Standard Project Report 2016
collaboration with all the partners. The government agencies deployed rapid field verification teams within the first week of the disaster, and primary data collection was carried out using a multi-sector approach adapted to the context, with support from WFP, the Sri Lanka Red Cross, and the Sri Lanka Family Planning Association.
The EMOP was implemented primarily through the national Divineguma safety net programme. As such the Government was responsible for targeting households for assistance, registration of Divineguma households, and the transfer of cash-based assistance to all targeted households. The Government also provided monitoring support.
It should be noted that WFP was able to bring together the Department of Divineguma, Ministry of Disaster Management and Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs to collaborate following the emergency and deliver relief assistance in a coordinated manner by way of cash-based transfers, and that based on the success of this response, the Government plans to include cash-based transfer standard operating procedures( SOP) in the National Emergency Operation Plan.
This operation was a part of WFP’ s wider corporate interest in utilising existing social safety nets to respond to disasters. The EMOP was was the first time that WFP implemented a cash-based transfer programme through a government safety net in Sri Lanka and the first time the Government accepted to temporarily include affected households that were non-Divineguma beneficiaries into the Divineguma banking network in order to receive assistance. In addition, all services provided by the Government were at no cost to WFP and were considered as the Government ' s contribution towards WFP’ s response. The EMOP provided a unique opportunity for both WFP and Government to understand and learn from these relief efforts. As a result, WFP, with the support of the Government, was able to build an innovative mechanism to deliver efficient and effective relief assistance, which can be scaled for use in the event of future emergencies.
To avoid duplication of assistance, WFP relied on the Government to identify severely-affected households. WFP worked closely with the Government and other partners to ensure that WFP cash-based transfers were provided after dry rations provided by the Government were phased out, in order to ensure adequate continuation of food assistance and to prevent any duplication of support. Therefore, the households that received the cash-based assistance from WFP in the first week of August were not affected by the delays in project approval. Furthermore, in order to compensate for time lost, three months worth of cash-based assistance was transferred to the beneficiaries in one allotment. The last date of distribution was 14 September 2016.
Given the Government’ s interest in and potential to utilise the social safety net programme and the strong functioning network of markets, WFP continues to work on a longer-term partnership strategy to develop the Government ' s existing social safety net programme, Divineguma, into a more shock-responsive system, using cash-based transfers.
The EMOP relief assistance was made possible through funding from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, the WFP-Japan Association, the Government of Lithuania Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the European Commission Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations( ECHO).
Performance Monitoring
The emergency operation was overseen and managed by the WFP country office in Colombo given its close proximity to the targeted areas. WFP was responsible for monitoring and coordination with humanitarian partners and the Government to ensure relief assistance reached the intended beneficiaries.
WFP developed a semi-automated registration tool using Microsoft Excel with pre-populated household profile, gender, location, and other selection criteria with built-in error checking. This digital registration tool ensured compliance with targeting criteria, helped avoid double registration and made monitoring more efficient. The tool was shared with the Divineguma officers for data entry at the sub-village cluster level. Through this process, WFP was able to gather household information with personal identification information, ensuring a high level of accuracy in reaching beneficiaries during the emergency response. All beneficiary data collected through registration was encrypted and stored in an off-line server to ensure the protection of personal identification data.
WFP channelled funds through the Government’ s Treasury, in line with government financial regulations. Funds were then channelled from the Treasury to the Divineguma central bank account, which then transferred funds to households via their Divineguma bank accounts. The total value of cash-based transfers provided to beneficiaries was reconciled with WFP ' s fund disbursement by way of bank certifications, while household registration lists were matched against actual cash-based transfer recipient lists to ensure relief assistance reached the intended beneficiaries.
Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of( LK) 17 Single Country EMOP- 200990