Preventive Resettlement of Populations at Risk of Disaster - GFDRR
Preventive Resettlement of Populations at Risk of Disaster - GFDRR
Preventive Resettlement of Populations at Risk of Disaster - GFDRR
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eligious beliefs - converged to cre<strong>at</strong>e a social organiz<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
model for reconstruction.<br />
In some cases, community organiz<strong>at</strong>ion had to be promoted<br />
in order to achieve sufficient particip<strong>at</strong>ion. For<br />
example, in Argentina, to conduct the self-construction<br />
process, it was necessary to facilit<strong>at</strong>e the community organiz<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
thorough groups <strong>of</strong> 20 families to build 20<br />
houses each one. This facilit<strong>at</strong>ed particip<strong>at</strong>ion and also<br />
ensured th<strong>at</strong> families helped each other to achieve the<br />
program’s goals.<br />
Community particip<strong>at</strong>ion is also crucial for monitoring<br />
the programs. Communities th<strong>at</strong> have been historically<br />
marginalized do not trust government institutions;<br />
thus, by including them in monitoring and verific<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
<strong>at</strong> every stage <strong>of</strong> the process facilit<strong>at</strong>es management and<br />
enables the communities become aware <strong>of</strong> obstacles and<br />
contribute to solving them.<br />
15. Sources <strong>of</strong> Financing<br />
The cases illustr<strong>at</strong>e the various ways th<strong>at</strong> resettlement<br />
can be financed. These include funds from government<br />
budgets, multil<strong>at</strong>eral bank loans, grants from intern<strong>at</strong>ional<br />
agencies, and community contributions. These<br />
sources were tapped in all the cases in one way or another,<br />
and to varying degrees.<br />
Government alloc<strong>at</strong>ions can be provided in different<br />
ways: They can be (a) a special alloc<strong>at</strong>ion such as in<br />
Gu<strong>at</strong>emala, when the government altered its n<strong>at</strong>ional<br />
budget to respond to the devast<strong>at</strong>ion from Tropical<br />
Storm Stan, (b) counterpart funds for loans from multil<strong>at</strong>eral<br />
agencies (Brazil and Argentina), or (c) funds for<br />
emergency response and prevention (Colombia). This<br />
last mechanism is regarded as the one most likely to<br />
ensure program sustainability. With regard to the specific<br />
sources, Brazil cre<strong>at</strong>ed the Special Fund for Public<br />
Calamities (FUNCAP) and Colombia established the<br />
N<strong>at</strong>ional Calamity Fund. Also, Bogotá established an<br />
Emergency Prevention and Response Fund (FOPAE),<br />
which receives 0.5% <strong>of</strong> the Capital District’s current tax<br />
revenues, as well as other contributions.<br />
To finance the housing needs <strong>of</strong> low-income families in<br />
high-risk areas, one interesting mechanism (Colombia)<br />
involved housing subsidies for rural and urban popul<strong>at</strong>ions,<br />
including those special subsidies in Bogotá.<br />
These subsidies allowed the administr<strong>at</strong>ion to include<br />
the most vulnerable settlers (who had no ability to pay<br />
for their houses in the formal market), so as to protect<br />
their lives and assets and gain access to legal and safe<br />
housing.<br />
In these experiences, which involved cre<strong>at</strong>ing financial<br />
instruments th<strong>at</strong> targeted the most vulnerable people,<br />
a clear message was conveyed with regard to citizens’<br />
rights and the governments’ responsibility toward excluded<br />
and poor people, core fe<strong>at</strong>ures <strong>of</strong> any form <strong>of</strong><br />
comprehensive risk management program.<br />
16. Priv<strong>at</strong>e Sector Particip<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
The cases also show the various types <strong>of</strong> priv<strong>at</strong>e sector<br />
particip<strong>at</strong>ion in the resettlement processes. These included<br />
conducting risk assessments or socio-economic and<br />
cultural studies <strong>of</strong> the popul<strong>at</strong>ion (Colombia and Gu<strong>at</strong>emala);<br />
providing services, where priv<strong>at</strong>e firms were hired<br />
to implement the social management program (Brazil);<br />
constructing houses (Brazil, Colombia and Gu<strong>at</strong>emala);<br />
and providing construction m<strong>at</strong>erials (Argentina).<br />
Especially noteworthy are the partnerships, as in Argentina<br />
and Colombia, between the institutions responsible<br />
for the resettlement and the priv<strong>at</strong>e sector. The agreements<br />
signed in Argentina by the provincial emergency<br />
coordin<strong>at</strong>ion units and priv<strong>at</strong>e suppliers <strong>of</strong> construction<br />
m<strong>at</strong>erials (th<strong>at</strong> involved carefully monitored and controlled<br />
use <strong>of</strong> voucher mechanisms), helped guarantee<br />
transparency in the use <strong>of</strong> resources. The partnerships<br />
with priv<strong>at</strong>e construction companies in Colombia using<br />
“real est<strong>at</strong>e window displays” to present their projects to<br />
the communities benefited both the construction companies<br />
and the families who thus had a wider range <strong>of</strong><br />
options from which to choose.<br />
17. Control <strong>of</strong> Reclaimed Areas<br />
After <strong>at</strong>-risk popul<strong>at</strong>ions are resettled, the reclaimed areas<br />
should be rehabilit<strong>at</strong>ed and carefully monitored. If<br />
this does not occur, costly new problems will arise for<br />
governments, institutions and territorial entities; and<br />
the efforts to reduce disaster risk will be vanished.<br />
114 <strong>Preventive</strong> <strong>Resettlement</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Popul<strong>at</strong>ions</strong> <strong>at</strong> <strong>Risk</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Disaster</strong>: Experiences from L<strong>at</strong>in America