Burmese Refugee Relief Program, TBBC

Background:
TBBC is a consortium of ten NGOs from eight countries working to provide food, shelter, non food items and capacity-building support to Burmese refugees and displaced persons living in refugee camps in Thailand. It also engages in research into the root causes of displacement and refugee outflows and lobbies on various strategic levels.

The organisation receives support from 40 resource partners (donors), and has a current annual budget of US$ 33 million.

Purpose/ Objective:
NCCA/CWS has had an established partnership with the Thailand Burma Border Consortium since 1984 and has regularly supported the Burmese refugee program from that time. During this period, CWS staff have participated in Advisory Group Meetings and Donors' Meetings as well as visiting camp sites during visits for those meetings. NCCA/CWS is now a member of the Consortium and Board, with CWS holding the position of Secretary on the Board.

CWS has received funding from the Australian Government through the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) for a number of years. This evaluation is a condition for the final acquittal of the current AusAID funding period.

It is timely for the initiation of an external evaluation by CWS in the light of changes occurring within the organization to assess their development effectiveness and the need for current partner reviews.

Evaluation Objectives:

1. the effectiveness of the program
2. the risks associated with the program
3. the achievements, Impact and Progress on Strategic Outcomes:
1.1. Adequate provision of all basic needs for camp populations?
1.2. The impact of emergency food items on the health of the beneficiary families
1.3. The impact of the Asia Mix on children and infants' health
1.4. Why is assistance for shelter repair or replacement important?
1.5. Camp Committees - their composition and management
1.6. TBbC governance and management
1.7. The role of the TBBC Board and member organizations in governance and advocacy
1.8. NCCA/CWS value adding to the program?
1.9. Impact of resettlement on camp populations, depletion of skills in camps, adjustment in host countries, etc.

2. Identify possible new directions and focus for TBBC and donors

Methodology:
The methodology used by Mr. Meer Mens has been to approach and analyse the organisation from the idea of balanced organisational development. Every entity should be balanced and for organisations there should be balance among the following four main levels:

1. Organisational level
2. Programme level
3. Accountability level
4. Contextual level.

Searching for balance and quality are the key focus points for Mr. Meer Mens in the analysis for the organisations and in the development of recommendations.

Key Findings:
• The overall conclusion is that TBBC implements a refugee relief and service programme (focussing on more than 160.000 ethnic Burmese refugees in camps at the border between Burma and Thailand) in a very efficient, professional and effective way.
• There is an absolute adequate provision of all basic needs for the greater majority of the camp population under this programme. Whilst the food ration per person is up to standard, the food is always the same so the cooking can be boring. In addition some of the warehouses were not up to standard.
• Each camp consists of camp committees that are elected bodies from the various organisational levels in the camps. The camp committees do a good job in representing the refugees in the camps and looking out for their rights and duties.
• TBBC is managed in a good way, the new monitoring system is working well and the account system and the budget control are also well functioning. But the workload for the employees is heavy, liquidity is still a problem and funding has to be paid special attention.
• Recently eight foreign governments accepted to receive a number of refugees from the camps yearly. The criteria for selection in the camps vary per country. The factual selection is being done on the basis of some political criteria related to the person's connection to the camps, health condition, basic knowledge of English language and education level. In practice this means that many of the well educated will leave the camps. So, whilst for many of the individuals the resettlement is a new chance in life, for the camps it is a disaster because many of the resource persons will be leaving.

Recommendations:
• TBBC is recommended to bring the warehouses to an acceptable level according to the ECHO/SPHERE standards for storage of relief goods within year 2007. It is also suggested that TBBC intensifies the research of mixing the food basket in a more creative and innovative way to provide more access to different food.
• Camp committees require capacity building, especially concerning the cooperation with various resource partners.
• For the TBBC management it is of importance to address the heavy workload for the staff and look at different approaches to lower the workload. TBBC should also pay attention to the liquidity and bring up this issue with the members.
• Regarding resettlement of refugees, it is recommended that TBBC takes initiatives with the relevant governments to develop an international code to base policies and criteria for good resettlement policy. Further it is suggested that TBBC, together with the stakeholders, starts gathering and distributing basic information for people who have to take the decision whether to choose resettlement or not.
• The report also suggests that it is important for TBBC to address the psycho traumatic mental health problems in the camps due to lack of hope and lack of perspective.
• In a gender aspect the programmes focusing on women's rights should also take into account and support programmes focusing on men.
• In the field it is also recommended to work for a better coordination between NGOs and programmes in the field.