Shelter Coordination Meeting

Sectoral Co-ordination Meeting on Shelter

Friday, 17th August 2001

Chaired by Mr. Agostino Mulas, Senior Programme Officer, UNHCR


In attendance were:

Mr. C. Sanders - UNHCR
Mr. A. Mulas - UNHCR
Ms. D. Marijanovic-Prolic - UNHCR
Mr. P. Hebert - OCHA
Ms. D. Ferrari - OCHA
Ms. S. Pesic - OCHA
Mr. G. Mbayo - UNICEF
Mr. V. Danailov - IOM
Mr. T. Trombev - Dep. Minister of Transport and Communications
Ms. B. Crvenkovska - Ass. to Mr. Trombev
Mr. Z. Bozinovski - IEES Skopje
Mr. K. Carew - U.S. Embassy/PRM Mr. M. Hague - EU Delegation
Mr. A. Talmon-I’Aimee - IMG
Mr. A. Biondi - ECHO
Mr. G. Grimsich - CARE
Ms. D. Kostovska - CARE
Mr. K. Tobin - CRS

Mr. J. Snyder - OFDA/USAID
Ms. M. Mason - OFDA/USAID
Mr. R. Bernardo - Oxfam
Ms. J. Cocking - Oxfam
Ms. V. Atanasova - DRC
Ms. Z. Dowell - ARC
Ms. A. Naumovska - CESVI
Mr. R. Balik - CESVI
Mr. F. Pagani - IRC
Ms. M. Portillo - IRC
Mr. N. Koolik - IRC
Mr. G. Brown - IRC
Mr. A. Krzalovski - MCIC
Mr.G.Laskaris - European Perspective
Ms. L. Rushiti - European Perspective Mr. J. Srodecki - World Vision Int.
Ms. R. Savic - World Vision Int.
Mr. S. Taylor - Mercy Corps
Ms. A. Bideau - Solidarites


Objectives of the meeting:

To inform participants on the state of the assessment of Collective Centres (CC).
To plan reconstruction and rehabilitation assistance in conflict-affected areas.

Introductory remarks:

The Chair introduced Mr. Tome Trombev, Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications and responsible for house and road reconstruction within the Government Expert Team. Henceforth Mr. Trombev will be representing the Government at Shelter Coordination Meetings. Mr. Hebert of OCHA announced that a Sub-group of the Shelter Coordination Group had met earlier that day. The outcome of that meeting would be reported in the course of the meeting.

Assessment of Collective Centres:

IRC completed a preliminary assessment of potential collective centres. The results of the assessment are contained in the Assessment Report on Temporary Community Shelters drafted by IRC and available from the IRC Office in Skopje.

IRC is now conducting a technical assessment of collective centres to determine the level of repairs needed by facilities that fell under categories B and C, that is, in need of minor (cat. B) or substantial (cat. c) repairs, under the first preliminary assessment. Almost 25 facilities have already been assessed. The technical assessment will likely be completed at the end of August, by which time 50 facilities and about 10,000 spaces will have been assessed.

Mr. Trombev was informed that the shelter assessment is intended to identify places to accommodate a potentially higher IDP caseload as well as IDPs currently residing in student hostels that have to be emptied due to the imminent start of the academic year on 3 September. IRC has already identified CCs that only need minor repairs, that could be carried out by NGOs using available funds. The Italian Development Agency, Cooperazione Italiana, has expressed interest in funding the rehabilitation of 15 collective centres.

Reconstruction and rehabilitation at villages in the crisis areas:

Mr. Trombev informed that the Government assessment of needs for repairs and reconstruction will be conducted as part of phase three of the peace agreement and will likely start next week, if security conditions permit.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport and Communications has developed a Draft Strategy for Reconstruction and Rehabilitation of the Damaged Facilities and Roads in the Crisis Areas and conducted a model damage assessment of the village of Lopate. Copies of the Draft Strategy report are available at UNHCR or at the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Mr. Trombev invited participants to make comments and suggestions on the report.

Mr. Hague of the Office of the European Commission briefed on the meeting of the sub-group of the Shelter Coordination Group held earlier that day, during which participants agreed that small teams comprised of representatives of international organisations, Government (IEES) and local self-government units will carry out rapid damage assessments in the three villages where access is possible, i.e. Aracinovo, Lopate and Opaje.

The rapid village assessments will be conducted early next week. In order to undertake the assessments, volunteers, preferably with technical expertise and previous experience, are sought from NGOs with an interest in reconstruction activities. Volunteers, who are available for the whole week next week, are invited to attend a training workshop on how to complete the assessment forms, to be held on Moday, 20 August, at 10:00 at the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Volunteers were requested to communicate their names to Mr. Mulas of UNHCR at MULASAG@unhcr.ch.

Comments and questions:

Mr. Hebert invited donors to give an update on their activities and programmes. Mr. Biondi announced that ECHO will not be involved in the repair and reconstruction of private dwellings, because the EU has altready made available funds for reconstruction activities through the Rapid Response Mechanism. ECHO, however, is involved in the Water & Sanitation sector, where it is funding a project, implemented by Solidarites, involving the rehabilitation of wat/san facilities in schools and ambulantas in affected areas. ECHO is also considering funding the rehabilitation of the school in Aracinovo, once security conditions permit and electricity is finally restored in the village.

Mr. Carew informed that the US Government had allocated available funds to three different areas:

  • To assist the return of refugees (to be covered through PRM);
  • To cover the needs of IDPs (to be covered through OFDA) and
  • To provide community shelter assistance, which could include reconstruction of damaged houses.

OFDA was considering the immediate release of 3-4 NGOs grants to finance activities in the three, above-mentioned sectors, while 6-9 grants will likely be released at a later date to support activities in the agricultural sector (FAO seeds and fertiliser project) as well as return and reconstruction activities. 3 million US$ will likely be available for use from September 2001 until the end of the year.

Summary of Agreed Action points:

NGOs interested in taking part in the rapid damage assessment next week need to communicate their names to Mr Mulas at UNHCR by COB Friday, 17 August.

On Friday, 24 August, the sectoral co-ordination meetings will take place as follows:

10:30 - 11:00 Sectoral Meeting on Host families
11:00 - 12:00 Sectoral Meeting on Shelter
12:30 - 13:30 Sectoral Meeting on Water and Sanitation


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