4
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REGIONAL STRATEGIC
FRAMEWORK
This
regional strategic framework outlines the basis for action by CONSRN partners
towards rehabilitation of fisheries and aquaculture in tsunami affected
countries and communities. The
framework will also be useful in providing direction and coordination to other
organizations (such as government departments, NGOs, multilateral agencies and
donors) involved in tsunami rehabilitation.
Many other agencies are or will be working in the tsunami affected areas
and it is therefore important that any activities are carried out in full
collaboration with development partners and governments.
Implementation
of activities in support of the strategic elements described in this framework
will require close collaboration, design and planning, mobilization of
resources, monitoring and evaluation and effective networking and
communication. In order to achieve
this, five key areas of activity and cooperation have been identified for
CONSRN and it's partners. These include:
- collaboration in conducting and
communicating results from combined comprehensive damage and needs assessments;
- development of agreed rehabilitation plans
and a rehabilitation programme that involve core partners and other related
agencies;
- working collectively to mobilize additional
resources as appropriate;
- implementation of the agreed rehabilitation
plans, monitoring, evaluating and reporting on progress and effective
networking and communication of findings; and
- development of a CONSRN flagship project that involves all
partners in the consortium.
Collaboration in conducting and
communicating results from combined comprehensive damage and needs assessments
Prior
to designing and implementing any programmes aimed at rehabilitation of
fisheries and aquaculture, comprehensive impact and needs assessments are
required. As a first step in this
process a review of existing damages and needs assessments will be required to
minimize overlap and duplication of work.
Key elements of these assessments could include:
- environmental damage, for example that
relating to changes in resource base (fisheries and other species), nursery
areas for fisheries, coastal zone habitats, coral and mangrove areas;
- economic losses, including losses to aquaculture
and fisheries physical assets and infrastructure (including processing, input
suppliers and service industries);
- social impact, including the impact of the
tsunami on fishing communities, fishers organizations, their capacity to
organize and the psychological impacts on fishers and their families;
- financial losses, including impact on
existing financial structures at local level;
- changes to livelihoods assets, strategies
and vulnerability of the different groups within communities; and
- policy and institutional impact, in
particular the impacts on government and
non-government agencies (both formal and informal institutions) and their
ability to support communities.
Development of agreed rehabilitation plans that involve core
partners and other related agencies
In parallel with the impact and
needs assessments, planning for rehabilitation will have to be carried
out. The should be agreed at local
level and ensure that the rehabilitation does not result in fishing over capacity
or unsustainable development of aquaculture.
The types of plans that can be developed during the needs assessment
include:
- environmental rehabilitation, in particular
long term planning to ensure sustainable use of the natural resource base of
fisheries and aquaculture and the coastal zone;
- economic rehabilitation, including medium
to long term planning for rehabilitation of public (infrastructure) and private
(boats and gear) goods. In particular
replacing the loss to aquaculture and fisheries physical assets and
infrastructure (including processing, input suppliers and service industries);
- social rehabilitation, including plans for
the strengthening of community organizations and cohesion (through group
action). Specific attention should be
paid to vulnerable groups such as the poor, women and marginalized sectors of
the community and their involvement in coastal zone management;
- financial rehabilitation, including how
appropriate financial services for all sectors of the community can be re-established;
- livelihoods rehabilitation, including how
livelihoods assets of the households within the diverse communities can be
rehabilitated to ensure a reduction in vulnerability and the basis for
sustainable development; and
- policy and institutional rehabilitation,
including how policy and institutions can be strengthened at local and national
level (and both formal and informal) to fully support rehabilitation of the
tsunami impacted areas.
During this phase, close
cooperation with partners and stakeholders is necessary to ensure that overlap
and potential waste of resources is avoided and that programmes are well
targeted and appropriate. CONSRN
partners are ideally placed to support this function having the local,
national, regional, and international networks and technical expertise
required. Key stages in the development
of programmes could include:
- networking and sharing of information (in
particular related to the results of damage
and needs assessments), including support to regional and national technical
consultations and coordination of planning meetings, development of a CONSRN
partner communication strategy and web sites;
- facilitation between agencies and direct
support through technical assistance to planning for rehabilitation, including
the development of action plans; and
- commissioning of specific reviews as
required and according to the needs of countries.
Working collectively to mobilize additional resources as
appropriate
During the development of the
rehabilitation plans it is essential to identify resources (financial, human
and physical) for implementation. Close
coordination is required between CONSRN and other partners to ensure that
sources of appropriate resources are identified and involved in planning at an
early stage. CONSRN can play a critical
role through its networks to ensure that needs (expressed as projects and
programmes) are coordinated and matched with donors. Key stages in the identification and mobilization of resources
could include:
- preparation of high quality concept notes
for potential programmes and projects for submission to donor meetings;
- direct communication of project concepts to
donor agencies through status reports, technical meetings;
- establishing and communicating project development
criteria required by different donors; and
- regular internal communication of project
proposal status and topics within CONSRN partners.
Implementation of the agreed rehabilitation plans, monitoring,
evaluating and reporting on progress and effective networking and communication
of findings
Once project proposals have been
approved, implementation can proceed in a timely and accountable fashion. CONSRN is a voluntary activity of the
agencies involved and as such has no formal secretariat. Each partner may raise funds to augment its
own internal resources
(in any way it sees fit within its institutional policy) and bring these
resources on to the
“Consortium table” should that agency deem this appropriate. In a case where two or more partners agree
to jointly implement a project, the collaborators in that project will decide
on how the project is funded, the source of funds, and their respective
contribution to the project cost. In
the last instance, the partners may agree to cost in-kind contributions and
count these as a contribution to the project.
Implementation of agreed CONSRN projects or programmes will be through
the consortium partners and follow the agreed guidelines for rehabilitation and
development. In addition to these
guidelines emphasis will be put on:
- coordinated monitoring, evaluation and
reporting progress, including specific thematic and impact evaluations, and
- effective networking and communication
through: sharing the most up to date
information, reporting on results, disseminating the findings of evaluations,
assessments and programme activities.
A wide range of activities in
support of tsunami rehabilitation are either underway or planned by individual
members. These vary from the provision
of extensive relief to mobilizing resources and developing proposals for long
term rehabilitation. These individual
actions will be implemented by the partners but coordinated and communicated to
the consortium.
Development of a CONSRN flagship project that involves all partners
in the consortium
In addition to the actions
described above, CONSRN has agreed to the concept of a joint flagship programme
to be designed and implemented by all partners during the coming months. This programme will give coherence and
complementarity to what may otherwise be overlapping activities. It will be developed by CONSRN partners and
be based on the draft proposal developed by SEAFDEC. This proposal contains elements to address key issues such as:
- avoidance of over capacity in the provision
of inputs during fishery rehabilitation;
- the promotion of responsible fishing
techniques during fishery rehabilitation; and
- the promotion of sustainable aquaculture
practices during rehabilitation of coastal aquaculture.