The Workshop on the Comprehensive Assessment Project of “Post-Wenchuan Earthquake Reconstruction and Disaster Risk Management Plan” was co-organized by the Post-Disaster Reconstruction Office of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development (LGOP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Huazhong Normal University (HZNU) in Mianyang, Sichuan province, from July 16 to 18. More than 30 people attended the meeting, including all the staff members involved in the field research of the said project and experts in the related fields. Huang Chengwei, Deputy Director-General of IPRCC and Deputy Director of LGOP Post-Disaster Reconstruction Office, attended the meeting and delivered an opening speech. He indicated that there is a close internal link between risk-vulnerability and poverty. During the post-Wenchuan earthquake restoration and reconstruction of poverty-stricken villages, the state expects to integrate the resources of various sectors to make concerted efforts to press ahead with the restoration and reconstruction work of the said villages. At present, the objective that “three-year reconstruction to be basically completed in two years” will be due soon and it is especially necessary to summarize the experience and lessons learned from the post-quake reconstruction.

Coordinator of UNDP “China Post-Disaster Reconstruction and Risk Management Project” Ms. Yang Fang pointed out in her opening speech that: in the development field, post-disaster reconstruction and disaster risk management is a significant part, but its development in China at the present stage is far from perfect. After the Wenchuan earthquake, there were 4,834 disaster-affected poor villages. In this regard, UNDP designed a program and backed up the first batch of pilot projects. In addition, it constantly expanded its work scope on that basis, and has obtained favorable results and accumulated a great deal of experience. It’s expected that the assessment activities could move smoothly and produce positive results. After that, Huang delivered a lecture on the theory and practice of the Comprehensive Assessment of UNDP Post-Disaster Reconstruction Project. Based upon their professional knowledge, experts and scholars, such as Project Manager Fang Xiangyang of UNDP “China Post-Disaster Reconstruction and Risk Management Project”, Professor Zhang Qi of Beijing Normal University (BNU), Research Fellow Liu Yuan of the Central University for Nationalities (CUN), Associate Professor Deng Weijie of Sichuan Agricultural University (SAU), gave lessons to the research group members in the following topics: Mid-term Review of the UNDP Post-Disaster Reconstruction Project, Mechanism and Mode of Post-Disaster Restoration and Reconstruction of Poverty-stricken Villages, Baseline and Final Assessment of Post-Disaster Restoration and Reconstruction of Poverty-stricken Villages, Fieldwork Methodology, etc. Moreover, the teachers of HZNU School of Sociology conducted further training on such specific issues as the overall requirement, questionnaire survey and in-depth interview of the present investigation and assessment activities. After the meeting concludes, the staff members involved in the on-site assessment will be divided into four groups to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the effects of UNDP Post-Disaster Reconstruction Project in eight impoverished villages in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces.