Chinese Government provides $3 million grant — via UNDP-China South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund — for Post Disaster Restoration Initiative in Dominica

In November 2017, the Chinese Government provided a $17 million grant to the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund in order to partner with the United National Development Program (UNDP) in support of the recovery and reconstruction efforts in five countries: (1) a $4 million disaster recovery project in Bangladesh (captured via Project #87786); (2) a $4 million disaster recovery project in Nepal (captured via Project #53718); (3) a $4 million disaster recovery project in Pakistan (captured via Project #87787); and (4) a $2 million project for rebuilding 302 homes, schools, medical facilities, and government facilities on Barbuda Island (captured via Project ID#87791); and (5) a $3 million Post Disaster Restoration Initiative in the Commonwealth of Dominica (captured via Project ID#55325). The purpose of the Post Disaster Restoration Initiative in Dominica was to support the roofing restoration of priority buildings after the impact of hurricane Maria, a massive category 5 hurricane that landed on the island on September 18, 2017, leaving behind a track of unprecedented destruction. The project involved the construction of 488 buildings including 3 schools, 5 health centers, 8 government buildings, and 472 homes. Works began on March 5, 2018 and ended on November 16, 2018. In the early stages of the disaster response, UNDP supported the Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica (GoCD) in coordinating the realization of the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA). It also provided dedicated technical assistance to the Ministry of Housing in its effort to conduct a comprehensive Building Damage Assessment (BDA), that resulted in 29,431 buildings being assessed for damage by over 150 newly trained assessors. The information collected on tablets through this nation-wide exercise, was subsequently analyzed using business intelligence software and became the baseline information for reconstruction planning. This valuable information also constituted the baseline for the prioritization of roofing restoration interventions to be performed under the Post Disaster Restoration Initiative funded by ChinaAid. The use of vulnerability criteria that were agreed in the framework of the Housing Recovery Coordination Group, led by the Ministry of Housing and validated by the GoCD, were instrumental in ensuring that the beneficiary selection process be implemented in a transparent and consistent fashion around the country and target those most in need. 1 year after the disaster, UNDP reported that the resources made available by ChinaAid were instrumental for: (1) the timely procurement of roofing material and tools; (2) the training, advocacy and public outreach on adequate installation of roofs; and (3) the implementation of building codes and quality assurance of the installation process. At the end of a 9-month implementation period, 5,115 persons benefitted directly from the action, whereas it is estimated that indirect beneficiaries were over 8,000. The estimated total number of roofs renovated has reached 500 units and covered in excess of 350,000 square feet. It is of note that the initial targets were amended to include the recovery of highly complex roof structures, such as 6 buildings at the Dominica State College (DSC), at least 5 medical Centers, 4 buildings at the Princess Margaret Hospital and 3 schools, in addition to homes of vulnerable persons. To achieve these results, the disaster recovery initiative (project) was successful in procuring materials and tools, but also in managing the logistics of same (arrival, handling, storage and distribution) in a time when these factors were critical due to the conditions of the island’s main logistics infrastructure facilities, such as the port and warehouses. Another key ingredient for success was partnership creation and management. Installation of roofs was done by identifying partnership opportunities, developing and managing effective inter-institutional agreements with 9 organizations (public and private, national and international), such as the Ministry of Health Project Management Unit, Americares, IOM, IFRC, IsraAid, Caritas, Emergency Architects, All Hands And Hearts. The re-roofing of the DSC was a particularly successful example of this partnership management exercise. As a result of the South-South Cooperation effort put in place by the GoCD, the People’s Republic of China, the Government of Cuba and UNDP, the re-roofing of 6 buildings of the Dominica State College, for an estimated roof coverage of about 65,000 square feet, was completed thanks to a delegation of 80 experienced Cuban builders — including 4 engineers. In total, it is estimated that the overall financial value of the partnerships managed by the disaster recovery initiative (project) in terms of roof installation is well above $1,000,000. This innovative approach was complemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Planning by the design and implementation of an engineering Quality Assurance process, through our partner Engineers Without Borders, that permitted to monitor the adherence of roof installation with the housing standards. As a result, more than 250 on-site documented technical spot checks were realized to ensure the highest technical quality of roofs. Finally, a web-based interactive map was also produced where all the houses that have been re-roofed under the GoCD-China partnership were displayed together with relevant metadata available, including pictures as well as all the data collected through the BDA. In addition to the physical reroofing of buildings, though, the disaster recovery initiative (project) also worked to ensure the inclusion of the Building Back Better standards and long-term resilience into the wider reconstruction and development process. To this end, UNDP forged a fruitful partnership with EWB that managed to provide the GoCD, the international community and the people of Dominica with valuable and extensive expertise in a wide range of engineering fields from the early stages of the emergency relief phase. In particular, the disaster recovery initiative (project) was fundamental in undertaking, with the GoCD’s Ministry of Planning, a full and comprehensive revision of the Dominica Housing Standards and a revision of the associated Housing Standards Guidelines. These standards and guidelines are now recognized and being used by public and private stakeholders, as well as the general population, as the reference document for housing in Dominica. The guidelines and standard were downloadable on major social media as well as local news web pages and made available on the website of the GoCD’s Ministry of Planning. A comprehensive communications strategy was also designed to ensure the highest level of visibility and exposure. A number of communications means were used to deliver messages to the people of Dominica, such as flyers, posters, radio channels, national news websites and social media. For example, a banner was pinned in the local news website Dominica News Online where information on the Project could be easily accessible to Dominicans. From June 25, 2018 to August 2, 2018 (one and a half month) that page was accessed 1,481,455 times. Additionally, street signs, t-shirts, caps, banners, posters were produced to ensure the highest visibility to the partnership between the Chinese Government, the GoCD and UNDP. Finally, as part of this strategy, weekly Fast Facts briefs were produced with the main progress and news from the field.

Additional details

1. The Chinese Government and UNDP first established the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund in 2016. It is unclear how much in total China has contributed to this special fund.

Number of official sources

7

Number of total sources

9