Communities in Serbia
Providing permanent housing solutions to the most vulnerable families affected by floods in Serbia 2014
GOOD PRACTICE TITLE: Providing permanent housing solutions to the most vulnerable families affected by floods in Serbia 2014
KIND OF PRACTICE: Help establishing normal living conditions for the most vulnerable families immediately after major natural disasters
DOCUMENT AUTHOR: Housing Center - Housing Development Center for Socially Vulnerable Groups, Belgrade, Serbia Miša ObradovićPLACE: five cities /municipalities in Serbia - Šabac, Loznica, Bajina Bašta, Šid, Obrenovac
CONTEXT, FIELD OF INTERVENTION:
The record amount of rain, which fell in Serbia in May 2014, caused unprecedented floods and landslides that left great damage and devastating consequences. Heavy damages were on the infrastructures (riverbanks, roads, railroads, power plants,...), public buildings (schools, kindergardens, hospitals,...), agricultural properties, private houses...public and private companies... During flooding, 57 people died, while more than 30,000 people had to leave their homes. Estimated damage in Serbia (both direct and implied) was around 1.7 billion euros. The damage was recorded in more than 100 local governments, while floods and landslides hit the most 24 city and municipalities. Government tried to help flood affected citizens, but that help did not match the cost of the damages. Financial help came from different sides (private donors, Red Cross, foreign governments...) but the largest help came from EU funds. The amount of financial assistance, to People whose property was damaged in the floods, depended on the size of the damage (damage was estimated within six categories - 1:slightest damage on the building - 6:building is unsuitable for living) The most vulnerable families, even with that kind of help, were unable, by themselves to repair their homes or invest in their small scale businesses.
PERIOD:
2014 to 2017
POPULATION, PARTICIPANTS:
In accordance with the Methodology of Implementation Support to Victims floods in Serbia, the priority for participation in the EU Assistance Program is given socially the most vulnerable families affected by floods, and social vulnerability determined on the basis of several indicators.
The beneficiary families are families of unfavorable socio-economic status, whose vulnerability is reinforced by other vulnerability factors: disability, age, chronic illness or loss of work ability of a member, single-parent households, a greater number of underage children and dependent household members, poor housing conditions, belonging to a minority or discriminated population.
COORDINATORS:
The Flood Relief Program is funded by the European Union, and all activities are planned in close cooperation with the Office of European Integration and the Office for Assistance and Restoration of Flooded Areas of the Government of the Republic of Serbia. Activities are conducted by the Office The United Nations Project Services (UNOPS), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and organizations Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB), Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and Help - Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe e.V. The program is being implemented in 24 municipalities that are most affected by floods. As part of this Flood Relief program projects: “Reconstruction of houses and economic revitalization of the most vulnerable families affected by floods in Serbia in 2014” and “Continuous support in housing reconstruction and economic revitalization of flood-affected areas in Serbia” were implemented by Housing Center , Sameriter Arbeter Bund (ASB), Initiative for the Development and Coopertaion (IDC) and Foundation Ana and Vlade Divac in 9 municipalities/cities in Serbia. Other partners in the project were Local Governments, local Social Welfare Centers and Government office for Reconstruction and Flood Relief.
METHODOLOGY (HOW THE PRACTICE WORKS):
The overall objective was to support the normalization of living conditions for most vulnerable families affected by floods in Serbia through: 1. Assisting in the establishment of normal living conditions (component 1) 2. Assisting in the economic revitalization (component 2) From august 2014 until may 2017 Housing Center has been engaged in project implementing component 1 (Providing permanent housing solutions) in five municipalities/cities in Serbia - Bajina Bašta, Šid, Obrenovac, Šabac, Loznica
In accordance with the Methodology of Implementation Support to Victims floods in Serbia, the process of implementing Component 1 consist of two types of help, depending on categorization of property damages: 1. Rehabilitation of damaged houses through distribution and installation of building material (includes buildings with damage category from 1 to 5) ; 2. Provision and Installation of prefabricated houses/Construction of new housing units. (buildings with damage category 6)
Project implementation included several steps that involved all stakeholders and beneficiaries. First of all was the Project presentation which had been carried out with relevant project partners in all of the targeted municipalities. The Priority list of Potential Beneficiaries, vulnerable families that had been flood victims, was provided by local authorities and presented to the Members of the Joint beneficiary Selection Committee (Representatives of: Municipal administrative office, Municipal Crisis Committee, Centre for Social Welfare, Government Office for Reconstruction and Flood Relief and representatives of Implementing Partners). Engineers from Housing Centre (and other Implementing Partners) collected information from the field and cross-check data with relevant local and state authorities.
Criteria for beneficiary selection were: eligibility criteria, general/administrative criteria and vulnerability criteria. Eligibility and General criteria were excluding but according to Vulnerability criteria the Priority Beneficiary List had been scored (large number of household member, member with reduction or loss work capacity or disability, members with diseases of higher socio-medical importance, ...etc) A unified scoring system was developed with points per fulfilled criteria for prioritization reasons in order to form list of priorities. The scoring system was presented at the first Joint Beneficiary Selection Committee and was the same in all the project target municipalities. The whole process was transparent from the beginning and Joint Beneficiary Selection Committee considered complaints to the Proposed ranking Beneficiary List and finally adopted the Final Beneficiary List. The final list of beneficiaries was created for rehabilitation of houses, as well as for installation of prefabricated houses. After the adoption of the list, Implementing partners did detailed assessment and Bill of Quantities, and carried out Tendering procedure, Contracting and preparing a work schedule for construction works. During the construction of the work, technical team of Implementing partners with the Municipal technical team supervised the works and gave the final verification and conduct Technical handovers.
Beside the construction works, all of the Beneficiaries families got the furniture and house appliances which had been damaged during the floods. Families who will live in new prefabricated houses got all of the necessary furniture and all of the house appliances, together with the wood burning stove.
Within the Rehabilitation and Installation of prefabricated house more than few families got electricity and bathroom for the first time in their life.
PARTICIPATORY PROCESS:
During the Project realization, Beneficiaries have been involved in the very process. Collecting information from the field included creating relations with flood affected families. If the estimated damage exceeded the envisaged amount of the grant, within the framework of providing minimum living conditions, beneficiaries participated in selection of works priorities. Beneficiaries also provide all the data about damaged furniture and house appliances.
TIME TO BE SUCCESFUL (HOW MANY TIME THE PRACTICE TAKE TO ACHIEVE THEIR OBJECTIVES):
In the process of achieving objectives of normalization of living conditions for most vulnerable families affected by floods in Serbia the two mentioned projects were implemented. All of the Beneficiaries from the Final Priority Lists got help according to the estimated damages within the scope of the envisaged amount of the grants. In total numbers Housing center helped reconstruction of 341 houses, 55 families to achieve minimal living conditions, construction of 31 new prefabricated houses, and providing furniture and household appliances for 146 families. During the projects, Housing Center had implemented over 1.900.000,00 Euros.
VALIDITY (IF THE PARTICIPANTS THINK THAT THE PRACTICE RESOLVED THE PROBLEMATIC):
The fact that on the beginning of the implementation of the second project (which was the extension of the first one), by far fewer vulnerable families who were affected by floods were reported by local government shows that the acute problem of inadequate housing among vulnerable families flood victims was significantly declining. After implementing the second project all of the vulnerable families flood victims reported by municipality’s governments were assisted and got help so they could start living in
adequate conditions. During the implementation Housing Center engineers were in permanent contact with all beneficiaries and they got the feedback from the first hand. Words were not enough to describe their happiness and gratitude.
IMPACT:
The impact of Projects that dealt with establishing normal living conditions and economic revitalizations was huge. The Projects confirmed that EU was and still is the largest donator in Serbia.
INNOVATION:
The response to the natural disasters is something that should not be innovated, nevertheless situation in Serbia demanded new approach, because most of the regulations considering this issue were outdated and dealing with this kind of “epic floods” was never experienced. Government established Office for Reconstruction and Flood Relief which was managing all kind of aid which came to Serbia from different donors. All the aid was collected in one place and from there referred to the necessary locations according to the previously established plan. The whole process was transparent and it could be checked on the official website of the office in any time. After the successful response to the most urgent matters, Government decided to improve protections against possible future disasters and started to invest in different ways of protection (first of all infrastructure, agriculture, public buildings, etc...)
RESOURCES OR CONDITIONS NEEDED FOR THE PRACTICE:
After the floods devastating consequences Serbian Government tried to help its citizens, but the most vulnerable families could not manage to improve their living conditions and economic revitalization, even with that help. EU Delegation in Serbia among the first provided financial aid through favorable loans, non refundable manner and Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) 2012 and 2014. Projects: “Reconstruction of houses and economic revitalization of the most vulnerable families affected by floods in Serbia in 2014” and “Continuous support in housing reconstruction and economic revitalization of flood-affected areas in Serbia” were financed through IPA 2012 and IPA 2014. Housing Center has been engaged in project implementing component 1 (Providing permanent housing solutions) and successfully implemented over 1.900.000 euro of financial aid. On this Projects HC had several staff members engaged: Project manager, Administrative Assistant, Procurement officer, Engineers, Social officer and Volunteers. Partnerships with five municipalities/cities in Serbia - Bajina Bašta, Šid, Obrenovac, Šabac, Loznica - (Representatives of: Municipal administrative office, Municipal Crisis Committee, Centre for Social Welfare) and with the Government Office for Reconstruction and Flood Relief were made. Monthly coordination meetings were held in the EU Delegation office in Serbia where representatives of all organizations involved in implementing projects presenting their achievements, challenges and objectives.
LIMITATIONS:
Because of the nature of responding to the natural hazards, which have to be very promptly, the biggest limitation was time. The object was to act very fast, but beneficial and comprehensive. In order to get best results, first step was providing Methodology of Implementation Support to Victims floods in Serbia. Floods occurred in May 2014, and field visits started at the end of August, the same year. Second limitation was procurement timelines, although shortened to the obligatory, still contributed starting of construction work in winter time, which was out of the regular construction season in Serbia. Another limitation, connected with the previous one, was weather conditions which affected the extension of the construction period. Locations of the houses, especially in municipality Bajina Bašta, were unapproachable, because most of the plots and buildings were without modern infrastructure. Lack of the asphalt roads, watersupply and electricity were limitiations that were chalenging for construction works. In the middle of the Project implementation, change of the Serbian Law on Planning and Construction occured and all of the documentation connected to issuing building pertmits transform from hardcopy to digital. This was another challenge that was overcome during the implementation of the Project.
LEARNED LESSONS: :
The main goal of Project was accomplished, because after implementation of Projects, all of the vulnerable families flood victims, reported by municipality’s governments, were assisted and got help. Implementation Methodology written for the first Project left out single householders and elderly families, because of the scoring system which favored large families with minors, they couldn’t get enough points for qualification on the Priority list of Potential Beneficiaries and ranked very low. That was corrected during implementation of the Second Project. Timelines of Project implementation has to be harmonized with the construction season in order to avoid unwanted delay of works caused by weather conditions.
SUSTAINABILITY:
Priority of the Projects which are dealing with providing emergency help to the most vulnerable people affected by natural disasters was fast and comprehensive aid. Sustainability will be reflected in creating a mechanism within the state system that would be enhanced and ready to respond in such specific situations.
REPLICABILITY:
After the first Project - “Reconstruction of houses and economic revitalization of the most vulnerable families affected by floods in Serbia in 2014”, the second Project “Continuous support in housing reconstruction and economic revitalization of flood-affected areas in Serbia” was implemented, also as part of the Flood Relief program in Serbia. Replicability was shown to cases which are dealing with fast creating response to disasters.
CONCLUSION:
Taking into account all limitations and challenges, the success of the Projects implementation has been achieved in full scope. Feedback from the Beneficiaries families showed the importance of implemented projects for the most vulnerable people. Without such assistance, they themselves would never be able to improve their living conditions. Further investments in infrastructure through projects funded by the European Union will also contribute to the reduction of future damage caused by natural disasters.
CONTACT (PRACTICES AUTHOR AND ORGANIZATION):
Housing Center – Housing Development Center for Socially Vulnerable Groups,
Nusiceva Str. 10, Belgrade, Serbia
Tel/fax: +381 11 3347331
Miša Obradović, engineer