WASH and community resilience: field experience from Assam Floods 2012

Early recovery work provides a useful opportunity to promote community resilience. This paper describes the nature of recovery and the contextual analysis under which the project funded by ECHO for early recovery1 post- floods was undertaken in Assam, the northeastern region of India in 2012-13. Oxfam India, as part of a consortium with two other International agencies began their early recovery interventions after the immediate response. However, due to multiple waves of flooding most agencies faced innumerable challenges during their response interventions. This paper provides a narrative of opportunities and challenges faced in promoting community resilience through recovery work, by making conscious attempts and visionary interventions focussing on longer-term development. The lessons from this early recovery programme are instrumental not only for WaSH/ sector-specific programming but also useful for addressing future risks, informing policy and promoting resilience.