The shelter relief process in the affected region in Kashmir represents an example of efficient coordination of efforts of the different stakeholders involved. Engaged in the process were: • The Government - Usually taking an important role in case of disasters, it performs various rescue and relief activities; • The Army - Often providing the necessary resources like manpower or rescue material; • The NGO - in case of the Uri Area: AIDMI - May have an intermediary function between different donors, in terms of administering and canalising the donations and organising relief projects, and affected communities; or even the government or the Army; • The affected people - Provide a lot of useful input, in the form of knowledge, organisation and manpower. All these stakeholders contributed to the success of the process.

The role of the Government: The major role of the government consisted of coordinating (the activities of) the NGOs. They were responsible for their placement in the areas where needed, in order to avoid duplication of efforts by all NGOs concentrating on the same areas whilst other areas remain unattended. The government had the knowledge about the different areas, the destruction and could tell the NGOs where their help is needed.

In order to discuss the areas where different NGOs should be working and the design of the shelter and general coordination issues, the government organised meetings where the NGOs participated.

The role of the Army: Due to the fact that the Army controls this region, they were the party from which permission was asked if relief work could be started there. Because of the strong military presence in this area that is centerd near the LoC, the Army knew the area, the communities and its leaders, the houses and their inhabitants quite well. Thus, the Army could provide valuable information about the terrain, location of the houses and affected people to AIDMI.

The Army provided storage space for the material purchased by AIDMI and it helped with the distribution of the material. It provided previous information about the affected people so that their material can be picked up, and helped with the follow-up recording of data, including the material received and personal information. Moreover the Army assisted AIDMI in the monitoring process of the building activities and was assuring the efficiency and the progress the people made rebuilding their houses.

The role of AIDMI: AIDMI was first directing its efforts towards the planning and structuring of an adequate shelter relief process, using necessary resources in the most efficient way. To increase the efficiency, input from the different stakeholders was requested, i.e. local knowledge about material, terrain or material suppliers.

AIDMI assisted the community when necessary in the recovery process. It was the party actually responsible for shelter relief support in the Uri area, from the identification of beneficiaries and the detection of the needs of the affected people, to the provision of the material for building up shelter. Its role also included the coordination of the activities of the stakeholders involved.

AIDMI had a crucial role in the shelter relief process in the Uri area, however for the success of the process the assistance and collaboration of all mentioned stakeholders were indispensable. The role of the affected communities and members of the communities: The leaders of the communities that are in close contact with the community members participated in the damage assessment in which also AIDMI and the Army was involved, thus assisting them in this process. The affected people presented their needs regarding the size of their houses and participated in design planning, in order to provide information on their personal needs and transmit local knowledge on housing construction. Another role of the affected community members was the rebuilding of their own houses and the participation in Cash for Work and Cash for Shelter programmes that were planned by AIDMI and executed with the assistance of the Army. With the Cash for Shelter programme, AIDMI achieved with one single action at least three positive results: Firstly, the people built their own houses. Secondly, the money they received for finishing their houses enabled them to buy things they need, from food to other household items. Thirdly, in this way also the local economy was encouraged and furthermore the people were not dependent on continued external assistance.

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