Standard Project Report 2016
During the initial phase of RAO transportation, trail assessments done by WFP helped to update the conditions of the major trails, which were not reachable by any other means as they were destroyed by frequent landslides. RAO’ s subsequent rehabilitation activities helped to improve the condition of the trails and in turn and enabled local communities to have quicker and safer access to the markets, schools and health centers. The use of local construction companies and government partners helped to strengthen the capacity of local communities to manage procurement, standardise construction, and maintain vital community infrastructure.
RAO transportation services also focused on the sustainability of the response rather than merely transporting relief supplies. Aiming to revitalise the livelihoods of the affected populations, the RAO team employed 27,000 porters to deliver relief items and food to remote high-altitude villages. RAO transport activities further helped agencies to provide shelter items, such as Climate Alliance of Himalayan Communities and Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development( ACTED), to deliver them in preparation for the cold season. RAO also supported UNICEF and other education agencies to set up temporary learning centres.
Lessons Learned
In the latter part of 2015, WFP undertook a lessons learned exercise on Logistics Cluster activities to assess its performance in terms of relevance, appropriateness, efficiency and effectiveness of the operation, and to identify the gaps and address the needs of the humanitarian community. The exercise also helped to identify the strong and weak areas in the preparation, design and implementation of the operation to support future Logistics Cluster activities. Three main themes were found to permeate all aspects of the Logistics Cluster and influence the strengths and weaknesses of the response:
1. Investment in preparedness
Crucial to the strong performance of the Logistics Cluster was the investment in preparedness activities made by the WFP Regional Bureau of Asia and the Pacific and the country office prior to the emergency. The investment in preparedness activities included the installation of the Kathmandu HSA and a pre-developed cluster response plan. The speed of the response in establishing a coordination mechanism, launching the operation, and setting up the field hubs was attributed to the existing preparedness investment. In line with this recommendation, WFP continued with preparedness activities in 2016 and procured equipment through the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot( UNHRD) for mobile logistics hubs.
2. Strengthening partnerships
The lessons learned exercise recommended to develop partnerships through the establishment of Strategic Advisory Groups facilitating participation in strategic decisions and increasing accountability among the organizations. WFP identified possible partnership organisations and areas of support and institutionalised the partnership approach by developing guidance, procedures and methods for engaging them quickly in emergencies.
3. Proactive communication and engagement of participating organizations
It was also recommended to institutionalise a proactive engagement approach. Based on this, WFP increased the participation of the Logistics Cluster Coordinator in other cluster meetings, and involved cluster organizations in setting priorities based on the actual capacity of the Logistics Cluster. WFP also monitored available resources in order to make decisions on the need for future cluster activities. Ensuring a first surge capacity at the regional level with strong understanding and experience of the Logistics Cluster role and mandate, was another key recommendation.
With a high number of humanitarian partners involved in the response( 78 organisations at the end of 2016), coordination of response efforts was identified as a crucial element to minimise duplication of systems and optimise the humanitarian response. Gaps in the coordination process at the initial stage were rectified as regular meetings and information exchange began to take place and the established mechanism started functioning more efficiently.
The Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu is the only international airport in Nepal. Due to its single airstrip capacity, the authorities had to place landing restrictions for large aircraft carrying humanitarian cargo over the permitted limit of 190 mt during the emergency. The congestion in off-loading and storing humanitarian cargo in the airport was a hindrance to the timely delivery of relief supplies to the affected populations, but the HSA ' s storage space helped to relieve congestion.
Nepal, State of( NP) 21 Single Country Special Operation- 200848