NRC’s planned activities are based on a signed agreement with the Myanmar Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, under the project title, “The Re-Construction of Shelters and Repair and/or Reconstruction of Schools/Community Buildings for Cyclone Nargis Victims”. Funding is secured for Phase I of the program, which runs until the summer of 2009.

Although significant achievements have been made since the Category 3 Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008, nearly 35,000 extremely vulnerable families in the Ayeyarwady Delta region still lack the financial resources and physical capacities to make any repairs at all to their shattered homes and schools. NRC will target some of these families who are in acute need of durable shelter. NRC will also provide permanent school reconstruction so that these families will be able to send their children to school. If Myanmar is to avoid a second disaster next May when the rainy season starts again, these extremely vulnerable families must be assisted immediately so that they can rebuild their lives.

NRC field teams will assist Labutta Township communities with rebuilding better and safer homes and schools. The buildings will be constructed with appropriate cyclone-resistant strengthening measures. This will be accompanied by Disaster Risk Reduction training. Recruitment and training of national staff will take place underway both in Yangon and in the field office in Labutta, as will the assessment and identification of extremely vulnerable beneficiaries in the area.

Ten school sites are identified. In the initial phase, five permanent schools will be constructed, complete with sanitation and water harvesting facilities as well as school furniture and blackboards.

During the same period, 700 units of quality durable shelter will be constructed and delivered to people deemed most vulnerable. This will enable communities to re-establish themselves in safe areas that are not prone to flooding. NRC is partnering with ACTED, a French INGO, in establishing a shelter factory that will produce pre-fabricated components to be assembled on-site by NRC/ACTED teams. Construction of new shelters and schools will incorporate principles of risk-reduction to mitigate future disasters by promoting the use of appropriate site selection criteria and safer and improved cyclone-resistant construction techniques.

NRC has established a proactive working relationship with the Shelter and Education Clusters as well as with local authorities on implementation, local coordination and information sharing.

NRC’s programme for Cyclone Nargis victims is planned in three phases, with the third phase concluding in September 2010.