Standard Project Report 2016
officially transferred to local authorities and humanitarian partners who continued the distribution of relief items and other humanitarian works in the affected areas.
Operational Partnerships
The UNHRD in Subang played a critical role in dispatching MSUs to Japan and installing them in the affected areas. An MSU expert from Subang provided overall management and supervision of the installation on the ground and greatly contributed to ensure that the operation was successful within a limited timeframe.
WFP LET was activated at the initial stage of the operation, and the LET partners( Agility Japan and UPS Japan) provided highly professional logistics services, free-of-charge, including processing custom clearance at airports, 1,300 km of overland transport of MSUs from Tokyo to Kumamoto, and provision of 440 pallets. Their rapid and seamless logistics support significantly contributed to the timely delivery and successful installation of MSUs in Kumamoto.
The JVOAD played a critical role in supporting the operation by inviting WFP to conduct a needs assessment and providing a platform for information sharing and coordination among government authorities and humanitarian partners. With its extensive network in Japan’ s natural disaster response system, the JVOAD provided multiple entry points for WFP to apply its expertise to the Kumamoto earthquake response.
The other humanitarian partners also played important roles in establishing an effective humanitarian supply chain system in Kumamoto by using WFP-provided MSUs as logistics hubs. WFP also worked closely with social welfare councils and other humanitarian partners on management of evacuation centres, volunteer centres, community mutual support centres, and prefectural government warehouses, which helped to maximize the humanitarian response capacity in Kumamoto.
Government partners, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs( MoFA), the Cabinet Office Disaster Management Unit, the Kumamoto Prefectural Government and local municipality offices were supportive of the WFP operation. The regular meetings were organized with government authorities and ensured that WFP interventions contributed to the national and local framework on the Kumamoto disaster response. The special operation met immediate needs on the ground in terms of logistics, coordination, and needs assessment, which were evaluated highly by government partners.
Results / Outcomes
Two major logistics hubs established by the Kumamoto Prefectural Government were efficiently managed with WFP experts’ technical advice, resulting in successfully closing one logistics hub by early June through the facilitation of dispatch of stored relief items to the most needy evacuation centres. As the need for relief items decreased during the initial two months, the remaining relief items were consolidated into the other hub, which could be more easily managed by the Kumamoto Prefectural Government.
General coordination meetings and cluster meetings among government authorities, NGOs and local communities were established and were well-supported at the both prefectural and municipal levels, including in Mashiki Town. The meetings helped government authorities to identify and prioritise the most urgent needs of the affected communities( e. g., wet-feeding, evacuation centre management, debris clearance and child protection). Daily coordination meetings at the prefectural level were also supported— the meeting agenda was set up and the proceedings were recorded. In the affected municipalities, needs / capacity assessments to identify gaps in assistance were utilised, and information-sharing was augmented.
Five MSUs were utilised as logistics hubs, a storage facility and a volunteer centre managed by local municipalities and humanitarian partners. At Ozu Town, an MSU was used as a storage of relief items. At Kashima Town, an MSU served as the Volunteer Centre managed by the Social Welfare Council. On average, 70 volunteers per day were registered, briefed, and debriefed on their activities. The MSU provided 240m ² of water-proof and wind-resistant working space. At Kumamoto City, two MSUs were used as logistics hubs managed by humanitarian partners— Second Harvest Japan and Team Kumamoto. Food and non-food items( NFIs) were received from donors at the hubs and were distributed to humanitarian partners who managed evacuation centers, relief items and wet-feeding. At Mashiki Town, one of the most-severely affected areas, an MSU served as a logistics hub managed by Kumamoto Yu-Kyu-No-Kai. Food and NFIs were distributed from the hub to evacuation centres in Mashiki as well as surrounding affected villages.
A WFP lessons learned mission determined that since the JVOAD and local NGO / NPOs had limited capacities, WFP’ s expertise in needs assessment, coordination and information management were highly appreciated by
Japan( JP) 8 Single Country Special Operation- 200976