Thimphu (Kuensel/ANN) - Four months after the September 18 tremor in Bhutan last year dignity kits that were procured as "emergency relief" for the affected people are yet to be distributed.
On January 4 this year, the department of disaster management (DDM) formally received 2,050 dignity kits from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). But as of yesterday the kits were still lying at the lobby of Respect, Educate, Nurture and Empower Women's (RENEW) office in Thimphu.
RENEW, as the implementing partner for UNFPA, had procured the kits on UNFPA's request in October. RENEW officials said the kits were procured and packed in three weeks and UNFPA had been asked to inform the disaster management department to collect them.
Some officials however said that RENEW was asked to help package the bulk supplies by December. RENEW worked overtime using the help of its interns to put each dignity kit together.
There are different kits for men, women, babies and nuns. Dignity kits for men contain a gho, an innerwear, a bar of soap, towel and a condom; while the kits for women contain a kira, soap, a packet of sanitary napkins and femidom (female condom).
Each baby kit contains six pieces of cotton cloth diapers and a blanket while a nun kit has a robe, a bar of soap, a towel, an innerwear and a packet of sanitary napkin.
According to the report submitted to them, a total of 5,550 people were affected on September 18. There were 550 nuns; 500 babies; 2,000 men and 2,500 women.
DDM officials said that they never got any "indication" of the kits being ready for collection. All they were told was that it would be ready by November or December.
DDM said they appealed for international support on September 22, three days after the tremors. The appeal for help included 1,000 dignity kits, CGI sheets and tents.
RENEW and UNFPA officials say said the appeal to UNFPA for dignity kits were made only after the first assessment of the report.
In an earlier interview on why the "emergency relief" came three months later, DDM explained that they first assessed the homes damaged, and then distributed CGI sheets and tents. After the initial assessment, DDM learnt the number of people, who needed these kits.
Meanwhile the "protocol process" involved in handing - taking over the kits took some time. A total of 2,050 kits were given to the government against the 1,000 requested. The 2,050 kits are for 500 men, 500 females, 500 babies and 550 nuns.
The 5,000 kits are worth Nu 5.3M.
The kits requested by DDM had no specifications on the "content" nor had it mentioned kits for nuns and babies. The 550 kits for nuns, who were affected by the tremor, have been distributed through the Bhutan Nun's Foundation.
The dignity kit, UNFPA officials explained is a significant part of UNFPA's humanitarian response to preserve the "dignity" of the affected people. The aid that comes in for dignity kits has to be arranged within a short span of time.
Observers said it takes about a month's time to get the fund, another month to tender and yet another month for the supplies to be supplied.
After the kits were handed over this month concerns have been expressed on the quality of content, further delaying distribution. Government officials felt the quality could have been better given the Nu 5.3M fund that was given.
"We arranged what we were asked to procure by UNFPA as their implementing partner," RENEW's executive director Chimi Wangmo said. "As it is an emergency supply, our responsibility is to coordinate the supplies as quickly as possible, which we managed in three weeks. This is not the time for DDM to speculate but to find ways and means to deliver the kit immediately."
A May 2011 report on the evaluation of UNFPA's provision of dignity kits in humanitarian and post crisis setting states that "response time lags dilute the usefulness of kits upon distribution." The average lag time to distribute kits after a needs assessment is three weeks.
Dignity kits made female beneficiaries feel "remembered," the report states, because the kits prioritised the hygiene needs of women. Each dignity kit for women has a packet of sanitary napkin, an inner wear, a full kira, a face towel, two bars of soap and femidom (female condom).
DDM officials said dzongdas of the four districts that were most affected by the quake have been informed to send their vehicles and collect the dignity kits and distribute it by this week.
There are no comments yet