Caroline Brassard

Aid Accountability and Participatory Approaches in Post-Disaster Housing Reconstruction 1

Abstract In the last decade, housing has become one of the most prominent and best funded sectors in large-scale post-disaster reconstruction efforts. This has especially been the case in Asian developing countries where both official and private aid helped finance a significant amount of the housing reconstruction. Despite the emphasis upon community involvement, inclusive and participatory processes for housing reconstruction by international non-governmental organizations, recent experiences show that such ideas often do not readily translate in practice on the ground. This paper analyses the necessary conditions for successful involvement by local beneficiaries in rebuilding their homes following natural disasters. The analysis is situated within the context of community recovery, and the trade-off between centralized donor planning, and community driven initiatives, using primary and secondary data collected from post-tsunami Aceh, Indonesia. The paper also discusses how various stakeholders (including recipient government and donors) evaluate and make use of the practical capacities of affected persons and communities to be involved in planning, building and monitoring processes in the housing sector. Our research focused on the level and types of roles played by the aid beneficiaries in the housing reconstruction process in Aceh. In spite of considerable rhetoric about participation and inclusive reconstruction accompanying the post-tsunami reconstruction by various donors, a number of systemic barriers created considerable distance between beneficiaries and NGOs in Aceh in the housing sector. The drive for efficiency and need to produce tangible results quickly, mixed with the sheer number of stakeholders and resources involved, created a largely top-down environment in which decisions were centralized, and arbitrary standards imposed. This was exacerbated by an extensive chain of sub-contractors, a large supply of lower-cost imported labor, and highlighted the importance of local political affiliations, leading to weak accountability and reduced aid effectiveness.

Wage and Labour Regulation in Vietnam within the Poverty Reduction Agenda

Abstract This paper analyses the extent to which current wage and labour regulations can help reducing poverty levels in Vietnam. It begins with an overview of population and employment trends since 1990. It then discusses wage and labour regulation in Vietnam, particularly the 2002 amendments to the 1994 labour code, focusing on the minimum wage regulation in enterprises, farms labourers and female and junior labourers. The paper then analyses labour market imperfections and the provision of safety nets Vietnam, whilst linking with the poverty alleviation strategy. Next, the paper presents data analysis at the commune level, based on the Vietnam Living Standard Survey of 1998, comparing the northern and southern communes. The findings show significant gender differences within regions for daily agricultural wages, and significantly lower wages in the North. As for industrial wages in the state and private sector, we find that northern wages are below the legal minimum wage in the textile industry, and differ significantly between gender and regions, and where children under eighteen tend to earn as little as 25 percent of adults’ salaries. In the formulation of poverty alleviation policies, this paper highlights the importance of recognizing: the regional and sectoral related-characteristics of the labour market; the impact of gender differences in wage labour; and the implications on child labour.

Measuring Aid Governance in Developing Countries: An Application to Post-Tsunami Aceh, Indonesia

In contrast to the popular debate on managing international aid to achieve good governance in developing countries, this article focuses on ensuring good governance of aid processes (or good aid governance) between partners in development, to achieve national and local development objectives. Starting with the case of the reconstruction process in Aceh, Indonesia, since the December 2004 tsunami, the article draws conclusions on the aid governance challenges involved when coordinating multiple stakeholders and projects, while taking into consideration the complexities of the local political economy. Taking a critical look at the indicators of aid effectiveness developed from the Paris Declaration in 2005, the article argues for the use of a more relevant, simple and realistic set of locally generated aid governance indicators to achieve the desired development outcomes. Points for practitioners Partners in development need to shift their focus from aid for good governance, to ensuring good governance of aid processes (or good aid governance) in order to achieve national and local development objectives. Despite mixed evidence, current aid effectiveness frameworks such as the Paris Declaration of 2005 still implicitly suggest that good governance is a pre-requisite to development. The concept and measurement of aid governance by donors and country recipients, as partners in the design, delivery, implementation and management of aid, will vary according to local contexts. In a participatory manner, partners must develop a simple, clear and locally generated measurement framework to provide evidence on aid governance. This framework requires focusing on aid processes and outcomes in a collaborative effort between partners involved in the management and administration of aid, as well as with implementers at the local level.

Confronting Disaster: Recent Lessons from the Asia-Pacific

Despite the fact that disasters have become more frequent and more costly in terms of economic losses throughout the world, most governments have yet to make a clear priority of addressing and managing risk reduction before disasters strike. According to the Annual Disaster Statistical Review 2012, in the last 10 years, the five countries most hit by natural disasters were China, the United States, the Philippines, India and Indonesia. In 2012 alone, Asia accounted for nearly 65 % of global disaster victims, with hydrological events, such as floods, storm surge and landslides, accounting for 75 % of the disasters in Asia during that year (Guha-Sapir et al. 2012). Taking these factors into account, this chapter discusses current and proposed efforts to reduce natural disaster risk in countries across the Asia-Pacific. It also overviews how subsequent chapters address the issue from a public policy and governance perspective, with a focus on three broad themes: (1) emergency response and humanitarian relief, (2) recovery and resilience, and (3) improving preparedness.

Disaster Governance, Inequality and Poverty Alleviation in Bhutan: Towards Integrated and Preventive Policies

This chapter establishes the linkages between the impact of climate change, the GNH framework and poverty alleviation. It argues for a more integrated and preventive policy-making based on a people-centred preventive approach for disaster governance. Unless communities are cooperatively empowered to be part of a governance system that can effectively address some of the negative impacts of development, their resilience will remain undermined. It analyses the synergies between policies relevant to disaster governance and to poverty alleviation in Bhutan and discusses the complexity involved for policy-makers and development partners to ensure a people-centred preventive approach and inter-sectorial integration. This chapter analyses the extent to which the institutional context addresses the challenges to achieve sustainable development given the threat and permanence of disaster risk. It also discusses how synergies can be created between diverse partners and collaborative networks to strengthen policy-making in a more preventive and collaborative context. Advocacy and awareness campaigns to address disaster risk have been mainly undertaken by government organisations, but the potential role of existing networks and existing social relations of support has not been explored fully. This chapter concludes on the challenges, opportunities and possible leverages to improve disaster governance and reduce inequities, including the role of the private sector.