CERF November Newsletter 2007

Pledges and contributions

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is pleased to acknowledge the receipt of six new contributions totaling $613,515.01 (as of 31 October). The contributions were made by Mexico ($50,000), Hyogo Prefecture (Japan) ($435,578.01), Disaster Resource Network ($9,978), and private donors ($117,959). Furthermore, the Republic of Korea pledged $1,500,000 for 2007. OCHA encourages all Member States to turn their pledges into contributions as soon as possible.

Advisory Group's fourth meeting

During its two-day meeting on 25 and 26 October in Geneva, the CERF Advisory Group followed up on programmatic, administrative and financial issues, and reviewed the terms of reference for the two-year evaluation of the Fund. In its observations and conclusions, the independent body welcomed the broad donor base as an expression of the global ownership of the Fund. Its members also emphasized the need to increase efforts to obtain additional multi-year commitments from Member States so the CERF becomes sustainable in the longer run. The Advisory Group will meet again in spring 2008.

Country highlights

In October 2007, the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) approved $29.1 million in grants from the CERF's window for rapid response. Details on each allocation can be found below, or on the CERF website at http://cerf.un.org .

AFGHANISTAN - Continued insecurity and the lack of proper communication tools make the working conditions of relief workers difficult and hazardous.

The CERF is allocating almost $325,000 to the World Food Programme (WFP) for a project that aims at upgrading the existing network to expand coverage, installing new security telecommunications facilities and establishing independent communication mechanisms and standard operating procedures (SOPs) to meet Phase III MOSS (Minimum Operational Security Standards) requirements (possible relocation).

ARMENIA - Displacement due to the ongoing conflict in Iraq has growing regional consequences. Currently, Armenia hosts over a thousand Iraqis, including 696 who are registered as asylum seekers and refugees. It is clear that the vulnerable among them are not prepared for the harsh winter conditions in the country.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is using a $300,000 grant to cover the heating expenses for three months of 175 families (or 700 individuals) and to provide them with food, winter clothes and shoes, as well as with basic medicines.

DR CONGO - Since the beginning of 2007, over 370,000 people - half of them children - have been displaced due to the ongoing conflict in North Kivu Province. Recent assessments indicate alarmingly high rates of malnutrition among displaced families.

A $2 million CERF allocation is enabling the WFP to provide food assistance to 88,000 conflict-affected individuals. UNICEF is using a $1.3 million grant to foster a safe and protective environment for 50,000 displaced children. In addition, it is ensuring continued access to education for children in sites for internally displaced persons (IDPs). With a $1.6 million allocation, UNHCR is seeking to provide and reinforce physical protection for 200,000 IDPs at ten sites.

GHANA - As a result of torrential rains in late August and early September, floods have affected over 800,000 people in 13 countries in West Africa. In Ghana, the inundations affected 332,600 people and killed 56. Houses, crops, roads and infrastructure were destroyed, hampering access to the disaster areas and the distribution of relief items.

The WFP is using a $1.5 million CERF allocation to provide food to 75,000 people, as well as supplementary feeding to 10,000 pregnant or breastfeeding women and malnourished children under five years of age. A grant of $235,000 is enabling UNICEF to supply safe water to contain the outbreak of epidemics. A $500,000 allocation goes to a common health project of UNICEF, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO). In order to prevent the loss of life and reduce morbidity particularly among women and children, the three UN agencies are providing essential drugs and vaccines, as well as equipment and logistics. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is using a $250,000 grant to purchase 180 metric tonnes of fertilizer for 7,100 farming families.

GUINEA - A cholera epidemic has been going on since the beginning of the year. By mid-October, 7,265 cases and 262 casualties had been reported.

With a $290,000 CERF grant, UNICEF is seeking to control the cholera outbreak in the prefectures of Kindia and Fria. A total of 150,000 households will receive water treatment and will be made aware of best practices regarding hygiene and sanitation, and 100 open wells will be disinfected in villages where cholera occurred. WHO is using a $400,000 allocation to contain the epidemic in Basse and Moyenne Guinea, as well as in Conakry. The project includes cholera awareness campaigns, safe drinking water and health education, as well as training for 145,000 health workers on case management.

With a separate grant of $365,000, the CERF is addressing the effects of heavy rainfall in Guinea last August, followed by flooding in the prefectures of Mamou, Dabola and Dinguiraye. FAO is using the allocation to provide tomato, pepper and eggplant seeds, and essential agricultural tools to 3,200 affected households.

MAURITANIA - The official call in late June for Mauritanian refugees to return to their country after 18 years in exile constitutes a major political challenge for the newly elected President. Up to 24,000 citizens have expressed their wish to go back, 7,000 in 2007, the rest in 2008.

WFP ($194,000) is purchasing and distributing 378 metric tonnes of food, including rice, lentils, vegetable oil, corn-soya blend, sugar and salt, to assure food security for 7,000 returnees until the end of this year. UNHCR ($653,000) is supplying basic non-food items (such as sanitary kits, mosquito nets, kettles, and pots) and tents to returnees whose transfer to their original villages it is also organising. UNHCR is also rehabilitating or constructing ten wells.

SOMALIA - After drought, floods and an outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea, aggravated by escalating conflict in Mogadishu, food security and nutrition have deteriorated dramatically in the past six months in Central and Southern Somalia. The security situation in the capital is described as the worst in over 15 years, displacing 600,000 people in 2007.

UNICEF is using two CERF grants totaling $1.6 million to supply basic social services to about 50,000 people dwelling in rudimentary settlements on the road between Mogadishu and Afgoye. The first project includes emergency water trucking and rehabilitating three boreholes. UNICEF is also constructing 2,000 latrines for the displaced population, distributing soap and giving hygiene training. The second project is a vaccination campaign to prevent measles among children under five years of age in the IDP settlements.

With an allocation of some $2 million, WFP is supplying 2,250 metric tonnes of corn-soya blend to 1.2 million IDPs and other vulnerable people in Lower Shabelle, Gedo, Bay and other areas in Central and Southern Somalia.

TOGO - The northern part of the country is experiencing the worst floods for the last 10 years, which have caused widespread damage to the infrastructure, crop failure and population displacements, particularly in the Savanes region. Over 100 people were injured and at least 24 have died. The disaster hit a region that is already struggling with food insecurity. As a consequence, the CERF made a first allocation to UNICEF and WFP in July to jump-start immediate nutritional assistance to the most vulnerable children and mothers.

In response to the floods the CERF granted $1.4 million to Togo. In order to compensate for the loss of crops and food stocks, WFP ($1 million) is providing food to 60,000 people. The FAO ($210,000) is initiating a project of fast growing vegetable crops that can be harvested within two months of planting for 2,000 families. UNICEF ($225,000) is distributing essential items, including soap, water purification tablets and buckets to 30,000 people.

UGANDA - Heavy rainfall since July 2007 has led to severe flooding and water-logging across many parts of eastern, central and northern Uganda, affecting an estimated 50,000 households. Most people face food insecurity due to the loss of the first season harvest (due in July/August) and the delay in the second season planting. The next harvest cannot be expected before February 2008. In response to the floods, the CERF has allocated $6 million to Uganda.

The WFP project has a two-phase strategy ($1.8 million). After immediately supplying life-saving rations to 300,000 people during a three-month period, the UN agency will develop a longer-term response. FAO is providing assorted seed kits to 10,000 households ($492,000). WHO is seeking to establish an active surveillance system for potential epidemic diseases, pre-position medical supplies, and train health workers ($759,000).

UNICEF is providing services for 126,000 beneficiaries to prevent a massive outbreak of communicable diseases associated with unsafe water and lack of sanitation facilities ($721,000). UNICEF is also securing continued access to quality education for an estimated 70,825 primary school children ($442,000). Finally, UNICEF is providing emergency non-food items and shelter to 200,000 people ($253,000).

UNHCR is using $288,000 to establish Camp Coordination/Camp Management (CCCM) in 61 selected camps in the Teso region hosting some 110,000 IDPs. CCCM is also assisting the voluntary relocation of some 45,000 persons to higher grounds. Because some aof the flood-affected population has been cut off from aid delivery, the CERF allocated $1.3 million to WFP to provide common air services and temporary warehousing.

ZIMBABWE - While drought has devastated crops in many areas, Zimbabwe's overall production was also hampered by insufficient agricultural inputs and by the country's crumbling irrigation system. An estimated 2.1 million need assistance in the third quarter of 2007, rising to 4.1 million during the first quarter of 2008. With the CERF grant of $8 million, WFP is providing food assistance to acutely vulnerable people in urban and rural areas and resourcing the pipeline break expected in December 2007. The UN agency plans to reach an estimated 3.36 million people during the upcoming pre-harvest season from December 2007 to March 2008.

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Rudolph Muller (CERF Secretarist): mullerr@un.org);
Ms. Shoko Arakaki (Donor and External Relation Section): arakaki@un.org