CONCEPT PAPER
SHELTER SECTOR RAPID ASSESSMENT
Brief background information
Due to its location Mozambique is recurrently affected by several flood events caused mainly
by river flows from upstream countries. Once again - only a decade after facing one of the
major floods the world has ever witnessed in 2000 – Mozambique is faced with a flood event
that is causing severe damages to livelihoods, damages to infrastructures, displacement of
populations and loss of lives.
While the current event is still unfolding it has - so far - caused displacement of about
150,000 people out of a total of about 500,000 people who are estimated to have lost basic
livelihoods, including deterioration of shelter conditions.
On 12 January 2013, the Mozambican authorities declared an orange alert due to heavy rains
that lasted for more than a week. Until January 29th 2013, moderate to intense rains had
already affected 150,000 persons throughout the country, causing total or partial damage to
2,979 houses, inundating 679 houses, and interrupting road infrastructures, as well as
electricity and drainage systems.
Ten days after the beginning of the torrential rains, on 22 January 2013, an institutional red
alert was declared by the Disaster Management Coordination Council (CCGC) in an
extraordinary meeting. Following the red alert, the peak of water outflow from South Africa
reached Limpopo and Incomati basins in Gaza Province. This caused flooding in Chokwe and
Guija Districts in that province. This situation left 38 people dead in two days and an
estimated 150,000 people in 27 displacement sites in Gaza Province. The current figure of
death stands at 66 as of 4th January 2013. The most affected Province is Gaza with a number
of around 150,000 people affected but this number may potentially reach 250,000 according
to government field sources, as some areas are still isolated.
To meet the immediate and medium term needs of populations living in areas prone to floods,
development and humanitarian partners have agreed to conduct a rapid assessment that will
inform the status of the damage and the implications for development and humanitarian
programme activities.
Objectives
The main objective of the proposed rapid assessment is to provide a comprehensive
understanding of the effects of the current floods and to offer a multi-sectoral outlook to
guide short and medium term multidisciplinary response by humanitarian and development
partners.
Specific Objectives:
 Provide a detailed overview of the situation in all socio-economic sectors (ie,
infra-structures, transport, health, education, agriculture and food supply, markets,
water and sanitation, shelter, administration and civil service, etc) by comparing
the before and after situations at the lowest possible administrative level.
 Derive implications of the above on current food security, sanitation, health,
transportation and infra-structures, market access, and other livelihood options.
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Assess the response capacity and delivery at national, provincial and district levels
as well as the community and household mechanisms.
Provide detailed information on coping mechanism applied by communities and
households affected by the disaster comparing the before and after and the
implications to their livelihoods.
Propose mechanisms and a framework for a coordinated response by all sectors,
including for medium term integration into development plans.
Propose a framework for capacity strengthening of local authorities, including
district and community representatives, including women associations and leaders.
Expected outputs and outcomes
 The most vulnerable are identified and assisted in accommodation centres and
affected villages.
 The emergency shelter and NFI needs of the affected population are provided for.
 Preliminary information with maps, figures, pictures, secondary information, etc,
with all the aspects of the assessment:
o Impact per community/Village. Ranked in order of priority of required
intervention
o Village/communities based needs map and report.
o Combine report population in camps and needs on origin, to determine
priority on response.
o Narrative Sector report
- Form the basis of longer term recovery report looking at the possibility of
voluntary resettling of the affected population in areas identified as being
flood free. Information captured will help to form the framework for the
longer term programme, including providing:Suggestions for strengthening of
coordination at local level by development and humanitarian partners
SHELTER SECTOR Rationale and Sectoral Objectives:
As a result of the extensive flooding, people in Gaza have been forced to leave their homes
and seek shelter in accommodation centres, including evacuation centres, unplanned and
planned camps, as well as being hosted by families and friends, resulting in approximately
150 000 people being displaced. The emergency response to date of the cluster partners has
been to distribute mainly in accommodation centres due to inability to access affected areas
and resources available. Items delivered to date include basic coverage kits, timber poles and
other NFI’s. Although delivery of NFI shelter items to accommodation locations is helping to
ease the emergency strain on families, assistance needs to be provided to allow people to
return to their homes and begin the process of recovering. There will be a percentage of the
population that will not be able to return to their place of origin immediately and they need to
be provided with basic needs in the accommodation centres.
After meeting at the CENOE Xai Xai on 18th February, 2013, the shelter cluster determined
that the top priority is a rapid assessment of the emergency shelter needs in the villages and
communities that have been flooded. The assessment will aim to identify the immediate
shelter and NFI needs and also try and identify weher people sought refuge, which will then
be linked to information gathered from accommodation centres to allow a better
understanding of the movement during the floods for future disaster management planning.
One of the major impediments of people returning to their homes following a flood is the
clean up process, so to assist in this, the shelter cluster is proposing that communal clean up
kits be provided to communities, comprising of wheel barrow, buckets, shovels, brooms and
disinfectant. These items will allow people to get back into their houses earlier and can then
be utilized later on for farming or construction or livelihoods. Although there is much
discussion of resettlement zones and land demarcation, the shelter cluster partners The shelter
cluster partners will branch out from the ‘accommodation centres–origin sites’ during the
assessment to visit villages and municipal areas that were not directly affected by the floods
but may have housed the displaced in informal settlements or with host families to identify
needs in these communities also.
Deliverables
1. A prioritized list of villages/communities requiring immediate assistance to provide
the means for people to return to their place of origin. The needs will include shelter
items, NFI’s and logisitic assistance
2. A rapid assessment report identify population by village, identifying number of partial
& total damage dwellings
3. Affect on infrastructure, including schools, health clinics, communal facilities, water
sources etc
4. Provide the base line data for a more comprehensive assessment to investigate the
option of resettling the populations.resulting in an initial proposal for an in-depth
assessment following the stabilization of the floods/ disaster for early recovery needs.
Methodology:
In order to cover the broad range of sectoral information required to address the objectives of
this exercise, the assessment will apply a combination of methods, whereby qualitative and
quantitative methods will be used to assess the shelter needs of returning IDPs and isolated
communities. The Shelter Cluster has created a modified shelter assessment form based on
the INGC/UN-approved shelter assessment questionnaire to be used for assessing the origin
locations. The modification primarily focuses on the need to assess the camp linkages
between the origin site (where the IDPs have gone), in order to create a plan for facilitation of
movement back through transport, advocacy, NFIs, or other needs where appropriate. In
conjunction, as the NGOs are currently delivering material to camps and assessing needs, the
shelter cluster information manager is currently updating the distribution and NGO acquired
secondary information to enable information to be centralized and uniform for all parnters.
Two instruments (in annex) will be used. The first is a modified distribution documentation
sheet which enables NGOs to report back information from the accommodation centres on
on-going activities as well more detailed estimates concerning types and vulnerabilities of
beneficiary populations. It will also enable cross-referencing with origin location assessments
to determine if there are IDP populations from communities as yet unrecorded. The second
tool will be the origin site shelter assessment form, which enables a uniform data collection
tool for assessing destruction of property, needs for rebuilding/rehabilitation, as well as some
basic WASH and Food Security items linked closely to shelter needs.
Sampling and choice of sites
The areas for assessment will be based on information provided by responding agencies who
have been inth efield for the past two weeks. There has been a wealth of information gathered
to date and this will provide the direction for areas to be assessed as a priority. The
assessment will initially focus on 100% of the accommodation centres through data gathering
activities on-going during distribution, as well as 100% of the affected areas that are ‘feeding
into’ the accommodation centres. Similarly, the assessment will visit all locations where
populations have already returned from accommodation centres or other forms of shelter that
was sought by the affected population, including informal camps and host families.
This assessment will focus on four districts of Gaza Province affected by the current floods
and will include the following; a) accommodation centers of displaced populations; b) origin
communities ‘feeding into’ accommodation centers; c) isolated communities/areas where
shelter has been destroyed/affected by flooding that have not resulted in accommodation
centres.
Implementation process (see table 1 below)
For best results this exercise should involve all shelter cluster partners including the
INGC/MOPH Infrastructure sector leads. The assessment will be undertaken by Shelter
Cluster partners and coordinated by IOM in Gaza. Information derived from the assessment
will be compiled by the shelter cluster information manager and shared will participants to
then confirm next steps.
Below is a step-by-step approach to guide the design, implementation and reporting
phase:
1. Finalize all questionnaires and compile distribution and secondary data analysis
provided by NGOs to the Shelter Cluster.; Create reporting template based on all
figures and questionnaire;
2. Compile NGO and UN/IGO partner capacity list to coordinate assessment using
field resources available;
3. Create plan for assessment and coordinate dates and logistics needs (IOM);
4. Conduct 2 hour training session with NGO partners on use of assessment
documents (as required);
5. Begin assessments and compile data on assessment results daily;
6. Assess needs for additional data capture as assessment occurs;
7. Modify if needed;
8. Provide a daily update of villages/communities assessed each day;
9. Provide preliminary figures within 3-4 days of completing assessments
10. Final reporting of data captured within 2 weeks (2 March 2013);