assessment
Page 5 and 6:
FIJI Post-Disaster Needs Assessment
Page 7 and 8:
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
Navitilevu village, Ra Province, Vi
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
12 FIJI Post-Disaster Needs Assess
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30: FIJI Post-Disaster Needs Assessment
Page 61 and 62: Aerial view of damaged Volivoli Bea
Page 79: FIJI Post-Disaster Needs Assessment
Page 99 and 100: Damage to Namena Island Source: San
Page 113 and 114: 4. Damaged Police Station on Viti L
Page 131 and 132:
Page 133 and 134:
Malake landing, Ra, Viti Levu Sourc
Page 135 and 136:
Page 137 and 138:
Page 139 and 140:
Page 141 and 142:
Page 143 and 144:
Page 145 and 146:
Page 147 and 148:
Page 149 and 150:
Page 151 and 152:
Page 153 and 154:
Page 155 and 156:
Page 157 and 158:
Page 159 and 160:
Damage to Ovalau Resort Source: Min
show all

Fiji

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?