Executive Summary
Introduction
1. Following a global evaluation on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), in 2003 Central Asia became the sixth DIPECHO region to be targeted by the DIPECHO Programme after Central America, Andean Community, Caribbean, South Asia and South East Asia. Since 2003 DG ECHO has implemented four DIPECHO action plans in Central Asia (Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan), channeling € 15,000,000 to various disaster preparedness activities.
2. The external evaluation of the first three Action Plans concluded that the DIPECHO programmes have had an appropriate effect in reducing the impact of hazards, ensuring preparedness to respond, and establishing and supporting early warning/intervention system. The present evaluation has been commissioned by DG ECHO following the completion of DIPECHO IVth Action Plan and during the mid-term implementation of DIPECHO Vth Action Plan.
Purpose and Methodology
3. The main purposes of the present evaluation are to assess the outputs and impact of the DIPECHO IVth and Vth action plans in Central Asia; to recommend an appropriate methodology to improve the DIPECHO programme added-value and its sustainability; to assess the level of disaster preparedness reached in the region; to assess how far the long term intervention instruments of other actors incorporate DRR activities and how this affect DIPECHO interventions. It was agreed that the evaluation would assess the operational issues, but will have a focus on cross-cutting and strategic issues, including the scope of future interventions or phasing down of DIPECHO programme in the region.
4. The evaluation team visited DIPECHO project sites in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The information was collected through review of documentation, field visits, extensive semi-structured interviews with DIPECHO partners, representatives or the government and local authorities, local NGOs, project beneficiaries and representatives of selected donor agencies. Additional information and feedback was collected during DIPECHO National Conferences in Dushanbe, Tashkent and Osh in May 2009. Preliminary findings, conclusions and recommendations were shared with the partners both during and after the field visits.
Main Findings
5. DP and DM planning in communities contributed to improving community disaster response capacity and action, in particular regarding emergency evacuations. However, planning is still perceived by communities and governments more as a formal activity.
6. Most DIPECHO-funded DM training programmes contributed to creating and maintaining a certain level of awareness of disaster risks among local populations. However, most training includes a lot of "theory" aiming at increasing the participants' "understanding and knowledge" rather than practical skills. Classroom training is still used as the key approach to DM capacity-building. Partners focus more on maximizing the number, rather than quality, of training events.
7. The volunteer community-based rescue teams created by DIPECHO partners in Central Asia contributed to promoting of community participation in DRR as per objectives 1 and 5 of the Hyogo Frame Work for Action. Most such teams are professionally trained; some participated in actual search and rescue operations. Rescue teams are systematically equipped with the standard relief and rescue kits and first aid kits. However, few teams are financially and organizationally sustainable due to lack of ownership and financial resources, labour migration, lack of MoES vision and strategy for utilizing them.
8. Communities particularly appreciate DIPECHO support for small scale mitigation projects. DIPECHO I and II mitigation installations observed are in a very good shape, having successfully protected communities for 4-5 years. Later installations, however, showed signs of wear and tear; some were partially destroyed and/or needed repairs.
9. All DP/DRR awareness programmes at schools reviewed demonstrated a good level of DRR and DP awareness and practical skills. DG ECHO and partners' successful advocacy resulted in DP/DRR being taught in most schools as extra-curriculum subjects; many partners keep advocating for including it into the regular curricula.
10. DIPECHO support to development of the national emergency and disaster management systems in Central Asia resulted in increased awareness about the importance of DM, DP and DRR among the governments and ministries. At the same time Ministries/Committees of Emergencies lack a coherent vision and strategy for disaster management and DRR; they tend to develop DM plans rather than strategies; strategies lack a decision-making functionality and do not allow defining DM priorities.
11. REACT (in Tajikistan) and DRCU (in Kyrgyzstan) coordination mechanism contributed to coordinating emergency response, sharing experiences in disaster management, preparedness, response, mitigation and capacity building and achieving a higher level of coordination among all involved in DIPECHO programme. However, the government in Tajikistan still takes only a partial ownership of REACT. REACT/DRCU role and structures are sometimes unclear. Though used successfully during smaller-scale emergencies, REACT appeared to be less effective in case of coordinating larger emergencies (e.g. the winter crisis of 2008 in Tajikistan).
12. DIPECHO programme in Central Asia has a good level of coordination and exchange of information among its partners. Projects are usually developed in coordination with other partners and the local authorities and they complement each other with no major duplication observed; many partners utilize co-funding mechanisms. Coordination between the DG ECHO and other donor agencies is generally effective, though information sharing could be improved.
13. DIPECHO projects in Central Asia generally have a fair gender mix of male and female participants: women appear to be more active in DP/DRR training and awareness while men participate more in rescue teams and mitigation projects. Both women and men play part in decision-making: women often show a higher interest and participation in the projects.
14. DIPECHO IV and V programmes in Central Asia closely follow Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 contributing to making disaster risk reduction a priority, assessing and monitoring disaster risks, building the culture of safety and resilience, reducing disaster risk and strengthening disaster preparedness for response at community, regional and central levels.
