Natural disasters - Overseas Development Institute (ODI)

A government's attitude has the biggest impact on the safety and wellbeing of people affected by natural disasters.

This study was commissioned by CARE International, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Save the Children UK, Save the Children US and, hereafter referred to as the Core Group. The overall purpose of the study was to provide an overview of the timing, appropriateness and efficacy of interventions in the drought that affected the pastoral lowlands of Ethiopia in 2005/2006. The study also sought to identify mechanisms to initiate more timely and appropriate interventions to protect and support pastoral livelihoods. The study has identified mechanisms, systems, capacities and institutions which need to be strengthened in order to trigger more timely and appropriate livelihood-based responses to drought. The study also explored donor interest in resourcing these changes.

This HPG Briefing Note reviews the extent of emergency livelihoods responses in the crisis in the Horn. Drawing on secondary data and interviews with national and international actors in affected areas, it asks why accurate and timely early warning did not lead to a rapid and appropriate response to mitigate the drought�s effects, and highlights how inadequate contingency planning, limited capacity in livelihoods programming and inflexible funding mechanisms resulted in delays and deficiencies in livelihoods interventions, and the predominance of food assistance in the emergency response.

Few doubt that there is currently a humanitarian crisis in Niger. But the scale and severity of the crisis, the point at which it turned �critical� and the question of whether there is a current or imminent famine remain disputed. What seems clear is that the humanitarian response has been too slow. This HPG Briefing Note highlights some of the questions that will need to be answered in explaining this slowness. It argues that this is not just a case of donors failing to provide resources quickly enough. Questions also need to be asked about the quality of early-warning and assessment analysis; the capacity of humanitarian actors to respond; the appropriateness of the proposed responses; and the preparedness of development actors for what should have been a predictable crisis.

This study analyses the Peruvian state�s response to the earthquake and assesses its relationship with domestic non-governmental actors and the international community. The aim is to constructively reflect on the response in order to generate learning and policy recommendations that can help improve future responses.

The following case study of state responses to disasters in El Salvador was undertaken in the context of a broader project on �The Role of Affected States in Humanitarian Action�, overseen by the Overseas Development Institute. It sets out to examine the degree to which the Salvadoran state, in the aftermath of decades of conflict, assumed responsibilities for meeting humanitarian needs during three natural disasters that affected the country between 2001 and 2005, and how the state�s response has evolved since 2005. The analysis encompasses the actions of international aid actors and donors during these disasters, and their past and current support for state mechanisms for prevention and preparedness. Research was carried out during a ten-day mission to El Salvador in November 2007.

This report summarises the findings from a study undertaken to assess whether or not a cash based response by World Vision to the current drought in Lesotho would be appropriate and feasible, as part of the organisation�s overall relief response. This was motivated both by a desire to respond

with the most appropriate and effective resources in Lesotho and to increase the capacity within World Vision more globally to use cash based responses as one of a range of options for

response in humanitarian crises.

This brief is a summary of a two-year study into the role that remittances play in crises. The work explores how affected people use remittance income to survive and recover from crises, the effect that crises can have on remittance flows and the way that humanitarian responses consider the role of remittances. The study is based on a review of relevant literature, as well as detailed case studies in Haiti, Pakistan, Somaliland, Sudan, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The study concludes that, while remittances should not be seen as a panacea or substitute for humanitarian action, there is clear potential for humanitarian actors to do more to explore the complementarities between emergency relief and people�s own efforts to support friends and family in times of crisis.

This brief is a summary of a three-year research project looking into when the option of giving people money instead of, or as well as, in-kind assistance is feasible and appropriate. A strong body of evidence is starting to emerge to indicate that providing people with cash or vouchers works. It is possible to target and distribute cash safely, and people spend money sensibly on basic essentials and on rebuilding livelihoods. What is more, cash transfers can provide a stimulus to local economies, and in some contexts can be more cost-effective than commodity-based alternatives.

This paper provides a broad and selective overview of the humanitarian system, and trends and issues relating to humanitarian responses to natural disasters.

This paper is part of a broader study into the role of the private sector in support of humanitarian action. This paper contributes by exploring systematically the new roles companies are playing in humanitarian action. It assesses the forms such engagement is taking, with a particular focus on partnerships, and explores the underlying motivations for engaging in new ways. It also addresses whether new forms of corporate engagement and new donor funding patterns represent potential product of a scoping exercise to assess the depth and nature of non-commercial and commercial business engagement in humanitarian relief; eight illustrative case studies; and interviews with numerous experts and practitioners conducted over 2006 and early 2007.

competition to humanitarian actors, and how this impacts on humanitarian principles. The paper is a

This HPG Background Paper is the first significant attempt to assess private sector humanitarian financing trends over the period 1995�2005. By �private sector� we mean funding flows by private individuals, corporations and charitable foundations to international humanitarian action. The report finds that there has been a significant increase in private sector humanitarian aid during the decade 1995�2005, with the most important increases occurring in the latter half of this period (i.e. post-2000). Of course, these trends have been significantly boosted by the �tsunami effect�, which could be considered to be an outlier in terms of the massive humanitarian response it attracted, both in financial terms and in the number of humanitarian actors that became involved. Yet even if one were to exclude the 2005 data, the significant positive trend in private sector humanitarian aid is still clearly discernible. Total humanitarian aid would still have increased by a factor of 1.5, while private sector humanitarian aid would have increased by a factor of two. Therefore, even without the tsunami year, both total humanitarian and private sector humanitarian aid increased substantially in the five years from 2000.

This study considers the function and practice of needs assessment in relation to organisational decision-making in World Food Programme, its donors and other partners. The study takes a generally pragmatic view of this subject. The world as it presents itself is never ideal � especially not in the context of humanitarian crisis, where circumstances are almost by definition non-ideal. In asking whether a particular assessment approach is appropriate in a given context, a balance often has to be struck between the need for rigour and accuracy on the one hand, and feasibility, cost and utility on the other. These things are not necessarily in tension, however, and what may be impracticable at one stage in the evolution of a crisis may become feasible later. The right approach depends largely on the nature and scale of the crisis, the purpose of the assessment and the timeframe for decision-making.

This study reviews the practice of Emergency Needs Assessment (ENA) in Ethiopia as it relates to food security. It is meant to inform efforts by the World Food Programme (WFP) to improve ENA practice globally. It considers the question of overall rigour in needs estimation, and explores the ability of assessments to analyse the role of markets, non-food response options, chronic and transitory needs and the impact of food aid.

This brief documents the findings of a year-long study into the link between needs assessment and decision-making in the humanitarian sector.

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