When DRC implements housing and small-scale infrastructure projects the following three operational principles should be taken into particular consideration: Sustainability, participation and collaboration.

Sustainability
DRC believes that a holistic or integrated approach benefits the sustainability of rehabilitation projects. This can be done by applying multi-sector or complementary programmes to assist at several levels: reconstruction of private dwellings, reintegration support (legal as well as social), assistance in establishing a livelihood, capacity building of local authorities etc. Furthermore, DRC strives to include the receiving community in the projects – both by implementing elements concerning rehabilitation of public infrastructure benefiting the entire receiving community, but also by including the local authorities, local NGO s, the local population and other as actors in the process towards return, reconciliation and reintegration. In this way, a physical rehabilitation project becomes a means to an end in terms of protection and reconciliation.

Rehabilitation projects should never stand alone, but always be part of a larger solution. With this principle DRC also wishes to ensure that the programmes are build upon local structures’ capacities, and that these are able to ensure running, maintenance and continuation of the rehabilitation projects. All these aspects are exactly the reasons why DRC can provide an added value to the rehabilitation project, which a private contractor cannot.

Participation
A guiding principle for DRC ’s physical rehabilitation activities is that beneficiaries should be consulted and involved in planning, implementation and monitoring of the activities themselves. Involving the beneficiaries has multiple advantages. Knowledge is being shared, it is ensured that the activity is a priority, the feeling of ownership and responsibility towards the outcome is increased, it can prevent unintended conflict caused by the activities, and it is more cost effective. A participatory approach also contributes to increase the sustainability of the project and to empower the involved persons and communities.

The aspect of participation is very much dependent on the context. In Africa, for example, beneficiaries are implementing almost everything while the participatory approach is less used in the Balkans. In this regard, it is worth noting that the term »participation« is not always uniformly understood. By participation, DRC generally means the active and voluntary involvement of beneficiaries in all phases of a project. In physical reconstruction, however, participation may be more narrowly understood by stakeholders, as implying only contribution of labour in the implementation phase. In this way, participation may take on a negative quality of pure hard work.

Collaboration with Authorities and the Local Community
During the preparation and implementation of physical rehabilitation projects, DRC finds it extremely important to keep a close co-operation with local authorities, the local community and other relevant stakeholders in order to ensure acceptance, relevance and sustainability of the project. This concerns in particular, selection of beneficiaries (e.g. establishing of vulnerability criteria), priorities for reconstruction, building permissions if needed, establishing of general standards and securing that building regulations are being met, monitoring of the work and hand-over processes to original owners or the authorities themselves. Concerning technical infrastructure co-operation is of utmost importance in terms of the formal owners of the facilities being consulted and included. Often, the Technical Department of local authorities can assist in making assessments of destruction and damages of water and electrical supply. The relation to local authorities and/or community authorities is thus a working relationship that also can be seen as a capacity building relationship.

Targeting
In addition to the above operational principles, DRC also seeks to ensure that activities are designed to meet the needs and capacities of the target group. In relation to shelter and reconstruction of private homes, the target group is often people wishing to return or actually returning to their own home or unoccupied or abandoned buildings. The target group can also be host families accommodating refugees or ID Ps in their home or property.

DRC gives priority to assisting the most vulnerable groups in a certain context. These are for example elderly people, disabled persons and single parents. This principle should not be seen in opposition to the strong emphasis on including people or communities’ own capacities. By analysing needs, capacities and vulnerabilities of the individual beneficiary or group of beneficiaries DRC can decide on a reasonable degree of beneficiary participation and activity for each individual case.