External Review
Participating Agencies:
UNICEF, UNFPA, Save the Children
Oct 2008
REVIEW TEAM MEMBERS
Tirana Hassan
Jeanne Ward
Sarah Lilley
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SUMMARY and KEY FINDINGS 3
ACRONYMS 6
1. INTRODUCTION 7
2. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE 10
3. OBJECTIVES 12
4. METHODOLOGY 13
5. LIMITATIONS OF THE REVIEW 14
6. PARTNERSHIP and PARTICPATION 14
6.1 PARTNERSHIP AND PARTICIPATION OF INTERNATIONAL ACTORS 15
6.2 PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN WOMENS PROTECTION AND CHILD 16 PROTECTION
6.3 PARTICIPATION OF LOCAL PROTECTION ACTORS 19
6.4 PARTNERSHIP AND PARTICPATION WITHIN THE CLUSTER SYSTEM 22
AND UN COUNTRY TEAM
6.5 NEW AND POTENTIAL PARTNERSHIPS 23
7. ADVOCACY 24
8. EFFECTIVENESS 26
8.1 INFORMATION PROCESSING AND SHARING 26
8.2 DIVISION OF LABOUR 29
8.3 USE OF STANDARDISED GUIDELINES 30
8.4 INFLUENCE OF CLUSTER ON PROGRAMMES / ACTORS 31
9. FIELD CO-ORDINATION 32
10. MISSED OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES 36
11. PROMISING PRACTICE 40
12. LESSONS LEARNED AND WAY FORWARD 44
Annex I – Terms of Reference 49
Annex II – Review Schedule 52
Annex III - Key Informants 54
Annex IV - Key Definitions 56
Annex V – Cluster Response Plan 58
SUMMARY and KEY FINDINGS
Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar at an unprecedented scale on May 3rd and 4th 2008. As of June 24, the official death toll stood at 84,537 with 53,836 people still missing, and19,359 injured. Assessment data shows that some 2.4 million people were severely affected by the cyclone. Early Assessments indicated that approximately 132, 793 children were affected by the cyclone and majority of the deaths occurring were women and children (60 -70%). There was also a considerable degree of concern for children and women who survived, some having lost families and loved ones and many having lost shelter, livelihoods and other basic necessities. Specific concerns for children also included an increase in the number of children from affected communities being placed in institutional care.
At the onset of the crisis the cluster system of humanitarian coordination was activated. As per global agreement initial discussions were had between the two protection agencies in Myanmar - UNHCR and UNICEF as to which agency could or would lead the Protection Cluster. The purpose of this coordination forum is to build a more comprehensive, integrated protection capacity, fill protection gaps not covered by specialized agencies and ensure an effective, predictable and accountable response within protection as a whole, as well as within the functional areas of protection expertise. Given political sensitivities an agency decision was taken by UNHCR not to lead the cluster. In these circumstances UNICEF initiated a Protection of Women and Children Cluster (PCWC). Given the limited capacity of UNICEF to deal with broader protection issues UNICEF limited the scope to the cluster to deal with women and children. Save the Children was also invited to co-chair the CPCW and as of the 24th May 2008 at the 4th Cluster meeting UNICEF and Save the Children were co-chairing the CPCWC meeting. The cluster also initiated two technical working groups at a Yangon level, a Child Protection in Emergencies Technical Working Group, chaired by UNICEF and a Women’s Protection Working Group, chaired by UNFPA.
The child protection and protection of women response under the cluster approach
provides another important learning opportunity. Myanmar is the only clusterized country that has formally endorsed a child and women’s protection cluster, as opposed to Protection Cluster which provides an important learning opportunity for the Areas of Responsibilities and the Protection Cluster as a whole.
The PWC was established at the onset of the Cyclone response and has played a crucial role in the Cyclone Nargis response in co-ordinating the response, managing information, representing the cluster and advocating on key issues for children and women within the humanitarian community and with Government. Some of the key activities of the PCWC and technical working groups have been:
· Coordination and establishment of a Family Tracing and Reunification (FTR) system.
· Advocating for the inclusion of children and women’s interests and needs in a variety of national assessments (PoNJA) and strategic planning documents (PONREPP) which will influence finding and programme decisions over the next 3 years.
· Supporting the Government of Myanmar, Department of Social Welfare to develop a Plan of Action for Child Protection in Emergencies
· A Women’s Protection Technical Working (WPTWG) group has worked with the Department of Social Welfare to undertake a Women’s Protection Assessment in cyclone affected areas
· Undertaking a Women’s Livelihoods Assessment in Labutta
· Development of an Information Management System and Information Monitoring Matrix indicators, and Who What Where mapping.
· Distribution of key global guidance including the code of conduct for humanitarian workers, for the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, guidelines for participation and non-discrimination, the Gender Handbook and the IASC GBV Guidelines.
· Training on FTR and case management, the Inter-agency Information System for FTR, a workshop on Alternative Care, general child protection training and three GBV workshops.
· Establishment of 6 hubs for field based coordination.
Overall the PCWC was well received by cluster members in Myanmar. Majority of cluster members interviewed felt that they could influence the cluster and the agenda and in most instances felt a sense of equality in the cluster. Whilst majority of the feedback from the review was positive there were clear areas identified for improvement. A number of key findings were documented by the review, including:
· The PCWC has a narrow area of focus concentrating on children and women. Whilst the cluster was specifically established with this focus it has caused some confusion amongst some humanitarian actors. Specific Terms of Reference must be created in the absence of broader Protection Cluster to avoid confusion about expectations regarding the scope and limitations of a PCWC. There must also be clear guidance on how the humanitarian community will deal with broader protection issues in the absence of a broader protection cluster. Such matters require buy in and leadership from senior managers with in the UNCT and the Humanitarian Coordinator.
· In Myanmar there are significantly more operational child protection actors then women’s protection actors. As a result it was noted that despite best efforts, in some instances women’s protection actors felt they had less space in the PCWC. Whilst a number of gender and women experts participated in the PCWC, there was general consensus that the WPTWG proved to be a more useful forum for women’s protection actors. The PCWC whilst connected to the WPTWG was predominantly perceived as a forum to feed back to for information sharing purposes. Possible steps to increase a sense of ownership by women’s protection actors included appointing a co-chair from a women’s protection agency.
· The PCWC was successful in securing consistent and dedicated leadership to support the establishment and coordination of the cluster. Cluster co-chairs were able to provide significant leadership as they were kept separate from agency programmatic tasks. The cluster was also resourced with a dedicated information management focal point which facilitated some oh the highest quality data and consistent information with in the cluster system
· The presence of an NGO co-chair was well received by cluster members. In particular cluster members felt that the presence on an NGO co-chair at the Yangon level facilitated a sense that the cluster was not an UN-centric body, which created a greater sense of ownership amongst NGO actors. However, there was an indentified need for clear guidance on modalities of co-chairing as well as guidance for co-chairing agencies on responsibilities, obligations and issues of transition and terminating their role as co-chair.
· Myanmar had been noted as a challenging environment for NGO actors, given issues of registration needed to operate. Whilst the PCWC did have a few local actors participating, these were generally limited to implementing partners of international agencies. The review noted that more opportunities and creative ways needed to be explored to engage and share information with local actors engaging in activities with women and children. Steps must also be taken to ensure that barriers to participation such as language and accessible meeting locations are also addressed to ensure full participation and access of local NGO actors.
· The importance of translation into the Myanmar language was noted by both national and international actors as a key resource which is fundamental to the success and participation of national staff and local NGO actors. The PCWC was credited as being one of the few clusters who translated meetings into Myanmar. The importance of ensuring adequate resources to translate key documents, guidance materials, meeting minutes and ensure translation of meetings is particularly important to facilitate communication between the field and capital level coordination structures.
· Overall the review found that whilst coordination meetings were being held at the field level on a regular basis, significant support was required. There was a general sense from field based cluster members that information flowed from the field to the national level cluster, but there was limited understanding as the purpose or what happened with information provided and how information flowed back to the field. Whilst information did flow from Yangon to the field, majority of such information was distributed electronically making access for many agencies, and virtually all local NGO’s challenging. Whilst the PCWC has distributed guidance and OCHA has initiated a workshop further training, support and specific terms of reference for local cluster chairs on the cluster system and key principles is required to ensure full success of coordination at the field level. The review noted that support to the field level cluster is required at the onset of the response.
· At both a national level and a field level the cluster and information management system was seen as strong at consolidating data and identifying gaps in services and geographical coverage, however there were several challenges in filling gaps. Cluster meetings were often perceived as an excellent opportunity to share information but more focus was required to ensure identified gaps are addressed.
· The cluster system was new to Myanmar and as a result significant awareness raising and guidance in needed. The implication of provider of last resort remains somewhat unclear at the country level and requires clearer understanding for agencies taking on the responsibility of leading clusters. This is particularly true for the protection cluster, where the cluster lead agency and the focal point agencies for the Areas of Responsibility both have Provider of Last Resort responsibilities. Even whilst guidance exists at a global level exists some clarity is required at the country level for UNICEF and UNFPA on where responsibility lies in terms of Provider of Last Resort within Child Protection and GBV / Women’s Protection coordination.
Full list of lessons learned and ways forward are discussed on page 44.
ACRONYMS
AFXB Association Francois Xavier Bagnoud
CBCM Catholic Bishops Conference on Myanmar
CERF Central Emergency Response Fund
CP Child Protection
CPiETWG Child Protection in Emergencies Technical Working Group
CPiE Child Protection in Emergencies
DSW Department of Social Welfare
GBV Gender Based Violence
GoUM Government of the Union of Myanmar
HC Humanitarian Coordinator
IASC Interagency Standing Committee
LNGO Local Non-governmental Organisation
MCC Myanmar Council of Churches
MHPSS Mental Health and Psychosocial
MRC Myanmar Red Cross
MoU Memorandum of Understanding
NGO Non-governmental Organisation
OCHA Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
PCWC Protection of Women and Children Cluster
PONJA Post -Nargis Joint Assessment
PONREPP Post –Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan
RC Resident Coordinator
SC Save the Children
TWG Technical Working Group
UNICEF United Nations Children Fund
UNFPA United Nations Population Fund
3W Who is doing What Where?
WP Women’s Protection
WPTWG Women’s Protection Technical Working Group
WVI World Vision International
YKBWA Young Karin Baptist Women’s Association
1. INTRODUCTION
Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar at an unprecedented scale on May 3rd and 4th 2008. As of June 24, the official death toll stood at 84,537 with 53,836 people still missing, and19,359 injured. Assessment data shows that some 2.4 million people were severely affected by the cyclone, out of an estimated 7.35 million people living in the affected townships.[1] Assessments also indicate that more women than men died which can have longer term consequences as a result of distorted social structures. Child deaths are also believed to have been substantial, although fatalities disaggregated by age are not available. Estimates suggest that the number of people displaced by the cyclone may have been as high as 800,000, with
some 260,000 people living in camps or settlements throughout the Delta in the initial days after the cyclone.[2]. Areas that suffered most from the cyclone include eastern Ngapudaw, Labutta, Mawlamyinegyun, and Bogale townships. Pyapone, Dedaye, and Kaiklat of Ayeyarwaddy Division and Kungyangon, Khawmu, Twantay, and Kyauktan townships of Yangon Division were also impacted, to a slightly lesser degree. Other hard hit urban areas include Dala, Dagon Myothit (Seikkan), Seikgyikanangto, and Hlaingtharya in Yangon Division.
At the onset of the crisis immediate concerns for children and women included those children separated from their families. Early assessments recorded that the majority of deaths were women and children (between 60-70%)[3]. There was also a considerable degree of concern for children and women who survived, some having lost families and loved ones and many having lost shelter, livelihoods and other basic necessities. Specific concerns for children also included an increase in the number of children from affected communities being placed in institutional care. The temporary camps created to house those affected by Nargis also posed protection concerns including the potential for forced relocation and resettlement as well as heightened vulnerability to violence and sexual exploitation and abuse, as well as concerns of women and children being targeted by traffickers.
The overall operating environment for humanitarian actors has historically been fraught with challenges in Myanmar. Prior to Cyclone Nargis the overall climate had been tense with the former Resident Coordinator being asked to leave in November 2007 after commenting on the humanitarian situation in the country. As a result of this and the overall climate in Myanmar humanitarian actors had in most instances adopted a cautious approach. Challenges for humanitarian agencies persisted in the aftermath of the cyclone with significant problems of access for the first month and a half of the response and ongoing challenges with visas and travel permission for international staff.