23rd August meeting minutes

EMERGENCY FOLLOWS UP MEETING OF SPHERE INDIA GROUP ON 23rd AUGUST, 06 FOR DISCUSSION ON CURRENT FLOOD: Meeting minutes

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Date: 23th August 2006 (Wednesday)
Venue: Conference room, Care India, 27- Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi-110051
Duration: 2 hours approx. ( 16.30 to 18.30 hrs )
Host: Mr. Veturi Chiranjeevi
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Members present:
Mr. N. M. Prusty –Chairperson, Sphere India
Mr. Anshu Sharma – Seeds India
Ms. Shakuntala Suhag – UNDMT
Mr. Ramesh Babu – EFICOR
Mr. Veturi Chiranjeevi - Care India
Ms.Dharti Daftary – Save the Children
Ms. Sahba Chauhan – Oxfam GB
Mr. Rayappa Kancharla- Christian Aid
Ms. Shirley Mcquen Patterson- Unicef
Mr Sudhir – ADRA
Mr. Arjun Khajuria – Focal Person
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Mr.Veturi Chiranjeevi briefed on Care India’s response in Gujarat and Andra Pradesh:
- 10 slums have been identified in Surat where debris clearing and cleaning work is being under taken.
- 4 agencies: Oxfam GB, Action Aid, Care India and CRS were part of the interagency group in Gujarat.
- Janpath and Mahila Seva Housing Trust are the implementing partners in targeted region.
- Electronic versions of the Gujarat joint assessment report and Andra Pradesh report to be shared with other members through the focal person.
- Some of the organizations joined late in the assessment process in Andra Pradesh; however these organizations factored the inputs from other organizations which had started the assessment process a little earlier.

Ms. Sahba Chauhan briefed on Oxfam’s response:

- Oxfam GB’s teams have visited the flood affected parts of Gujarat and Andra Pradesh.
- Oxfam coordinated and was part of three interagency assessments in Surat( one in the urban area and two in the rural areas)

-Oxfam did not and will not respond in Gujarat as it observes that local actors and the government have adequately covered the needs of the people.

- Oxfam Novib is providing relief in the flood affected district of Srikakulam through local partners.
- Oxfam Novib is also providing relief in the Koraput district of Orissa through its partner DHAN foundation.
- Oxfam GB coordinated with SCF in Andra Pradesh.
- Andra Pradesh interagency meeting is scheduled to be held on the 25th of August in Hyderabad.
Ms. Dharti Daftary briefed on Save the Children response in Ladakh and Andra Pradesh:
- SCF immediately response in Ladakh was worth about 5000 pounds sterling.
- Possibility of mid-term (3- 6 moths) support cum recovery programme for the flood affected states by the donor community.
- About 7661 families are receiving aid in the East Godavari district through their local partners Sravanti and ACTION.
Mr. M. Ramesh Babu shared EFICOR’s response in A.P, Gujarat and Orissa:
- Additional funds for relief in Andra Pradesh and Orissa.
- Additional coverage of 2000 families in Bhadrachalam district of A.P and about 500 families in Malkangiri district of Orissa.
- The composition and quality of dry ration provided in the three states have been in line with the Sphere standards.
Mr. Rayappa Kancharla shared Christian Aid’s response in Andra Pradesh (A.P):
- Christian Aid forwarded the request of its partners for a response in A..P to its Tsunami Coordination office in Chennai.
- Relief was distributed through four partners in Srikakulam, Khammam, Bhadrachalam and Nellore districts.
- Christian Aid ‘s partner CASA is providing assistance to about 15000 families in the flood affected regions of A.P.
- Social exclusion during emergencies in the present floods.

Mr Anshu Sharma briefed that Seeds India is closing monitoring the shelter situation in Gujarat and feels that land tenure would be a issue.
Mr. Sudhir brief on ADRA’s response:
• Initial flood response worth 10,000 USD in the affected regions.
• Additional 60,000 USD sort for covering 6000 families in Andra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharastra.
• Problem of identifying affected families in the above mentioned states.
• Issues of compliance of Sphere standards and duplication of work.
• One filtration equipment with capacity of capacity of 7500 liters /per hour and one desalination equipment with a capacity of 1500 liters/per hour is stored in Pondicherry and can be borrowed for use.

Ms. Shirley Mcquen Patterson brief on Unicef’s response:
--UNICEF has been responding in various states and has pre positioned stocks in Orissa, A.P., Bihar, West Bengal and Assam.

-Pre positioned stocks of chlorination tablets; URS packs etc., which are distributed through the local administration.


Ms. Shakuntala Suhag from UNDP expressed the likelihood of floods in north Orissa and would SITREP soon sharing with the members.

Mr. Prusty, Sphere India shared the following with the group:
• Concrete steps needs to be taken in understanding of Sphere and its standards among field staff of the INGO’s.
• Partners are obligatory to transfer the knowledge on Sphere Standards to their implementing partners/local partners.
• Unified Response Strategy (URS) is being developed to respond to small disasters promptly and effectively.
• URS would complement the govt. efforts in disaster response and management.
• Linking and integration of the implementing partners is essential to URS.
• SAARC disaster management Center to be started in India.
• SAARC framework on disaster management has been ratified and policy is being drafted.
• South Asia inter agency platform will be launched by the SAARC disaster management center.
• Duryog Nivaran is a network of about 98 NGO’s which ahs been reactivated to engage with the SAARC center.
• Sphere India is on the steering committee of Duryog Nivaran.

General information ( inputs by Mr Anshu Sharma and Mr Arjun Khajuria)

• Sphere India website not accessible due to some administrative reasons.

• A Sphere-URS Blog has been started and can be accessed like a website.( http://www.sphere-urs.blogspot.com/)

• You need to register only if you want to write or share information with other members.
• URS Website will be launched soon.

Follow-up activities:

• Care and other agencies to share the electronic version of Gujarat inter-agency mapping and A.P. interagency report with the focal person.

• Care to share the common format for assessment with the focal person.

• Need to widen the inter-agency network directory.

• Provide web links for Sphere hand book and Sphere calorie calculator on the blog.

• Focal person to coordinate with Ms. Sahba and visit Oxfam GB office to collect data related to Sphere secretariat.
• Information and learning needs to gathered on the Gujarat and Andra Pradesh inter-agency work and their cost sharing if any.

• ARDA to be send an electronic copy of the A.P assessment report.
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minutes of 18th August meeting

EMERGENCY FOLLOWS UP MEETING OF SPHERE INDIA GROUP ON 18THAUGUST, 06 FOR DISCUSSION ON CURRENT FLOOD: Meeting minutes

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Date: 18th August 2006 (Friday)
Venue: Conference room, Care India, 27- Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi-110051
Duration: 2 hours ( 16.30 to 18.30 hrs )
Host: Mr. Balaji Singh
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Members present:
Mr. N. M. Prusty –Chairperson, Sphere India
Mr.Balaji Singh –Care India
Mr. Anshu Sharma – Seeds India
Ms. Shakuntala Suhag – UNDMT
Mr. Ramesh Babu – EFICOR
Mr. Denis De Poerck - SCF UK
Mr. Vetury Chiranjeevi - Care India
Mr. Arjun Khajuria – Sphere –URS Focal Person
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Mr Balaji Singh, briefed on Care India’s response in Gujarat:
- About 3500 households have been provided with dry ration kits
- The composition of dry ration kits and quantity adheres to Sphere standards.
- This intervention would continue for 10 days and consist of about 80 tractor days.
- The targeted groups are migrant laborers living in unauthorized slums.
- Care is distributing relief through its local partners- Janpath, CHF and Mahila Seva Housing Trust.
- CRS, Oxfam, ActionAid, and Care India are part of interagency group which has coordinated a joint assessment.
- The Gujarat joint assessment report was shared with members.

Mr. Denis De Poerck, briefed on SCF UK’s response:
- Sharing the situation report on East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh ( earlier the same was forwarded my email to other members)
- SCF UK’s response in Ladakh which included distribution of the following particularly in 8 villages ( with estimation of about 8000 families affected)
· 200 tents
· 400 blankets
· 200 plastic sheets
· Tarpaulin sheets distributed
· Tools to aid rescue and repair including pick axes, hammers, crowbars and shovels
· Utensil sets ( Mrr Denis has forwarded the Ladakh situation report via e-mail to members prior to the meeting.
Mr M. Ramesh Babu shared EFICOR’s response in A.P, Gujarat and Orissa:
- 4000 families were distributed with dry ration in the Bhadrachalam region of A.P
- Dry ration support will be provided for 15 days to the targeted groups.
- 400 households have been provided with dry ration in Surat.(15 days long)
- Also 5000 households would be provided with non-food material in Surat.
- In Orissa about 2300 households have been provided with dry ration in the Malkangiri region of Orissa.
- The composition and quality of dry ration provided in the three states have been in line with the Sphere standards.
Ms. Shankuntala Suhag suggested that Unicef had received various health and nutrition request in the flood affected states.
Mr Anshu Sharma, briefed the members on URS developments:
- A directory of contact persons in the three URS states ( Gujarat, Andra Pradesh and Orissa) including a directory of URS working group is being developed and will be shared with members in the next meeting for their inputs before finalization.
- Working group intends to develop maps of the disaster affected regions and INGO mapping of working regions and activities using GIS.
- Mechanism are being developed to increase inter-agency , inter-organization and governmental information sharing in disasters, but would require cooperation from Sphere member both at national and state level.
- Creating a Sphere-URS website if the current Sphere India website cant be accessed.
- Create a common mailing group and upload key information on the designated web-portal.



Subsequently the following points were discussed and agreed upon:
- Need to streamline communications of Sphere India through a web-portal.
- New sphere person( Arjun Khajuria) needs to contact people in Oxfam GB, Ms Shakuntala to provide assistance.
- Mr. Prusty would email all Sphere members including contact persons at state –level introducing the new Sphere-URS contact person.
- Sphere-URS would start the compilation of donor information i.e. donor meetings and interactions with Sphere members, their requirements.
- Sphere-URS should also look into the way TNTRC functions and manages.
- Mr.Anshu Sharma would contact Mr.Vivek to gain assess to the Sphere India website.
- The members would be given more notice period for a Sphere meeting to be held in future.
- Next Sphere members meeting to be held on the 23rd of August (Wednesday) 2006, at 16.30 hrs at Care India Office.

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welcome Sphere India members

Dear Sphere India members,


SPHERE India under the sponsorship of UNICEF has launched a new initiative known as URS(Unified Response Strategy)in disaster.Pilot states have been identified to tryout this new concept.URS is still in concept and design stage. URS is a purely voluntary initiative (as is SPHERE)and any meneber of SPHEREIndia group can join the URS at it's own will.


Best

Arjun