Shelter Coordination Meeting

Sectoral Co-ordination Meeting on Shelter

Friday, November 2nd, 2001

Chaired by Dr. Tom Corsellis, UNHCR Shelter Co-ordinator


Introductory remarks:

The Chair proposed the following agenda:

  1. Report from the CRIM
    - submissions of LoBs
    - Action Plan to be presented Parliamentarians Club, 12:30 today

  2. Standards and Strategies for Repair and Reconstruction
    - funds for reconstruction
    - Category 1 houses repaired not to be re-visited for reconstruction
    - need to work towards the IMG standards for Cat 1 house repairs
    - Category 2 houses repaired kept on the list for reconstruction
    - house identifiers and record keeping, IMG and non-IMG
    - progress on Category 2 repairs and EAR involvement

  3. Areas of Responsibility, progress, and other activities
    - Skopje
    - Tetovo
    - Kumanovo

  4. Quick Impacts Projects

  5. Host families EP, MCI, SNI

  6. Experiences so far in shelter implementation

  7. Any other business


1. Report from the CRIM


The Chair briefed of the discussion in the last meeting of Wednesday, 31 October 2001, on the List of Beneficiaries (LoBs) as an important tool that allows coordination and follow-on of activities. It was therefore emphasised that all agencies should observe this and submit their LoBs to Mr. Trombev at CRIM too.

It was announced in the meeting that the Action Plan for Repair and Reconstruction of Houses and Roads in the Crisis Regions has been prepared by the Ministry of Transport and Communications and was to be presented to the public on the day of the meeting, Friday, 2 November 2001, at 12:30 hours at the Parliamentarians Club in Skopje.


2. Standards and Strategies for Repair and Reconstruction

The Chair noted that a series of meetings were held over the last month among the Government, EU, EAR, UNHCR and other concerned actors in which consideration was given to finding of the best possible way to deploy the construction capacity and repair funds on the ground. As a result, a new strategy for repair and reconstruction was agreed. As reconstruction funds had not been in place yet, the principal objective was to maximise ongoing repair so as to contribute to later reconstruction to the largest extent possible. It was then confirmed that, with the existing repair capacity and funds available, it was possible to meet most of the repair needs in a way that many of the houses, namely those in Cat 1, could be brought close to "prior condition". Therefore, on recommendation by repair implementing agencies (MCI and MCIC) it was concluded that repaired Cat1 houses are to be considered completed and were not to be re-visited at a later stage when the reconstruction starts. In that regard, the agencies funded by bi-lateral donors for housing repair are invited to concentrate on undertaking Cat 1, for which they should work towards meeting the IMG standards for Cat 1 house repairs.

Agencies currently undertaking repairs to Category 2 houses should continue to do so, however those yet to begin works in the villages that they have chosen should be prepared for reconstruction capacity to take over these works, should capacity become available.

Unlike Cat1 houses, Cat2 houses that are repaired will be considered for reconstruction next year, because the current standard of repair in this category provides only habitable conditions for stay throughout the winter. Therefore, agencies involved in Cat 2 repair were called to keep good and clear records in order to provide solid base for later reconstruction. In that regard, the Chair noted that UNHCR will require its implementing partners to produce house identifiers and keep repair records in consistence with the IMG methodology and standards and urged all agencies concerned to do the same, regardless of whether the houses in their area of responsibility were assessed by IMG standards or not.

Mr. Talmon l'Armee of IMG gave a brief summary of the new agreement from the point of view of the European Agency for Reconstruction, quoting from a draft document:

  1. where a donor is able to perform works for Cat 2-4, it will do so. Where a donor is restricted to emergency shelter, houses of Cat 1 and possibly Cat 2 will get assistance up to shelter standards;
  2. upon availability of further funding, agencies will repair/reconstruct houses of Cat 2-4 in areas which have only received humanitarian emergency shelter;
  3. upon availability of further funding, agencies will upgrade houses of Cat 2 that have received emergency shelter materials in phase 1.


3. Areas of Responsibility (AoR)

The Chair presented the new format of the AoR spreadsheet that has been adjusted to the announced new standards and strategies for repair and reconstruction . Participants were invited to review the new spreadsheet and identify if their activities would compromise later reconstruction. Updates on the progress were then made.

The Chair urged the agencies to bring relevant information to the shelter meetings so to allow accurate and timely updates of the spreadsheet that proved to be an indispensable coordination tool. To facilitate agencies' fulfilment of this request, for the next meeting, the Chair will produce a standard format in which information should be given.


4. Quick Impact Projects (QIPs)

Ms Obradovich reported that the 3rd QIPs Selection Committee was held the day before. The list of proposals approved so far was presented to the meeting . In addition to these, few other projects were waiting for approval pending technical site visits. Noting that only one proposal concerned Tetovo and that the Skopska Crna Gora area was well covered, Ms Obradovich urged agencies to consult her before submitting proposals and encouraged them to consider undertaking activities in the Tetovo area.

Ms Obradovich observed that problems experienced that far were related mainly to situations where donors would come and start working in targeted areas while the QIPs procedure was ongoing. There were also cases where quality projects have been submitted but without providing for the required technical capacity.

In view of the changes in the repair and reconstruction strategy, UNHCR had amended the format of the school and ambulanta tables and included them into the AoR spreadsheets, so to comply to the new situation on the ground.


5. Host families

Due to time restrictions, issue was not discussed.


6. Experiences so far in shelter implementations

Due to time restrictions, issue was not discussed.


7. Any other business

The next Shelter Coordination Meeting will take place on Friday, 9 November 2001, at 09:15 hours at UNHCR Office.


Attachments:

For additional information please contact
Dr. Tom Corsellis, at corselli@unchr.ch



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