UNOPS has particular expertise supporting post-disaster projects in the following areas:

• technical services for setting up and running IDP camps
• water and sanitation services
• infrastructure damage assessments
• designing and constructing emergency and transitional shelters
• infrastructure reconstruction
• debris clearing
• emergency procurement procedures

UNOPS emphasizes the use of labour-intensive projects to help local people back into work, as securing livelihoods goes a long way towards empowering families, promoting stability and boosting economic recovery. We also work closely with national governments to fill capacity gaps and develop existing capacities, often embedding staff in key ministries.

In order to reduce damage caused by future natural disasters, UNOPS also works with a number of countries to develop their capacity for prediction, preparedness and mitigation.

As cross-cutting goals, UNOPS makes special efforts to stimulate local employment and develop capacity as well as to consider the environment and gender empowerment wherever possible.

For example, with funding from the European Commission, UNOPS helped the Government of Sri Lanka plant some 50 hectares of trees to provide coastal communities with greater protection, as well as sustainable firewood collection.

Examples of UNOPS-supported projects

Earthquake - Haiti

On January 12, 2010 a devastating earthquake struck Haiti. On behalf of a range of partners, UNOPS project managers and their local employees are helping to check the safety of damaged houses, build transitional shelters for homeless families, provide cleaner toilets for those living in camps, clear canals of debris to prevent floods, repair roads, and construct maternity centres and schools.

Tsunami - Indonesia/Sri Lanka
In support of its partners in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, between 2004 and 2009 UNOPS managed the construction of 251 schools and 89 health facilities, as well as hundreds of kilometres of roads, five bridges, 142 school kitchens and 90 houses.

The largest single programme was in Aceh Province and Nias Island, Indonesia, where on behalf of UNICEF, UNOPS managed the construction of 225 new primary schools and 27 integrated health, nutrition and early childhood development centres.

Among a broad range of projects in Sri Lanka, UNOPS managed the construction of 21 schools and 33 health facilities on behalf of UNICEF and 16 health centres on behalf of UNFPA. In both countries UNOPS worked closely with national and local authorities to ensure accountability and national ownership.

Volcano - Democratic Republic of the Congo

Mount Nyiragongo last erupted in 2002, destroying part of Goma city centre, leaving nearly 160 people dead and over 120,000 people homeless.

In order to provide more effective warning to the one million people living nearby, a Volcano and Environmental Risk Management Unit was opened in 2007. The data collected by the unit in collaboration with the local Volcanic Observatory has enabled safer urban planning.

UNOPS partnered with UNDP, the governments of the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Luxembourg and the European Union to deliver this project.