Emergency Operation: Sri Lanka Emergency assistance to the most vulnerable drought affected households 2A NA

Transcription

1 Emergency Operation: Sri Lanka Emergency assistance to the most vulnerable drought affected households Number of beneficiaries 25,000 Duration of project 15 April until 15 October 2017 (starting date end date) Gender Marker Code * 1 WFP food tonnage 2A NA * For the coding criteria, refer to Cost (United States Dollars) Food and Related Costs N/A Cash and Vouchers and Related Costs 2,437,500 Capacity Development & Augmentation N/A DSC 459,183 ISC 202,768 Total cost to WFP 3,099,451 1 See WFP Gender Marker Guide and PGM: Gender Marker Guide for how to calculate a Gender Marker Code 1

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Sri Lanka has been experiencing one of the worst droughts in 40 years, affecting most parts of the country since the beginning of Although there were extremely heavy downpours during mid-may 2016, the total cumulative rainfall received during 2016 was below normal and highly erratic as the south west inter-monsoons and north east monsoons failed to bring enough rainfall in the wet and dry zones of the country. Being a rice dependent country with a cropping calendar that revolves around four distinct rainfall seasons, the drought has resulted in serious impacts on the production of rice and other crops in the major cultivation season Maha. Livelihoods and income generation opportunities for farmers, agricultural laborers and households dependent on animal rearing have been severely reduced. Two thirds of the domestic rice supply is produced during the Maha season from September until March. However, due to drought conditions, only about 66 percent of the paddy land (535,200 ha) was cultivated in Moreover, out of the total area cultivated, over 137,000 ha were lost due to a lack of water for irrigation. As per the latest crop forecast, national rice production has declined by 53 percent in this season compared to the last three harvests, pointing to the 2016/17 agricultural year being the worst in more than 40 years. On 19 January 2017, the Sri Lankan Government sent a formal request to WFP for technical assistance on drought response including assessment, emergency relief and impact monitoring. A further request for assistance was made by the Government to foreign missions and humanitarian partners on the 21 March 2017 outlining the relief needed for drought affected households. An IR-prep was approved in February 2017 with the aim of carrying out a drought impact assessment, developing a coordinated emergency response with the government, initiating a vulnerability analysis system for drought monitoring and establishing field operations necessary for the anticipated drought response. Through the IR-Prep, a Joint Assessment of Drought Impact on Food Security and Livelihoods was carried out in February, under the Ministry of Disaster Management and with technical support from the World Food Programme, FAO, UNICEF, and Save the Children. The assessment was conducted in ten of the hardest hit districts (Kurunegela, Putalam, Manner, Vavuniya, Moneragala, Hambantota, Batticaloa, Polanurawa) across five livelihood zones. This was followed up by a Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) in March which covered 22 districts and produced findings that validated the results of joint assessment. The assessment revealed that the loss of production and the subsequent loss of income for smallholder farmers and labourers is driving households into serious indebtedness and has caused food insecurity to increase from 18 percent to 38 percent of the four most affected districts (Mannar, Vavuniya, Kurunegala and Moneragala). Malnutrition rates in these areas are already critical, with wasting ranging from 20 percent to 35 percent of children under five years of age above the national average of 19.6 percent. Female-headed households are even more vulnerable and show rates of food insecurity that are estimated to be three times 2

3 higher than male-headed households. As families start to adopt negative coping strategies, productive assets are also being sold and children are being taken out of school. This EMOP aims to: i) provide targeted food assistance in the form of cash-based transfers to the 25,000 most vulnerable affected individuals in the four hardest hit districts for six months; ii) improve the capacity of the Samurdhi social safety net scheme to identify and target vulnerable households in disaster response through its registered beneficiary database; and iii) support the government in setting-up a real-time vulnerability analysis system to systematically monitor and assess the impact of the drought given strong concerns of a subsequent poor harvest season. Through this response, the EMOP contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 2 and 17, and is in line with WFP s Strategic Objective 1 (by protecting access to food) and Strategic Objective 5 (by directly partnering with the Government of Sri Lanka and collaborating with the humanitarian community in country). SITUATION ANALYSIS Context 1. Sri Lanka is a rice dependent country. Two thirds of domestic supply is produced during the Maha season from September until March. The majority of the crop is planted before the end of December. However, due to significant below average rainfall since October, coupled with low availability of irrigation water due to the previous season s low rainfall, only 535,200 hectares out of the total targeted area of some 808,600 hectares was planted, more than 30 percent below the area planted at the same time in 2015 (FAO). 2. An initial rapid drought assessment prepared by the Ministry of Disaster Management and WFP in December 2016 indicated severe drought conditions prevailing in the country. The FAO s Agricultural Stress Index (ASI) for the third end of December 2016 confirmed that drought conditions are developing in various main rice-producing areas, including Northern, North Central and Eastern provinces. Other crops, including the main season maize crop have also had unfavourable harvests. 3. Most recent data from the Department of Agriculture shows the final output from the Maha harvest in March declined by 53 percent from the average harvest in the past three years. This is barely sufficient to satisfy four months of the national consumption and is the lowest Maha harvest in 40 years. 4. According to the Disaster Management Centre, 1.2 million people (580,950 males and 619,050 females) in 22 out of 25 districts have been directly negatively affected by the drought. A Joint Assessment of Drought Impact on Food Security and Livelihoods led by WFP on the impact of the drought was conducted in February 2017 in the worst affected districts of Ampara, Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Hambantota, Kurunegala, Mannar, Monaragala, Polonnaruwa, Puttalam and Vavuniya. The assessment estimated that 900,000 people (435,700 men and 464,300 women) in these districts had been negatively affected by the drought, and that an average of 16 percent of people were either food insecure of at risk of becoming food insecure. These rates increase in Kurunegala, Mannar, Monaragala and Vavuniya to between 18 to 38 percent. 3

4 5. Results of the recent Joint Assessment of Drought Impact on Food Security and Livelihood showed that food security level has deteriorated among 227,000 households or some 900,000 people. The same assessment findings had confirmed that poor food consumption among the female-headed households is twice the food consumption levels of male-headed households. Around 13 percent of the drought affected surveyed households were reported as female-headed. A Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission was carried out by FAO and WFP in March 2017, and initial qualitative findings highlighted both the increased levels of food insecurity amongst agrarian households, with households reducing meals and turning to less preferred foods, as well as the lack of seed for planting in the upcoming Yala paddy season. 6. Given that the current water levels in main water reservoirs are still at only 39 percent of capacity, there is also concern for the 2017 irrigated secondary Yala crop to be planted in April. Agricultural experts have predicted that the current water reservoirs will not be sufficient for more than 50 percent of the potential paddy cultivation to be harvested from the 2017 Yala crop. Household reserves of seeds for the planting in the Yala are also low, and only 10 percent of farmers have produced enough paddy seeds from the Maha to plant in the Yala 2017, compared to 80 percent of farmers who produce their own seed paddy in a normal year. 7. Prices of rice began to rise in mid-2016 and remained at 12 to 25 percent above average as of March The spike in prices is due to the reduced 2016 secondary Yala output harvested last September, and the poor prospects from the 2016/17 Maha crop. In an effort to ease rice price rises, the Government began releasing paddy from public stocks to millers in late December Subsequently, the government has regulated a maximum retail price for commonly consumed rice (set at SLR 70/kg). In addition, the Government has facilitated the importation of more than 200,000 tons of rice through private channels by reducing import duties and taxes. 8. Agricultural labour opportunities have declined over the past two seasons and consequently, more than one third of the affected population has lost over 50 percent of the expected income, as indicated in the joint assessment. This loss of income coupled with upward pressure on rice prices has negatively affected food access of the poor and vulnerable households in rural areas. Subsistence farmers and landless households depending on daily agricultural wage income are particularly at risk and require humanitarian recovery assistance. 9. Sri Lanka is a lower middle income country and ranks high (73) on the human development index. However, wealth is distributed unequally and pockets of severe poverty remain. Gender disparity remains an issue of concern. The Gender Inequality Index (GII) of rates Sri Lanka 72nd out of 155 countries in Only 5.8 of the parliamentary seats are held by women and 72.7 of women have reached at least a secondary level of education compared to 76.4 of their male counterparts. Female participation in the labour market is 35.1 compared to 74.9 for men. According to the WFP gender assessment report (2015), women work longer hours than men by at least two to three hours per day. Women mainly operate in the informal sector and their work remains undervalued, and as agricultural labourers they are generally paid 20 percent less than their male coutnerparts. The reduced employment opportunities in agriculture may lead to a further reduction in female participation in the labour market and potentially push women to migrate internally and internationally, which is an inherent issue in Sri Lanka. 10. Sri Lanka is vulnerable to natural disasters. In recent years, it has been exposed to an annual cycle of drought and flood events driven by climate change. In May 4

5 2016, tropical storm Roanu was responsible for causing devastating floods and landslides the worst in 25 years with more than US$ 700 million damages and losses to which WFP responded with an emergency cash intervention channeled through the largest national social safety net system - the Samurdhi scheme. 11. WFP s emergency assessments over the past several years show a worrying increase in the number of people deemed food insecure due to consecutive natural disasters. The 2012 drought led to only 66,000 households becoming food insecure, in comparison to 227,000 households identified as food insecure in the current drought. Furthermore, the Sri Lanka labour force survey (2015) found that 33 percent of women are engaged in the agriculture sector compared to 27 percent of men and thus, may be more directly impacted by the reduction in agricultural employment due to the drought. The Food Security and Nutrition Situation 12. The initial rapid assessment conducted by the Disaster Management Centre with support from WFP and approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on 3 January indicated a very worrying outlook for the paddy and maize crops. This follows a reduced 2016 Yala season output. The overall reduction in output for the 2016/17 agricultural year is estimated at 53 percent. This will further deteriorate if the 2017 secondary Yala crop is also reduced, as foreseen, given the current low water levels in the main reservoirs (39 percent) as both the south-west and the north-east monsoons failed to bring adequate rainfall. The water levels of the same reservoirs were above 90 percent during the same period last year. 13. The risk of food insecurity and malnutrition is directly linked to the loss of income opportunities, limited food production and reduced access to food due to increased staple food prices. The level of debt among the poor in Sri Lanka is high and the current drought has further added to the debt burden at the household level, with 61 percent of the affected having accumulated short-term debts. 14. Based on existing data, the pre-drought nutrition situation in Sri Lanka is of concern. Over 23.4 percent of households in Sri Lanka are female-headed, and they are disproportionately represented among the poorest households. The 2012 National nutrition survey shows the prevalence of Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) at 19.6%, indicating a critical public nutrition situation according to WHO. The prevalence of acute malnutrition (wasting) amongst children 6-59 months is extremely high in Sri Lanka at 19.5 percent (male: 20.1%; female: 19.0%) the third highest in the world while chronic malnutrition (stunting) is relatively acceptable at 13.4 percent (male: 13.4%; female: 12.7%). The recent national nutrition survey conducted among pregnant women in 2016 found 18 percent of pregnant women with low Mid Upper Arm Circumference < 23 cm, and 31 percent of pregnant women households were found to be food insecure. The rates of malnutrition are not significantly different between boys and girls but are higher than the national average in the four districts most affected by the drought, ranging from 20 to 35 percent. 15. Four districts were identified as the worst hit districts i.e. Vavuniya, Mannar, Kurunegala and Moneragala districts. Based on findings from the joint assessment that 4 percent of this population has poor food consumption scores 2, 25,000 people (6,250 households) in these four districts have been calculated to be severely food insecure and need urgent cash assistance to address their immediate food security needs. 2 Poor food consumption is defined as a household score lower than 28 points in the FCS metric and indicated severe food insecurity. 5

6 POLICIES, CAPACITIES AND ACTIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT(S) AND OTHERS Policies, Capacities and Actions of the Government(s)* 16. The Government of Sri Lanka has a strong national structure for disaster preparedness and emergency operations. The Ministry of Disaster Management acts as the central institute for disaster management in Sri Lanka and leads the disaster management response through its mandated agencies. The Disaster Management Act No 13 of 2005 (DM Act) provides the legal basis for the disaster management approach. The DM Act outlines the coordination structure at the highest executive level; it provides for the establishment of the institutional framework for disaster management, including the National Council for Disaster Management (NCDM), the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) and the National Disaster Relief Services Center (NDRSC). Following this guidance, coordination for this response is being carried out by the NDRSC of the Ministry of Disaster Management. In addition, the President has established an inter-ministerial task force to address the way forward for the drought response. 17. The Ministry Social Empowerment and Welfare (MSEW) operates the Samurdhi social safety net, which provides US$360 million through cash transfers annually for disability allowance, elderly assistance and other poor or vulnerable households. Specific livelihood development programmes target both women and youth groups, recognizing their specific needs and vulnerability. Samhurdhi provides monthly cash transfers ranging between Rs 420 and 3,500 (USD 3 - USD 24) to 1.48 million families, approximately 30 percent of the population throughout Sri Lanka. Its main goal is to reduce poverty and promote household resilience, and it has an implicit role in the enhancement of the health and nutrition status of the poor. 18. All recommendations of the DMC/WFP rapid drought assessment of December 2016 were adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers on 3 January The findings of the February 2017 Joint Assessment of Drought Impact on Food Security and Livelihoods were endorsed by the Government and disseminated to all humanitarian actors and the government taskforce for drought response. 19. The Sri Lankan Government has demonstrated leadership in preparing for the impact of the drought to safeguard livelihoods and food security of the most vulnerable. A maximum retail price for rice (SLR 70/ kg) was introduced to prevent market price escalation. Import levies and restrictions were lifted for three commodities including rice to facilitate private import. The expectation is that this will lead to an immediate increase in imports of at least 200,000 tons of rice which helps control the increase of retail prices of rice. 20. In addition, the government is preparing to provide compensation for insured farmers. Although final agreement and details of the programme are not confirmed, the compensation programme has been deemed the most appropriate response as it would cover all farmers who were registered for the fertilizer subsidy. While this is a verifiable and accountable approach to targeting relief assistance, it does not include several groups that have been badly affected by the drought, such as agricultural labourers and landless farmers. WFP will complement this anticipated programme by supporting the most vulnerable households amongst the groups who will not benefit from the government programme, such as female-headed, elderly, and people with disabilities. The targeting of beneficiaries in this response will be managed directly with local government counterparts to ensure the accuracy of the targeting and prevention of duplication of assistance. 6

7 21. Despite severe paddy and maize crop losses, the Government of Sri Lanka has not declared a state of national emergency. However, in recognition of the impact on the people in the drought-impacted areas, the Government, through the Ministry of Disaster Management, officially requested WFP, through a letter dated 19 January, for technical assistance in setting up the national emergency response programme and assessing the food security and livelihood impact of the drought as well as relief assistance. An additional letter was sent to WFP on the 21 March requesting support to the emergency response plan, outlining a need for food and agricultural assistance as well as in-kind NFI to address water supply needs. Capacities and Actions of Other Major Actors 22. Agriculture in the dry and intermediate zones of Sri Lanka is possible due to an ingenious system of water tanks and reservoirs which efficiently re-distributes the water of the Mahaweli river. The system originates from the fifth century. Longterm rehabilitation and renovation efforts are going on and are supported by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, UNDP and others. 23. Minor tank rehabilitation programmes are supported by UNDP, FAO and WFP. Combined, these agencies rehabilitated or constructed some 93 tanks in For 2017, some 171 micro tank projects are being planned. Coordination 24. The overall coordination of the national emergency response is the responsibility of the Ministry of Disaster Management (MDM). The National Disaster Relief Service Center under the MDM will be coordinating with District Secretariats and Divisional Secretariats for implementation arrangements. WFP s assistance will be managed in partnership with the Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs, which coordinates all WFP programmes, and the Ministry of Social Empowerment and Welfare (MSEW). Both ministries participate in the national disaster coordination mechanism with MDM. 25. Through this EMOP, WFP will work with MDM on the on-going drought monitoring, and with MSWE on the geographic and beneficiary targeting, programme design, implementation and monitoring. MSWE will also be a coordinating partner at a sub-national level through the Department of Divineguma, along with local committees including disaster relief officers and village (Grama Niladari/GN) representatives. GN committees are comprised of and chaired by both women and men. WFP beneficiaries will be checked against beneficiary lists under the Government compensation scheme with division level government partners to ensure there is no duplication of assistance. 26. Several NGOs are also working in the districts that will be targeted by WFP, including with cash-based transfer programmes, and existing coordination mechanisms such as the Humanitarian Coordination Team Food Security and Nutrition Working Group will be used to share information and prevent duplication of assistance to beneficiaries. 27. The emergency operation is also coordinated with existing WFP programmes, including a small-scale resilience building Food Assistance for Assets (FFA) activity. FFA activities geographically overlap with three of the districts targeted by the EMOP based on donor agreement. Where activities do overlap with the emergency response, WFP will cross check beneficiary data to ensure that households participating in the FFA programme are not targeted by the EMOP. 28. The United Nations Resident Coordinator (RC) in Sri Lanka through the UNCT coordinates the overall UN response to the drought. The emergency response has 7

8 been aligned with responses of other operational agencies (e.g. FAO, UNICEF) to ensure a geographic and needs-based harmonized response to the drought. OBJECTIVES OF WFP ASSISTANCE 29. The overall goal of this EMOP is to ensure the most vulnerable and food insecure households affected by the drought have adequate access to food and a reduced adoption of negative coping mechanisms. The EMOP contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 2 and 17, and is in line with WFP s Strategic Objective 1 by protecting access to food, and Strategic Objective 5 by directly partnering with the Government of Sri Lanka in providing surge support for the implementation of the planned government s emergency response. 30. Specifically, the EMOP has the following objectives: A. Provide successful, timely and targeted delivery of food assistance in the form of unrestricted and unconditional cash-based transfers to ensure food security needs of the drought-impacted vulnerable populations are met; and B. Improve the shock-responsiveness of the country s largest social safety net scheme by determining its capacity to effectively identify disaster affected households using existing household demographic and vulnerability data of beneficiaries already registered with the scheme. C. Work with the government to set-up a real-time vulnerability analysis and impact monitoring system to systematically monitor and assess impact of the drought. This will be used to inform and tailor the emergency response during the course of its implementation. 31. During the 2016 flood response in which WFP also worked through the Samurdhi scheme, households were targeted through a combination of Samurdhi beneficiary lists and community-level field surveys. The experience provided a range of insight into the advantages and shortcomings of using the social safety net in emergency response, highlighting issues in horizontal and vertical expansion of the safety net, coordination, training, communication, monitoring and cash transfer flows, and led to a lessons learned workshop which has helped the Government to outline ways forward for using social safety nets in emergency response. The planned drought response will build on these lessons and focus for the first time on targeting within the Samrudhi beneficiary lists using the scheme s existing data on household demographics and vulnerability. This exercise will help to validate the accuracy, usability and process requirements of working through Samurdhi beneficiary data. In doing so, further lessons will be drawn out and results will feed into a broader Government reform agenda on harmonizing and coordinating multiple social safety nets for use in emergency response. 32. WFP assistance will use the opportunity of working with the government safety net to advocate for ways to make Samurdhi interventions nutrition-sensitive. To begin, at the district level Samurdhi officers will be guided on how to coordinate with local health working groups that are responsible for implementing the multi-sector nutrition action plan. WFP will also coordinate with UNICEF that also provides water and sanitation assistance in the same districts to ensure complementarity. Further opportunities with other stakholders, including NGOs and civil societies will be sought during programme implementation. 8

9 BENEFICIARIES AND TARGETING 33. This EMOP will initially provide emergency assistance to 25,000 beneficiaries in the worst drought-impacted areas of the country, including the districts of Kurunegala, Monaragala, Mannar, and Vavuniya. Assistance will be targeted and transferred through the national social safety net scheme, Samurdhi. In the four districts targeted for WFP drought relief there are 211,000 households supported by Samurdhi and a further 90,000 households eligible for assistance. The 25,000 target beneficiaries will be broken down as indicated below, noting that the number of women assisted may increase as female-headed households are prioritized for assistance: Female Male Total Under 5 1,110 1,090 2,200 < 18 years 2,930 2,790 5,720 M 18 years 8,710 8,370 17,080 Total 12,750 12,250 25, Targeting of beneficiaries will be done in several steps. The initial step will use the Samurdhi beneficiary database to filter categories of the most vulnerable households (female-headed, elderly, widowed and special needs) registered in the target districts. The shortlist of vulnerable households will be further reviewed by Division level committees consisting of local Samurdhi officers, disaster response officers, village officer (Grama Niladari) and community leaders, village representatives and members from welfare societies, which will include both male and female representatives in order to promote consideration of the increased need and vulnerability of women and female-headed households. These committees will review the target list to verify and validate that households meet the vulnerability criteria and ensure that only those who are landless paddy farmers or casual labourers are selected. Women will equally participate in the decision-making committees and on the targeting list. An additional check will be made with agriculture extension officers at this level to ensure there is no duplication of assistance between government and WFP beneficiaries. 35. The final beneficiary list will be adjusted or reduced as necessary by the committees and WFP to ensure the most vulnerable households are being targeted. A grievance mechanisms will be set up using existing outreach channels under the divisional secretariats, and any vulnerable households that can be verified will be included in the emergency assistance programme. 36. Mandatory selection criteria will be used in the targeting process and will be communicated to the local teams in a workshop at the outset of the project. Eligible households will need to have monthly income below LKR 3,000 per person, which is the cut off for eligibility into the Samurdhi safety net programme, and their primary income source must be agricultural. Landless farming households will also need to demonstrate that their cultivation has suffered more than 75 percent of crop loss during Maha harvest, as demonstrated by government registered figures. Demographic selection criteria will be determined in agreement with the MSEW and other government partners based on information available through the Samurdhi scheme. 9

10 37. Gender considerations will remain core in developing the emergency assistance programme. During emergencies, food insecurity exposes women, adolescent girls and children to additional risk of gender based violence, and sexual exploitation and abuse as they explore avenues for survival. Women are often the primary caregivers in the households and are in charge of preparing food, as such, play a key role in improving the household's nutritional status. WFP will consult with other agencies such as UN Women on best practices of identifying and implementing ways to prevent gender-based violence and early identification of negative coping strategies. In accordance with WFP Gender Policy, the EMOP will use every possible opportunity to integrate gender equality and women s empowerment into the planned emergency assistance. 38. Continuous food security monitoring will steer the implementation and on-going response planning. NUTRITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS AND RATIONS / VALUE OF CASH / VOUCHER TRANSFERS 39. Each beneficiary household of four members (the average family size in Sri Lanka) will receive US$65 per month as unrestricted cash assistance, equivalent to approximately Rs 10,000. The cash transfer value per household was set in line with government standards during the drought assistance, is based on current market prices for a basic emergency food basket of rice, lentils, oil and vegetables satisfying the daily nutrition and minimum energy requirement of 2,100 kcal per person and per day. Emergency assistance interventions are planned to last for six months from 15 April to 15 October The decision to use unconditional cash transfers as a means of assistance is based on feedback during the joint assessment in February 2017, in which the majority of respondents, both male and female, identified food assistance and cash-based transfers as their highest priority for assistance. The cash suitability analysis conducted in 2016 has also shown that most of the targeted areas are suitable for cash based transfers, and that cash as a modality is also accessible for femaleheaded and other vulnerable households who will be targeted in WFP s drought response. WFP has also monitored the retail price of basic food commodities, which have largely remained stable, and market functionality prior to confirming the suitability of the modality. Furthermore, cash-based assistance has been widely adopted by government and humanitarian partners in previous emergencies and is expressed by beneficiaries as their preferred modality of assistance. 41. Funds will be transferred to the targeted households via the Treasury according to national regulation through local governments and to the Samurdhi banking system, which has some 1,075 community development banks nation-wide. All Samurdhi beneficiaries have accounts with this community development banking network. 42. WFP aims to provide both male and female beneficiaries with basic information on the importance of a balanced diet so that beneficiaries could use the transfer value to purchase varied and nutritious food items through appropriate messaging at the community level. Information using Ministry of Health communication tools will be disseminated through local Samurdhi officers who will be trained on nutrition messaging and nutrition sensitive approaches and by posters at community banks where beneficiaries will collect assistance. At the national level, WFP will raise awareness on the introduction of nutrition sensitive approaches within the social safety net system amongst key stakeholders. In parallel to the emergency programme, children 6-59 months with acute malnutrition and pregnant and 10

11 lactating women will continue to have access to the on-going national suppplentary feeding programme, using Thriposha, a locally produced fortified blended food, which is distributed through health centers. Furthermore, all children 6-23 months with no acute malnutrition are provided with micronutrient powder also provided by the health centers. 43. In 2016, WFP completed a market assessment, and as part of that exercise, prepared a draft cash suitability map. The map has been used to determine the cash assistance feasibility in the drought impacted areas where the emergency programme will be implemented (see Annex 3). A mapping of the location of Samurdhi banks was also prepared for several districts in 2016, and will be continued for the additional districts included in the current drought response. 44. The transfer of targeted cash assistance through the emergency programme will allow the impacted vulnerable households to overcome a period of reduced income due to constraints in livelihood opportunities and losses in crop production, avoid build up of excessive debt levels, and above all maintain an acceptable level of food consumption to prevent worsening nutrition status. On-going market monitoring is being used to track the stability and changes of food prices and confirms the availability of food commodities in the market. IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS 45. An IR-Prep was approved for implementation since March, with the aim of planning the emergency response in coordination with government partners. The IR-Prep facilitated the joint assessment exercise carried out in February and is supporting on-going vulnerability assessment monitoring using mvam and fieldbased data collection methodologies. Preparatory actions have helped to coordinate a common UN agency response to the drought, as well as to facilitate discussions and agreement with multiple government ministries on the coordination and implementation of WFP s planned activities. 46. For the cash transfer assistance to the affected vulnerable people, WFP will work closely with Ministry of National Policies & Economic Affairs, Ministry of Disaster Management and Ministry of Social Empowerment and Welfare at the central level, and through District Secretaries and the Samurdhi scheme at the district and divisional levels. 47. A Letter of Understanding (LoU) will be signed with the Ministry of Finance on behalf of Government of Sri Lanka. The LoU will outline the implementation responsibilities of both parties, including the supporting commitments made by the Government. It will cover the following areas: programme design, targeting, implementation, transfer of cash to beneficiaries, monitoring, reconciliation and reporting. 48. In addition, WFP will work with the government to set-up a vulnerability analysis system to continuously assess the impact of the drought during the coming year, using a combination of remote sensing data, field data collection and mobile phone surveying techniques (mvam). The system is called the Platform for Real-time Impact Monitoring and Assessment (PRIMA) and will mirror the system that has successfully been implemented in Indonesia to monitor drought events and is supported by WFP and FAO. The system automatically collects and processes data through remote sensing and combines it with field level data collected through face-to-face or mobile phone interviews. While household surveys are randomized, both male and female-headed households are included, and data collection staff will be guided to ensure both husband and wife are able to participate in mobilebased data collection. Prior to starting data collection, an agreement will be signed 11

12 with the Ministry of Disaster Management as the key government partner for this technical assistance. 49. This EMOP will cover support for two rounds of data collection, using either mvam or face-to-face techniques. The surveys will sample more than 1,000 households in each round and be implemented according to the following time schedule: May 2017 (end of Yala planting) First VAM assessment September 2017 (end of Yala harvesting) Second VAM assessment 50. The primary objective of the proposed real time monitoring system is to develop an information system that is capable of providing end-users with an intuitive interface to real-time data for monitoring events impacting food security. The ongoing surveillance of the drought impact on livelihoods and food security will allow precise estimates and targeting of households in need of assistance for emergency response in future. 51. The vulnerability analysis system will be operated by the Disaster Management Center of the Ministry of Disaster Management with whom WFP is also engaged for institutionalizing a 72 hours assessment approach. Staff from the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research & Training Institute, the Disaster Relief Services Centre (NDRSC), and the Agriculture Research and Extension Agency as well as development officers of the Department of Devineguma will be involved in the data collection. PERFORMANCE MONITORING 52. WFP will support the ongoing monitoring of the distribution of assistance through post-distribution monitoring such as beneficiary contact monitoring, progress and process monitoring and reporting. Post-distribution monitoring will also collect gender disaggregated data, and will include information on men and women s use of assistance and participation in household decision-making. Any noted challenges will be discussed with the Government to improve the emergency response. 53. The vulnerability analysis system will provide up-to-date information on beneficiary needs and provide a basis for assessing impact of the emergency programme. 54. Key indicators to be tracked during the implementation period of the EMOP are beneficiary numbers, crop status and food consumption, coping behaviour and household debt levels. 55. All beneficiaries will be registered in SCOPE using data from the Samurdhi scheme, and assistance given to all beneficiary households will be recorded. The prioritization of female-headed households and feedback on women s access to WFP assistance will also be monitored and reported through the M&E system. A gender sensitive complaint and feedback mechanism for the beneficiaries will be set-up through the WFP country office. The feedback mechanism will include a toll free hotline, which will be staffed by gender balanced teams who will be trained on participatory methodologies to ensure women and girls are equally represented in household feedback and complaints. Hotline data will be analysed to determine and respond to any common issues that disproportionately affect female or male beneficiaries. 56. On-going household monitoring will include assessment of family vulnerability, verifying data gathered from the Samurdhi scheme and feeding back discrepancies and lessons on targeting to WFP and the MSEW. 12

13 HAND-OVER STRATEGY 57. Government social safety net programmes that use cash transfers can be scalable in response to shocks. With more positive lessons learned during the emergency flood assistance in May 2016, WFP continues seek to build government capacity for emergency response by promoting the use of national safety net programmes as means of responding to shocks. The necessary capacity building initiatives are being currently implemented by WFP under its emergency preparedness programmes such as the 72 hour assessment methodology; simulation exercise and a recently started project to support the Ministry of Disaster Management to operationalize the National Emergency Operational Plan (NEOP). 58. As such, this EMOP fully supports the existing government channels and institutions for emergency response. It intends to continue promoting collaboration between ministries responsible for disaster management and social safety nets; strengthening their capacity for joint emergency response, promoting national and local level coordination and encouraging communication and data sharing for beneficiary targeting and impact assessment. 59. The length of this EMOP is determined on the assumption that the impact of drought may intensify in case the 2017 Yala harvest is also affected due to water scarcity. As such emergency support may remain necessary over the course of 2017 until severely affected communities have managed to re-establish their livelihoods and food insecurity risks return to normal. RISK MANAGEMENT 60. There are minimal programmatic risks anticipated although some flexibility towards re-programming for unexpected events may be required. 61. The drought has affected almost one million people around the country and the government has recognized that there may be discontent amongst different communities if people do not benefit fairly from humanitarian assistance. To reduce this risk, targeting is done using an established and accepted government assistance scheme which incorporates local level decision-making. The grievance mechanism will further facilitate accountability to the affected population and enable communication with key community members where necessary. 62. WFP will consult UN and other operational agency partners to coordinate on and address any protection issues. Adequate monitoring arrangements will minimize the risk of exclusion of most deserving beneficiaries. Security Risk Management 63. The security level in Sri Lanka is minimal (level one) prior to the drought and all reports indicate that it will remain the same. While protests from drought affected communities may emerge depending on the government response, there are no signs that the security situation will deteriorate in the near future. RECOMMENDATION 64. The Chief of Staff is requested to approve the proposed Emergency Operation for Sri Lanka APPROVAL 13

14 Jim Harvey Chief of Staff Date: Drafted by: Reviewed by: Cleared by: Nguyen Duc Hoang, DCD Brenda Barton, CD, Sri Lanka. RBB 14

15 ANNEX I-A PROJECT COST BREAKDOWN Quantity (mt) Value (USD) Value (USD) Food Transfers Cereals - - Pulses - - Oil and fats - - Mixed and blended food - - Others - - Total Food Transfers - - External Transport - LTSH - ODOC Food - Food and Related Costs 1 - C&V Transfers 2,437,500- C&V Related costs - 2,437,500 Cash and Vouchers and Related Costs - Capacity Development & Augmentation Direct Operational Costs 2,437,500 Direct support costs (see Annex I-B) 459,183 Total Direct Project Costs 2,896,683 Indirect support costs (7.0 ) 2 202,768 TOTAL WFP COSTS 3,099,451 1 This is a notional food basket for budgeting and approval. The contents may vary. 2 The indirect support cost rate may be amended by the Board during the project. 15

16 ANNEX I-B DIRECT SUPPORT REQUIREMENTS (USD) WFP Staff and Staff-Related Professional staff * 152,583 General service staff ** 75,500 Danger pay and local allowances Subtotal 228,083 Recurring and Other 55,500 Capital Equipment 10,000 Security 30,000 Travel and transportation 75,600 Assessments, Evaluations and Monitoring 1 60,000 TOTAL DIRECT SUPPORT COSTS 459,183 * Costs to be included in this line are under the following cost elements: International Professional Staff (P1 to D2), Local Staff National Officer, International Consultants, Local Consultants, UNV ** Costs to be included in this line are under the following cost elements: International GS Staff, Local Staff General Service, Local Staff Temporary Assist. (SC, SSA, Other), Overtime 1 Reflects estimated costs when these activities are performed by third parties. If WFP Country Office staff perform these activities, the costs are included in Staff and Staff Related and Travel and Transportation. 2

17 Summary of Logical Framework Sri Lanka: EMOP (WINGS project number) Results Performance indicators Assumptions Proportion of assisted women, men or both women and men who make decisions over the use of cash, vouchers or food within the household Target: 40% women/ 10% men/ 50% Mixed women and men Proportion of women beneficiaries in leadership positions of Gender: Gender equality and empowerment improved project management committees Target: > 50 percent Proportion of women project management committee members trained on modalities of food, cash or voucher distribution Target: > 60 percent Cultural social systems where women can make decisions exist. Women are socially/culturally not prevented from holding positions of leadership Protection and accountability to affected populations: WFP assistance delivered and utilized in safe, accountable and dignified conditions Proportion of assisted people who do not experience safety problems travelling to, from and/or at WFP programme sites Target: 90 percent Proportion of assisted people informed about the programme (who is included, what people will receive, where people can complain) Target: 80 percent Programme orientation will be carried out to all beneficiaries before cash transfers take place. Strategic Objective 1: Save lives and protect livelihoods in emergencies 3

18 Results Performance indicators Assumptions Poor and borderline food consumption score, disaggregated Sufficient funding is available by sex of household head Target: <5 percent Markets are functional and retail Baseline: 23 percent prices of basic food commodities are stable. Outcome 1 Stabilized or improved food consumption over assistance period for targeted households and/or individuals Output 1.1 Food, nutritional products, non-food items, cash transfers and vouchers distributed in sufficient quantity and quality and in a timely manner to targeted beneficiaries Dietary diversity score, disaggregated by sex of household head Target: TBD Baseline: To be established. Average coping strategy index, disaggregated by sex of household head Target: TBD Baseline: To be established. Total amount of cash transferred to targeted beneficiaries, disaggregated by sex and beneficiary category, as percent of planned Number of institutional sites assisted (bank), as percent of planned Adequate access is available to target communities 4

19 Annex III: Cash suitability map (draft) 5

20 ACRONYMS USED IN THE DOCUMENT DMC EMOP EOC GN HDI MDM MSEW mvam NCDM NGO SSN UNRC VAM WFP Disaster Management Centre Emergency Operation Emergency Operation Centre Grama Niladhari Human Development Index Ministry of Disaster Management Ministry of Social Empowerment and Welfare mobile Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping National Council for Disaster Management Non-Governmental Organisation Social Safety Net United Nations Resident Coordinator Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping World Food Programme 6

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