Shelter and NFI Cluster Evaluation Cyclone Giri Response, Myanmar

Comparable in strength to Cyclone Nargis, Cyclone Giri, category 4, made landfall in Rakhine State at 8pm,
Friday, 22 October 2010. Two days prior the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) and Government began
the early warning and evacuation of most residents either to higher ground, conveniently located within
kilometers of the coast, or to strong buildings located close by. This early action most likely dramatically
reduced the loss of life which was less than 100 persons - compared to over 100,000 only two and a half
years before in Nargis. Immediately after the cyclone, the Government allowed MRCS, local NGOs and in
situ INGO national staff, to make assessments and provide humanitarian assistance. However, similar to
Nargis, international staff and new INGOs were not allowed to visit the area until nearly 2 months after (mid
December).
Cyclone Giri hit an impoverished and politically sensitive area 2 weeks before national elections. The
Government asked the UN to keep a humanitarian operation ‘low profile’. Thus the Humanitarian
Coordinator (simultaneously the Resident Coordinator) requested the implementation of an ‘informal’ cluster
system in Yangon. Thirteen days after Giri, when more information became available regarding the extent of
damage and persons affected (260,000), the cluster system was officially activated with a letter sent to the
Emergency Relief Coordinator. Seventeen days later application was made to the Central Emergency Relief
Fund (CERF) and a month later a general appeal made to donors (22 Nov). However, the UN never made
an international “Flash” appeal for funds. Similarly, at the request of MRCS, the International Federation of
the Red Cross (IFRC) did not make an appeal. The ‘low profile’ approach to the disaster made a more
transparent humanitarian operation difficult, resulting in delays in information, funding and action. It also had
an impact on what to expect from clusters in terms of their normal roles and responsibilities.
In this context, within 3 days of Giri, IFRC convened the first ‘informal’ Emergency Shelter and NFI cluster
(ESC) and managed for 3 weeks with existing in-country international staff with some previous ESC
experience. When the clusters were formally activated, IFRC sent for another 2 months, two Myanmar staff
with international ESC experience as information managers. IFRC was the only organisation to send a
dedicated team, while other agencies used existing senior and information management staff, and in at least
one case some added capacity.1
In January, nearly 3 months after Giri, the ESC was phased out and
handed over to the Shelter Working Group led by UN Habitat who has a relatively strong presence in
country, given their Nargis recovery programme.