DILI, 15 november 2021(TATOLI)-The United Nation Development Program (UNDP) handed over the final report of HBDA (Housing and Building Damage Assessment) which was officially launched in june 2021 to the Government Ministry of State Administration yesterday November 15, 2021.
The HBDA is a program conducted by the UNDP in June 2021 to assess the damage caused to the building and to feed into the Post Disaster Needs Assessments (PDNA) to inform recovery planning.
Following the document released by the UNDP, The HBDA was launched upon the request of the Government of Timor-Leste to the United Nations (UN) system following the Easter weekend 2021 the country was hit by the Tropical cyclone seroja that was not seen in nearly 50 years.
The HBDA was conducted in the five most affected municipalities, Dili, Liquiçá, Manatuto Baucau, and Ainaro, and supported by the General Directorate of Rural Development and Secretary of the State for Civil Protection.
“928 buildings were assessed, and 860 households were surveyed for the livelihoods including 20 commercial businesses,” It is said.
Following the HBDA Data survey, 90% of the households reported a decline in household income because of the Easter floods.
The HBDA also shows that about 80% of the surveyed buildings had suffered some structural damage, 12.7% of buildings are fully collapsed and 8.8% are severely damaged.
Recommendations for the proposed build-back-better were fed into PDNA which has been presented to the Government led by the office of Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Planning and Territorial Ordinance.
The overall findings and recommendations from HBDA were shared with the government partners at the end of July 2021.
Resident Representative of UNDP, Tuya Altangerel in her opening remark highlighted the key findings of the HBDA including some of the recommendations for the Build-Back-Better have been incorporated into PDNA.
She further stated that “The UNDP team stands ready to support the Government and partners to take forward the findings and recommendations emerging from the HBDA, and we continue supporting the Government in setting the vision and priorities in building more climate-resilient society” Ms. Tuya Altangerel said.
Minister of State Administration, Miguel Pereira de Carvalho at the same time, thanked UNDP for leading the HBDA works and welcomed the results and recommendations therein which complement the gaps of data and information possessed by the Government by reiterating that “the report will provide useful information for the government to make its plans particularly in preparation for another year of La Niña that has been forecasted to affect the region including Timor-Leste between now and April 2022”.
At the same Place, the National Director of Systems and Reports of the office of the General Directorate of Statistics, Silvino Lopes highlighted the importance of data in making informed decisions.
“People often argue that data collection is an expensive exercise which is true, however, it will be more expensive to design and build an infrastructure without data,” said Lopes.
The results of the HBDA were welcomed by participants present in the launching including senior government officials, development partners, and civil society organizations. Among the feedbacks received during discussions was the necessity of having closer collaboration in the future between government, public institutions, agencies, and the community.
Journalist : Camilio de De Sousa
Editor: Nelia Borges R.
