Haiti Hurricane Matthew Emergency Response · Haiti Hurricane Matthew Emergency Response ANNUAL...

Haiti Hurricane Matthew Emergency

Response

ANNUAL REPORT

(October 2016 – April 2018)

CURRENT CONTEXT

Hurricane Matthew, which made landfall in Haiti on October 4, 2016, had a devastating impact in the

South and Grand Anse departments, which have been the most affected areas of the Southern peninsula

by this category 4 hurricane. The disaster caused flooding, landslides and extensive loss of Infrastructures,

crops, livestock and livelihoods. According to OCHA, over 2.1 million people were affected with 1.4 million

in need of assistance; more than 175,500 people we evacuated in 224 temporary shelters (OCHA). An

estimated 716 schools were affected in eight departments country-wide, with 232 schools destroyed. The

education of nearly 600,000 children was directly affected by the hurricane, including 317,000 children

who could not return to school. According to the Shelter and NFI Working Groups, Hurricane Matthew

impacted an estimated 370,000 houses, of which 30,000 have been destroyed and 60,000 partially to

seriously damaged. Mathew inflicted damage and losses in Haiti estimated at the equivalent of 22 percent

of GDP (World Bank October 2017)

CARE was one of the first organization to provide tarps, basic shelter kits, water and sanitation and

hygiene kits in the aftermath of the hurricane. Then launched a comprehensive emergency response

strategy to meet the needs of disaster-affected populations in the most affected areas through shelter,

infrastructure, and cash for work activities

Prior to the hurricane’s landfall, CARE was present in Jeremie, the capital of the Grande Anse Department,

to support local authorities to produce and broadcast several cyclone warnings on the radio to encourage

CI Emergency Pooled Funding - Haiti Hurricane Matthew Response Project

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people to seek refuge in temporary community shelters. Alerts were also delivered via the local disaster

committees supported by CARE. Since the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, CARE has been working

closely with the Directorate for Civil Protection (DPC), Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) and

local authorities to support the affected population in the West, South, South East, Grande Anse and

Nippes departments. So far more than 100,000 households were reached and CARE continue to support

and develop the resiliency of the communities in Grande Anse, one of the most affected areas.

Immediately following the hurricane, CARE delivered essential humanitarian aid by:

- Distributing food to families: 90,747 hot meals. - Providing safe water for daily use, reducing the spread of cholera: 8 bladders installed, 127 water

trucks used for refill needs, 3 temporary chlorination water systems set up and 52,288 bottles of water distributed.

- Providing hygiene items and promotion: 11,775 hygiene kits, 10,836 soaps, 227,520 Aquatabs strips (of 10 tablets each) distributed; 44 public hygiene awareness sessions and 2 radio shows live in Grande Anse and South East to promote good hygiene practices and share information about CARE’s other programs.

- Shelter and Infrastructures: rehabilitation of three footbridges, 10,160 tarps, 1,606 blankets, 4,960 emergency flashlights, 1,318 repair tool kits provided, and 310 workers trained in build back safer methods.

- Education and protection: 13 schools rehabilitated, 10 child friendly centers providing psychosocial support, 72 teachers and 40 volunteers trained on psychosocial support, 13,280 school kits distributed.

CARE Haiti concentrated most of its emergency response activities in the Grande Anse Department, where up to 80% of the buildings were destroyed, major roadways were blocked due to severe flooding and other essential infrastructure such as water systems, bridges, health facilities and schools were damaged, as well as in the South-East Department.

POOLED FUNDS PROGRESS REPORT

Following Hurricane Matthew, CARE as co-lead of the Cash Working Group and as a member of the Cash

Working Group Steering Committee partnered with the World Food Program (WFP) and Haiti’s Ministry

of Social Affairs and Labour (MAST) to develop a national cash strategy. Under this strategy, CARE was

responsible for 18 communes, while WFP was responsible for 7. This represented 100% of the communes

that were assessed by the Coordinator of Food Security and Nutrition (CNSA) as experiencing severe food

insecurity following the hurricane, with a total population of 171,810 households; within this, CARE’s

targeted population was 102,748 households. The strategy employed a multi-phased approach, where

during the first phase 100% of the population received food distributions, during the second phase 80%

received unconditional cash transfers, and in the third phase 15% participated in cash-for-work (CFW)

activities. The CI pooled funds were allocated to support the third phase of this strategy.


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Objective 1 – Food Security and livelihoods (FSL): To support disaster-affected

populations, and in particular the most vulnerable, to meet basic nutritional needs by improving access to food through cash transfers and cash for work activities.

Overview of Progression Towards Targets

Output 1.1 Final output target

Achievement

% of households demonstrating increased ability to purchase food.

80% 46%

Output 1.2. Final output target

Achievement

# of households participating in one ten-day cycle of cash for work and receiving 4,000 HTG (60 USD)

296 HH 296HH

Unconditional cash transfer: During the first months of the project, from November 2016 to January 2017,

partners worked with local authorities and the local community leaders (CCC) to conduct a census of all

residents in the selected communes. Analysis of the lists, based on the vulnerability criteria produced 80%

of the most vulnerable individuals to benefit from the cash transfer. This analysis was based on several

criteria, specifically households that: had experienced a death within the household; were female-headed;

included a pregnant or lactating woman; included a person with a disability or an elderly person; whose

house was partially or fully destroyed by the hurricane (where houses that were fully destroyed were

considered more vulnerable than those that were partially destroyed). Each criterion was assigned a

certain number of points; using this system, households with the highest ranking of points were

considered the most vulnerable and were therefore included in the cash transfer list. Meetings were held

in the community prior the beneficiary selection and voucher distributions to explain the beneficiary

selection process, cash distribution procedure, payment days, and complaints mechanisms. This included

flagging the hotline to register complaints regarding the implementation of the project. Question and

complaints received through the hotline were documented and sent to the relevant consortium member

to be addressed during community meetings. During the first month of the implementation (November-

December), the consortium also selected two microfinance institutions as partners to process payments

to beneficiaries across the 18 communes. Thus, Fondation Kole Zepol (FONKOZE) was selected to execute

payments in Grande Anse rural areas, Nippes and some communes in the South Department; and the

remaining communes in the South Department and Jeremie urban areas were allocated to the Federation

Le Levier. During the payment of cash for work in June, SogeXpress, another financial institution, joined

the consortium to conduct payments in Jeremie’s urban area.

The ANKAD Consortium fully completed the direct cash transfer activities during January throughout June

2017. The targeted number of beneficiaries for unconditional cash transfer or Phase 1 was 102,748

households. Between January and June 2017, the ANKAD Consortium reached 100,938 or 98% of the

targeted households. The consortium was unable to reach the remaining 1,870 beneficiaries as some had

left the area, and others did not present themselves on payment days nor during catch-up distributions,

despite the many awareness-raising activities conducted to ensure that beneficiaries were aware of the

latter.


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The analysis of data collected during the Post monitoring distribution and final evaluation of the project

showed that the purchase of food and payment of school fees were the main uses of the money received

by the beneficiaries, with respective percentages of 46% and 26% of the beneficiaries. The percentage of

households that bought food with the money received is therefore 34% below its target value (80%).

However, it should be noted that the data collected during the interim evaluation of the project in

February showed a higher percentage. This shows that at the beginning of the emergency the priority of

beneficiary households was the purchase of food. But a few months later, the beneficiaries preferred to

use some of the money received to purchase the food but also used it for other purposes that they

considered useful, necessary and priority for their household such as the payment of their children's

school fees, repayment of debt to enable them to receive other loans from their neighbors and investment

in their income-generating activities to develop their financial independence and be able to meet the

needs of their families.

CASH for work activities: CFW activities targeted the most vulnerable households of the population

across the 18-targeted communes. Beneficiaries were selected from the list of households who benefited

from Phase 1: 19,265 households (15% of the

total population targeted) were selected based

on the same vulnerability criteria used for the

unconditional cash transfer. To validate the CFW

beneficiary list, the ANKAD Consortium visited

approximately 30% of all targeted households to

ensure that the selection criteria had been

respected. Following beneficiary selection, the

ANKAD Consortium worked with the Commune

Coordination Committees (CCC), the Ministry of

Social Affairs and Labor (MAST), and local

authorities to identify, evaluate, and select

work sites. Potential work sites were selected

based on their proximity to beneficiaries’ homes (within one hour walk) and where works could be

completed with the available number of person-hours. Following sites selection, community meetings

(kiosks) were held again in the 18 communes to validate the works selected and to remind beneficiaries

and non-beneficiaries of the beneficiary selection criteria and payment processes for beneficiaries.

The beneficiaries were divided into teams of 20 people and performed work such as backfilling of dirt

roads, paths to restore access to the most difficult areas and key community resources such as markets,

schools, hospitals. Other works included clearing irrigation canals to facilitate or to improve access and

soil conservation and the rehabilitation of schools. In addition to the beneficiaries, team leaders and

supervisors were recruited to support CFW activities. The Supervisor (one for three sites) seconded by the

Team Leaders (one per 20 workers) were responsible for ensuring the proper implementation of the work

and promoting the motivation, participation, and cohesion of the team. The work took place between

07:00 and 13:00; this timing was selected following consultation with beneficiaries as it caused the least

disruption to their ongoing agricultural and other income-generating activities. The beneficiaries were

paid according to the number of days worked; workers received 400HTG per day, Team Leaders received

600HTG per day, and Supervisors received 800HTG per day. The ANKAD Consortium fully completed the

CFW activities during April throughout June 2017. The targeted beneficiaries for the cash for work

Cash for work payment session.


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activities was 19,265 households. The consortium reached 19,313 beneficiaries or 100.24 % of its target.

The MFI paid 19,191 beneficiaries and partners provided direct cash to 122 beneficiaries who were not

able to attend the payment with the MFI.

After the closeout of the ANKAD project, through the CI POOLED fund CARE conducted another cycle of

10 days cash for work activities for 4,829 beneficiaries selected from the ANKAD beneficiaries living in

Jeremie, Roseaux, Chambellan and Moron. Among those 4,829 beneficiaries 296 received the payment

with pooled funding from CARE International. CARE has distributed more than $ $3 million for cash-for-

work activities to increase access to food and other basic goods/services in the wake of the devastation

and to boost the local economy.

After the finalization of the cash for work activities, the remaining tools (wheelbarrows, pickaxes,

hammers, machetes, mass etc.) were transferred to the town halls and Board of Directors of the

Communal Section (Conseil d’Administration des Sections Comunal/CASEC) of different communes.

According to the signed protocol, the tools remain the property of the community to ensure the

maintenance of the work already carried out. The community therefore has a stock of community tools

accessible for the maintenance and continuity of the same type of work.

Objective 2 – SHELTER: To provide emergency shelter assistance sufficient to establish safe and

dignified temporary shelter and to households and public institutions.


Output 2 Final output target

Achievement

# of tarps distributed. 5,000 4,050

Between December 2016 and February 2017, CARE Haiti distributed 4,050 tarps in the Grande Anse and the South-East Departments. The tarps were distributed as follows:

SOUTH EAST GRANDE ANSE

Commune # Tarps # HH Commune # Tarps # School

Bainet 300 300 Abricots 40 1

Cayes-Jacmel 562 281 Beaumont 197 13

Cote-de-Fer 522 518 Bonbon 10 1

Jacmel 746 373 Corail 112 11

La Vallee 672 224 Jeremie 321 22

Marigot 248 248 Moron 10 1

Pestel 144 10

Roseaux 166 9

Tarps distributions enable CARE Haiti to provide a rapid solution for household protection and temporary

shelter. Tarps also provided schools with temporary materials to rehabilitate the schools. The Child

Friendly Spaces (10) opened in December 2016 and remained open until March 2017. Nine of them were

temporary light structures built with support from CARE’s engineering teams to ensure safety and


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accessibility, using tarps. The tenth child friendly space was set up in a school and did not need an

additional space to be constructed. With funding from UNICEF, CARE also distributed school bags, school

kits, recreational kits, Early Childhood Development kits and crayon boxes to seven schools located in the

Grande Anse Department, reaching a total of 1,995 children.

Objective 3 – INFRASTRUCTURE: To ensure safe access of beneficiaries to education, health

services, and markets through the repair of critical damaged infrastructure


Output 3.1 Final output target

Achievement

% of Bridge Committee demonstrating improved knowledge of bridge resilience strategies

75% n/a

Output 3.1

# of footbridges repaired 1 1

Under the DIFD funded Resilience Project through a partnership with Bridges to Prosperity (B2P) CARE

constructed three suspension bridges in Grand’Anse department. B2P and CARE inaugurated the

Chameau bridge on November 21th, 2015. CARE and B2P’s used a participatory and cost-effective

approach for the construction by

including the community in every step.

Among the three footbridges, the

Chameau Suspension Bridge was one of

the largest suspension projects B2P had

ever undertaken. Its construction led to

the creation by the community of a

market, which provides opportunities

for income generating activities for

poor rural farmers and smallholders.

Unfortunately, Hurricane Matthew

destroyed both the footbridge and the

community market. Through this

funding, CARE and B2P repaired the

Chameau footbridge and CARE rebuild

the community market with the support of trained technicians.

The effects of Hurricane Matthew changed the river flow of the Grand’Anse river which eroded the soil

around the foundation of the east bank and caused the structure to settle. Extreme winds and flooding

damaged the deck of the bridge making it impassable. Repair efforts focused on rebuilding the east

foundation and walkway to reopen the bridge. In order to perform the works between 30 and 70 workers,

including 2 skilled masons, from the community daily were employed.


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The main cables, towers, and the majority of the substructure were not damaged by the hurricane and

were able to be reused. The Bridges to Prosperity team first began the repairs by deconstructing what

was left of the bridge’s superstructure to salvage as many components as possible. Due to the scouring of

the East foundation, it was required that it be rebuilt. The new foundation was constructed directly in

front of the old one along the same centerline. This allowed for the rest of the substructure to be reused

and the old foundation and pedestals would be encapsulated in the ramp. Once the substructure was

completed, the team followed standard construction procedures to erect the steel towers, install the main

cables of the bridges, and reconstruct the suspenders, crossbeams, decking, and safety fencing. On July

21, 2017 the Chameau suspension Bridge was reopened to the public.

B2P also undertook others interventions to mitigate the risk that was seen as a result of Hurricane

Matthew. A new wind guy system was designed and installed on the bridge to improve its performance

in high wind situations. The new anchors contain much more reinforcing than the old anchors and have

deeper, better reinforced foundations and large gabion wall was constructed along the East bank

upstream of the bridge to prevent further erosion around the new East bank foundation. Bridges to

Prosperity projects are not designed to withstand a category 5 hurricanes, however those measures were

taken to make the bridge more resilient to a potential future hurricane.

Following the reopening of the bridge, Bridges 2 Prosperity organized a Hurricane Preparedness Training

on July 22nd with the participation of eight persons including five community members and members of

the Chameau Bridge Committee (3). They were trained to prepare for an impending hurricane by cutting

the wood decking of the bridge for its full width every 20 meters. Doing this will reduce the effects of

dynamic wind on the bridge during a hurricane. A committee of three persons (president, secretary and

treasurer) was created to control and maintain the footbridge The bridge committee was given 2 socket

wrench sets, 2 wood saws, and extra lag screws to perform the mitigation activities.

The market infrastructure constructed by CARE with the support of the community under the DFID

resilience project at the Chameau footbridge was destroyed by Hurricane Matthew as well. The roof

metal was blown off and the wood structure had collapsed. Through the CI Pooled Fund, CARE donated

roof metal along with roofing nails and framing nails. Local volunteer carpenters made the necessary

repairs to the wood framed structure and fastened the new roof metal. The market vendors are now

able to reuse the structure.


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Objective 4– CHEOPS Trainning: CARE Haiti staff are trained to respond effectively to

emergencies.


Output 4 Final output target

Achievement

# of staff participating in CHEOPs training 24 24

CARE Haiti hosted a French language CARE Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Program (CHEOPs)

from 19 to 23 June, 2017. The five-day CHEOPs training took place in Port au Prince, where 24 members

of CARE Haiti staff participated, including the managers of each sector as well as field coordinators from

each field site.

The content of the training during the first day focused on:

Managing large-scale response with an emergency simulation activity on Hurricane Matthew;

Humanitarian principles: Gender in emergencies, accountability, and roles and responsibilities;

Emergency assessment: Emergency strategy and operational planning, decision-making and

program support;

Humanitarian challenges: Safety and security with a simulation activity on Hurricane Matthew;

and,

Workshop on emergency preparedness, transition, emergency operations and action planning.

By the end of the training, participants were able to describe CARE’s humanitarian action framework, as

well as its principles and mission, the humanitarian context and the program cycle of humanitarian

projects. Participants were also able to act appropriately to implement a high quality and efficient

emergency response within CARE’s policies and procedures.

Monitoring and Evaluation

See Monitoring and Evaluation Annex 1

A Post-distribution monitoring (PDM) visit was conducted after each cash distribution. The objective was

to evaluate the cash distribution’s operational modality, to measure its effectiveness, to assess

beneficiaries’ levels of satisfaction, and to provide information on to measure key indicators. The PDM

used a random sample of 10% of beneficiaries. According to the PDM findings, beneficiaries were satisfied

with the money received and most was used to purchase food, pay debts, pay school fees for their

children, start an income generating activity, or repair their homes.

A market study was carried out to analyze the evolution of the prices of key products included in the

household food basket before, during, and after the cash distributions. An analysis of the data collected

by the CNSA demonstrated that when comparing cash distribution and non-cash distribution areas, there

were no significant difference between price fluctuations for many products.


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CHALLENGES FACED

The Consortium strove to ensure that all community members were aware of the criteria used to select the households that benefited the cycle 1; this remained challenging given the large-scale need in the hurricane-affected areas and the enormous number of beneficiaries (over 500,000 individuals). Communications and accountability measures such as kiosks, radio announcements, posters, the complaints hotline, and suggestion boxes remained the primary tool to address these issues. However, managing the persons not selected as beneficiaries remained a challenge throughout the implementation of the response.

Political and security issues remained a concern for all consortium members throughout the project period. As the extradition of elected Senator Guy Phillippe postponed activities in Grande Anse department for a large amount of time. Then the project dealt with the distribution of large quantities of cash, security at distributions sites was a high priority; some consortium members have had to delay distributions as a result of potential security risks, including roadblocks and demonstrations. To mitigate the potential impacts of security risks, all consortium members had nominated security focal points, who monitor adherence to a common security protocol;

The first phase of the response (unconditional cash transfers) was logistically challenging due to the large number of interconnected actors and activities (consortium members, microfinance institutions, MAST, CCC’s, local authorities, and community members).

Disturbances to the schedule due to security, weather, liquidity of the microfinance institutions, or other factors have a cascade effect on other activities, which has led to delays in CARE overall response.

One of the main difficulties encountered during CFW was the relative lack of tools necessary for the proper conduct of the work. Indeed, the budget allocated did not allow to order a greater quantity of tools

In spite of the possibility for particularly vulnerable persons to designate a substitute to carry out the work in their place, some health problems have sometimes been encountered by some beneficiaries, making it difficult to carry out the tasks entrusted to them

CARE Haiti faces difficulties in ensuring that procurement processes kept up with the pace of programming; in re-classing transactions charged to a common pooled fund to restricted funding; in ensuring that new staff and expatriate deployments understood CARE Haiti and CARE USA’s systems, including the centralized systems that are in place in Haiti to ensure better performance during USG audits.

The quality of programming and the ability to recruit short-term staff; shortage of francophone expatriate staff, leading to many short-term roster and RRT deployments

The need to have a more practical, action-based EPP to better position the country office to respond in the future.

LESSON LEARNED

Create CCCs based on known community structures with which organizations are accustomed to work.

Clearly define and ensure ownership of CCC roles and responsibilities;

Balance the work of CCC members as they are volunteers

Conduct training to strengthen the CCCs’ knowledge of humanitarian principles and interviewing techniques


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Develop among partners, a reflex of systematic sharing of lessons learned and good practices in order to guarantee mutual and continuous learning.

Integrate the market analysis into the M & E protocol and learning.

Ensure MFIs staff are better trained on issues related to humanitarian accountability;

Review the type of contract for MFIs by considering them as suppliers instead of considering them as partners;

CROSS CUTTING THEMES

Gender: CARE Haiti has ensured the integration of gender and protection issues across its global strategy to address the most pressing needs of the Hurricane Matthew emergency. To implement the integrated gender approach in all sectors of intervention, CARE started by providing training to 35 members of CARE Haiti’s Emergency staff on gender, protection and prevention of gender-based violence (GBV) in emergency contexts. The aim of the training was to provide CARE’s staff with the knowledge and tools to provide assistance to GBV, sexually and physically abused victims, as well as on community-based participatory approaches to sexual and gender-based violence and protection monitoring and management. CARE worked closely with local authorities to support the implementation of a Community Protection Network for women and girls through protection committees in the Grande Anse Department. Moreover, in collaboration with Konbit Peyizan Grandans (KPGA), a local organization, CARE supported awareness-raising activities to encourage the prevention of gender-based violence and provided training 38 Social Influencers, 60 Village Agents and 125 members of Local Civil Protection Committee (CLPCs) trained with previous DFID funding (25 persons per commune). Training focused on Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) gender equity, problem solving, and women’s empowerment. Beneficiaries of all emergency projects were selected according to vulnerability criteria, including households run by single women or minors, households with disabled people, pregnant and lactating women and/or elderly people, number of children within the household, etc. Through such criteria, CARE aimed at reaching the most vulnerable households. Through the beneficiary selection process, CARE ensured that women were equally able to participate in cash and shelter activities. For instance, direct cash transfer for 10,500 selected VSLA members including 7,306 women. Quality and Accountability: CARE Haiti based its emergency response on its knowledge of the area as well as rapid surveys conducted among the VSLA groups and the community. CARE implemented an efficient accountability mechanism for each of the emergency project to enable CARE staff to take into account the beneficiaries’ feedback and complaints throughout the Emergency response period. CARE organized community meetings in all the communes were projects were or are currently implemented, with local authorities, CLPCs and CASECs (Communal Councils) to explain the projects, our strategy, activities and the kind of support that will be provided. CARE has ensured that all community members were aware of the criteria used to select beneficiaries and that selection process was based on a community approach by involving communities, through community leaders, local authorities and


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Community Based Organizations among others, in the beneficiary selection process. CARE implemented an elaborate community-based approach to beneficiary identification through the use of CCCs, who conducted a full census of 18 hurricane-affected communes, conducted community meetings to present and validate beneficiary lists, and supervised distribution activities. Communications and accountability measures such as kiosks, radio announcements, posters, complaints hotlines, and suggestion boxes remained the primary tool to address issues. Beneficiaries were given a toll free number to call should they have any questions or complaints regarding the projects in general; in addition, suggestion boxes were present at each distribution site. The hotlines were available Monday to Friday from 8AM to 4PM. Callers could choose to identify themselves or remain anonymous. When a grievance or question was received through the hotline, it is documented and sent to the relevant CARE staff. In most cases, if it is a general suggestion or question it is forwarded to the field team and addressed during community meetings or relayed through the CCCs. Sensitive complaints concerning fraud, harassment, or abuse of power are responded individually; CARE has both an internal and an external (with the ANKAD Consortium) complaints committees that oversees sensitive complaints. External Evaluation CARE Haiti engaged the Bioclimate Consultancy Firm to conduct an evaluation on the impact of structures

such as the Local Civil Protection Committees (CLPC) and the Village Savings and Loans (VSLA) groups on

community resilience to disasters. This study was co-funded by DFID given that these groups were formed

and supported through CARE Haiti’s three-year DFID-funded Community-Based Resilience project.

Through this initiative, CARE Haiti aimed to gain valuable insight into how we can modify the tenets of our

development programming to be more disaster resilient; this is crucial in a context like Haiti where the

geographic exposure of the country to natural hazards is severely compounded by the social, economic,

and political factors that contribute significantly to the overall vulnerability of the population to disasters.

Findings from this study described the nature of the two interventions from the perspective of the beneficiaries, assessing how these contributed in the pre-and post-disaster periods using four key time periods: long-term preparation (including DRR and resilience building through VSLAs); short-term preparation for a disaster; the Early Warning System (EWS), and community response. Semi-structured group meetings and individual interviews were deployed as rapid assessment tools and used across four communal sections of Grande Anse. Results illustrate that both CLPCs and VSLAs have contributed towards building community resilience. CLPCs can hold great potential in disaster risk reduction, if groups are encouraged to assess risk; define and then implement DRR plans. CLPCs can also be critical in delivery of an EWS. However, this study finds that CLPCs in Grande Anse are currently limited by weak links to both the Governmental Department for Civil protection (DPC) and agencies other than CARE. Further, CLPCs presently lack a sustainable mechanism for replacing equipment used during the event of Hurricane Matthew and are also without means to implement disaster and risk mitigation plans and activities at the local level. Unfortunately, due to time-constraints, only four VSLAs were interviewed during this study. Meetings revealed that VSLAs were of significant financial benefit to members in the pre-Hurricane period, allowing investment in income generating activities, and improvement in positions within local supply chains. VSLA membership enabled many individuals to undertaken value-addition, transforming their economic abilities in ways that were otherwise risky or financially impossible. VSLAs were also socially significant; providing social support, empowerment of individuals (particularly women), and providing a private meeting-space in which broader social discussions were held. Post-disaster, the VSLA groups included in this study were unable to financially support members in ways that might have been expected. The groups


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interviewed did however meet just two-weeks after the disaster at which point villages were experiencing tremendous insecurity and violence. Social funds were not found among these groups to be significantly useful in responding to disaster damage, and groups were at different stages of saving and loans at the time of the disaster. All groups interviewed had ‘shared-out’ months before the hurricane; and all savings made post-share out had been administered as loans. The social function of the VSLAs, creation of hope and solidarity among members, is however considered to have been very effective in the post-hurricane period.

Example of the creation of community risk maps identifying where climate risks affect community resources (CLPC Gommiers 2016).

Rapid Accountability Review (RAR) CARE conducted a Rapid Accountability Review (RAR) six months after the beginning of the response to

enable the emergency response team to record the best practices and lessons learned regarding CARE’s

communication with and accountability to beneficiaries. The RAR was elaborated by an external

consultant, who traveled to the field to meet with beneficiaries, local authorities, and emergency

response staff to gain an in-depth understanding of CARE’s accountability and communication efforts with

these stakeholders.

Most relevant results from the RAR regarding CARE Haiti’s hurricane Matthew emergency response are:

- CARE Haiti has integrated accountability as an essential aspect of its Hurricane Matthew

emergency response. CARE Haiti has ensured to have human resources available to manage and

follow-up accountability activities across all emergency projects. One Accountability Officer is

based in Jérémie, Grande Anse, and an Accountability Advisor and Program Quality and Learning

is based in Port-au-Prince.

- CARE Haiti worked closely with Haiti’s Civil Protection Department (DPC) to conduct a joint needs

assessment for Hurricane Matthew response. The RAR highlights the DPC’s leadership role in

preparing for the cyclone.

- CARE Haiti’s community approach and vulnerability criteria for beneficiary selection were

validated by the National Emergency Operations Center (COUN), organism in charge of organizing

the emergency response for hurricane Matthew. This enabled CARE to implement its strategy,


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involving the community in decision-making on projects, such as distribution’s sites and dates.

However, the report showed that CARE Haiti needs to better involve target communities on

strategy decision-making processes for future responses.

- CARE Haiti has been one of the key organizations sharing information regularly with local

authorities and coordination groups (e.g. shelter and food security). CARE has also implemented

good communication channels, such the radio program and the Commune Coordination

Committees (CCC) to answer beneficiaries’ queries and questions.

Regarding CARE Haiti’s emergency response to hurricane Matthew, the RAR emphasizes CARE’s

preparedness mechanisms were respected and rapidly executed. In fact, CARE Haiti activated its

emergency protocols on September 30, 2016, which was four days before Hurricane Matthew’s landfall,

and sent its staff to the Grande Anse Department to be ready to provide an emergency assistance to the

population right after the Hurricane.

Civil Protection Local Committees (CLPC) facilitated CARE’s rapid response. These committees were

created through a DFID-funded project which main objective was to build community resilience in Grande

Anse. This project, implemented from 2014 to 2016, provided training for communities living in high-risks

areas on prevention, resisting and recovering from natural disasters shocks. The project also provided

training to CLPC on prevention and natural disasters management. These local committees were

subsequently integrated to the Departmental Emergency Operations Center (COUD) of the Grande Anse.

This project is a good example of best practices, and could thereby serve as a model for resilience

programs in other regions of Haiti, as well as throughout the world.

CARE International members also facilitated CARE Haiti’s emergency response. They provided Haiti’s

mission with rapid unrestricted funding and simplified procedures for purchasing. CARE International also

send a number of staff to provide support during the emergency and facilitated roster deployments of

qualified experts.

After Action Review (AAR) In June 2017, CARE Haiti organized a two-day After Action Review workshop. The objective of this workshop was to review CARE’s response to the hurricane, and document the best practices, successes, challenges, and recommendations for strengthening CARE Haiti’s emergency response programs. Participants included CARE Haiti’s program and program support staff involved in the emergency response, both from the field and the central office, as well as representatives for CARE members and CARE International (CARE France, CARE USA, CARE UK, CEG, and LACRMU). The opportunity to participate was also given to CARE members who were not able to travel to Haiti through an online survey. The major findings of the AAR were that the response was broad reaching and large scale, reaching over 500,000 individuals with a wide variety of programming, but in particular with a cash-based response that was flexible to beneficiaries’ needs and appropriate for the post-hurricane context. CARE Haiti was one of the first NGOs to respond to Hurricane Matthew due to the pre-positing of materials during our previous DFID-funded resilience project; add-on funding to our USAID-funded food security project to enable the delivery of hot meals to people in shelters even before the hurricane struck; and a long-time presence in the Grande Anse Department. CARE Haiti was able to mobilize approximately $21 million USD; of this, the majority were provided without the need for CARE Haiti to compete with other organizations, thus demonstrating CARE’s strong reputation and relationships with donors. CARE Haiti was able to mobilize existing human resources and expertise to ensure a rapid and context-appropriate response.


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Partnership and coordination

CARE has strong coordination links with the Government of Haiti, and in particular with the DPC, MAST, the Ministry of Education and Professional Development (MENFP), DINEPA, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARND). At Department level, CARE also has strong coordination links with the Departmental Emergency Operations Centre (COUD) and the Departmental Education authority (DDE). During the Emergency response, CARE staff attended and communicated regularly with the UN/GoH working groups on WASH, Shelter, Logistics, Protection, Food Security and Nutrition. CARE is a member of the Steering Committees of the Cash, Education, and Early Recovery Working Groups. At the start of the response as co-lead of the Cash Working Group and as a member of the Cash Working Group Steering Committee partnered with the World Food Program (WFP) and the Government of Haiti’s Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (MAST) to develop a national cash strategy. CARE is still attending the shelter, education and cash working groups meetings. Annex Annex 1: Monitoring and Evaluation Plan Annex 2 Success story

Haiti Hurricane Matthew Emergency Response · Haiti Hurricane Matthew Emergency Response ANNUAL...

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