In early May 2008, Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, leaving more than 130,000 dead and devastating the lives of 2.4 million people. In scale, it was comparable to the Indian Ocean Tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia. The disaster occurred against a complex and volatile political backdrop that shaped the immediate humanitarian response and determined the subsequent debates regarding recovery. The crisis also brought a convergence of both conventional and new actors, pushing early recovery to centre stage. Efforts are currently ongoing to maintain the momentum for humanitarian relief and early recovery while laying the foundations for the longer term recovery.
Case presenter: Tun Myat
Mr. Tun Myat brings with him more than two decades of leadership experience in UN humanitarian intervention. He was advisor to the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment, conducted under the auspices of the Tripartite Core Group of the Government of the Union of Myanmar, ASEAN and the United Nations. Mr Tun Myat will summarise the main challenges around early recovery planning and implementation in Myanmar. He will also cover a number of fresh initiatives on assessment, coordination, financing, and monitoring & evaluation that have been implemented in Myanmar.
The presentation will focus on early recovery in Pakistan following the devastating earthquake in October 2005. The Government of Pakistan, UN agencies, international humanitarian organizations and local NGOs played a pivotal role in rescue and relief operations, providing assistance to approximately three million people. The cluster approach was implemented for the first time as a framework for coordinating humanitarian response, and included an Early Recovery Cluster bringing together a diverse range of actors working together to support the immediate recovery efforts of government authorities and local communities. Soon after the disaster, a new government-run
institution was set up – the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (ERRA) – to lead the recovery process.
Case presenter: Nadeem Ahmed
As Executive Deputy Chair of the ERRA, Lt. Gen. Nadeem Ahmed is well placed to present the early recovery effort from the national perspective. Three years on since the earthquake, he will summarize the main challenges faced by the government and the international community during the early recovery effort, the lessons that can be learned from the Pakistan case, and recommendations for moving forward based on his own experiences.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has suffered years of economic and political turmoil along with episodes of internal violence and regional conflict, all of which have perpetuated a chronic and unrelenting emergency situation. DRC officially entered its transition in June 2003 with the Transitional National Government consisting of all former belligerents. As part of the ongoing humanitarian reform process, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) designated DRC as a pilot country for the roll-out of the new cluster approach as a framework for coordinating humanitarian responses.
Case presenter: Armand Kasumbu Borrey
Armand Kasumbu Borrey, Head of Cabinet, Ministry of Planning for DRC, will present the current challenges for early recovery in DRC from the government perspective. He will cover the difficulties of planning and implementing early recovery in the midst of continuing instability and insecurity, and the particular challenges around mainstreaming return and reintegration priorities into national recovery and development processes.
The signing of the peace agreements in 2003 put an end to years of violent conflict in Liberia and initiated a long path out of a complex emergency situation. A strong UN presence paved the way for a democratic election of the first African female President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in 2005, bringing renewed hope to the people of Liberia. However, problems of rising crime and youth unemployment, re-building the justice and security sector, and kick-starting the economy remain. Would an earlier, more effective needs assessment process and more substantial international leverage of necessary resources and political buy-in have improved the Liberian recovery process?
Case presenter: Ellen Margrethe Løj
Drawing on her 35 years of experience as an international civil servant, UN SRSG to Liberia, Ms. Ellen Margrethe Løj will share her opinion on what have been the most important lessons learned from Liberia’s recovery process.