Working together to plan projects
Reinforcement of local organization
Local governments and funding organizations
provide money for disaster reconstruction.
They receive applications from local private
groups, however, these groups, which lack
the experience of grant application, found the
procedure difficult. During the emergency
relief period, assistance organizations
implement projects by the funding they have
obtained, but for reconstruction, local
organizations are expected to be the main
actor. In the reconstruction process, it is more
important to strengthen the capacity of local
organizations than to implement projects.
There is an example where one assistance
organization continued patiently advising a
local organization, which did not have NPO
experience of the administrative procedures,
f r o m o p e n i n g a b a n k a c c o u n t t o
establishment of an organization. It built up
trust and helped the local organization to
initiate a reconstruction project. The local
organizations know the community well, but
do not have experience in grant application or
organization management. What the outside
support organization can do is to be a
consultant in the process and give advice
upon request.
An organization, which supports NPOs in
disaster reconstruction, introduces a way to
conduct a participatory workshop to reflect
the opinions of various people while paying
respects to the way that local organizations
operate. A staff member at an assistance
organization who was dispatched to a local
social welfare council tried to voice certain
opinions, because some opinions are easier
to surface with the help of outsiders. She
advised placing women in a support center in
temporary housing community. It would be
rare to listen to the outsiders’ opinions without
mutual trust, but sometimes outsiders’
opinions will be received favourably if the
outsiders understand the local situations and
e s t a b l i s h g o o d r e l a t i o n s h i p s i n t h e
community. It is therefore necessary to build
mutual trust before planning a project.