Preventive Resettlement of Populations at Risk of Disaster - GFDRR

8,000,000
Figure 3.6. Amounts Invested in each ppi Province
7,000,000
6,000,000
5,000,000
4,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
0
Buenos Aires
3,273,842
Chaco
7,420,473
Corrientes
4,947,171
Entre Ríos
1,649,589
Formosa
3,284,,770
Misiones
3,188,519
Santa Fe
5,420,872
Source: Based on data in the Report of the PPI. Zelmeister. 2009.
We put our best will and labor, with the guidance of all of
them [officials of the institutions]; without their guidance,
we wouldn’t have done anything. My husband didn’t even
know how to lay a brick, so they came to collaborate, we
started working together and that became contagious for
the whole city.
Lucía Andrea Sosa, Concepción del Uruguay, Entre Ríos
With regard to acquiring new skills, the evaluation
found that 92 percent of beneficiaries (without any substantial
gender differences) who had no previous experience
with construction learned skills which helped
41 percent of them significantly increase their income
by doing odd jobs, known as “changas” in Argentina,
mainly as bricklayers. Although these were short-term
jobs (less than one month’s duration in 55 percent of
cases), beneficiaries felt the training enhanced their job
opportunities: 66 percent said they had better chances
of finding employment than before and almost 80 percent
said the training would help them in the future.
At the same time, 91 percent of beneficiaries noted positive
changes in the quality of family life, as they had
more room and privacy (due to the separate bedrooms).
For 80 percent, the improved quality was associated
with the greater security they felt owning a house with
a legal title, and without the risk of floods and constant
evacuations. Over 80 percent said that the frequency
of their children’s illnesses associated with floods and
other water-related causes was reduced. With regard to
the issue of recreation, 88 percent said they had more
options than in their previous locations.
5.2 Qualitative Outcomes
In addition to the quantitative outcomes, the housing
components had indirect impacts, both on institutions,
municipalities, and beneficiaries.
■■
For municipalities and institutions
Inter-disciplinary teams were formed, consisting of representatives
from the national, provincial and municipal
levels, the housing institutes and the people affected by
the flooding.
The programs were good examples of a transparent administration
of funds, as they adopted methods (vouchers)
for purchasing materials that did not involve cash
transfers to the families.
The flood-risk program’s housing component promoted
a process for improving the living conditions of urban
informal settlements through building the municipalities’
technical capacity. Also, local governments and civil
society organizations’ that participated in the housing
component strengthened their management skills.
Adequate houses were built at a reasonable cost. The
program fostered the idea of housing as an evolving
process, in which improvements can be made gradually.
New urban developments in the urban areas were built
for low-income populations on land at very low or no
risk of flooding.
Chapter 3 Response to Recurrent Floods: Assisted Self-Construction Housing Program | Argentina | 39