HURRICANES in the Gulf of Mexico and an earthquake in Kashmir made 2005 a tough year for relief agencies. While aid to affected areas was relatively quick, the process of reconstruction has only just begun.
Both areas could learn from the programme adopted after the tsunami in December 2004, according to a paper in The McKinsey Quarterly (Jan). The authors, McKinsey consultants, report that after the tsunami, national agencies were formed to plan, co-ordinate and administer the rebuilding effort in Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
Co-ordination is key: in Indonesia 124 international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), 430 local NGOs, 30 national or multilateral donors, and more than a dozen UN agencies are involved, managing more than $7 billion (£4.02 billion) in aid in a state of political unrest and widespread corruption.
However, the authors suggest that agencies aim high: “To ‘build back better’ should be an essential mission.” They should also create structures and use officials to make decisions and tackle problems locally. “A healthy mix of public and private sector personnel is also essential,” they write; public sector employees to provide insights into the working of government bodies; and those from the private sector to bring project management and performance orientated skills.
A risk for the new agencies is “becoming just another layer of bureaucracy”. Post-tsunami experience suggests that this is best avoided by focusing on six activities: planning and policy making; reviewing, generating and approving projects; building local capacity; removing bottlenecks; monitoring and evaluation; and disseminating information. All done in a transparent and apolitical way.
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