CERF December Newsletter 2007

Pledges and contributions

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is pleased to acknowledge the receipt of a new contribution (as of 30 November) made by Chile ($30,000). Meanwhile, Italy pledged an additional $1,393,592 for 2007. OCHA encourages all Member States to turn their pledges into contributions as soon as possible.

Training workshops

During 2007, the CERF Secretariat organized several training workshops in Bangkok, Dakar, Geneva, Nairobi, New York, Panama City, and Rome to improve the use of the Fund. Participants came from humanitarian agencies and partners from non-governmental organizations all over the world. The training focused on the two windows for rapid response and underfunded emergencies, the modalities and application process for a grant or a loan, project budgeting, and financial and narrative reporting. The CERF will continue this initiative in 2008.

Country highlights

In November 2007, the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) approved almost $20.8 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.

BANGLADESH - On 15 November, cyclone Sidr made landfall in the south and southwest of Bangladesh, devastating at least 30 out of 64 districts in the region and affecting over 8.5 million individuals. It damaged or destroyed 1.4 million and razed an estimated 2 million acres of crops. Prior to Sidr's arrival, the Government relocated as many as 3.2 million citizens from 15 districts. In response to the natural disaster, the CERF allocated $14.7 million to Bangladesh.

The UN's Children's Fund (UNICEF) is providing fortified high energy biscuits to some 14,700 children and 11,000 women. Many water points and household latrines have been damaged or destroyed, tube wells have been flooded with saline water, and surface water sources have been ruined in the 17 most affected sub-districts in southern Bangladesh. UNICEF is seeking to provide 500,000 people with emergency water supply services and support their hygiene practices by distributing jerry cans, water purification tablets and soap.

Another UNICEF project is targeting 100,000 vulnerable families among the evacuees the Government took to safer locations. Primarily households headed by a woman are receiving a family kit containing non-food items such as pots, plates, spoons and mugs, as well as clothes, soap, a blanket and a plastic sheet to be used as a rooftop. UNICEF is also supporting safe and child-friendly spaces within the communities of six of the most affected districts, while its implementing partners are conducting recreational and psychosocial sessions for children. Finally, UNICEF is establishing security and data communication services for UN agencies and humanitarian partners to facilitate relief operations.

To rapidly restore agricultural and fishing activities in three of the worst affected districts, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is providing 560 metric tonnes of assorted vegetable and field crop seeds to 118,000 rural households (or 590,000 people). In addition, it is distributing over 3,000 fishing nets. The World Food Programme (WFP) is providing food rations to assist 1.7 million people, supplying 30 kilogrammes of cereals per month to each family.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking to make available essential health services to 2.5 million people who were affected by the cyclone, including the prevention and control of communicable diseases and strengthening health workers' response capacity.

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) is supplying reproductive health kits to 30,000 pregnant women to ensure safe delivery. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is using its CERF grant to provide emergency temporary shelter, including basic plastic sheeting and building materials, and non-food items to 100,000 families in the ten most affected districts.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - Tropical storm Noel hit on 30 October 2007, partially and completely destroying over 16,000 homes and damaging 35 bridges and highways. In the wake of the disaster that displaced some 66,600 people, the CERF allocated $3.1 million to the Dominican Republic.

The FAO is seeking to restore the livelihoods of 10,000 small farmers in the southern region by supplying essential agricultural inputs, and vaccines and vitamins for their animals. UNICEF is providing hygiene education to 2,500 families, relaunching educational and recreational activities for 8,000 children and 300 teachers, supporting 5,000 children under five with complimentary feeding, ensuring psychological recovery for and prevention of violence to children, and conducting an assessment of gender-based violence among 65,000 women and children.

WHO is monitoring the health conditions of 1.7 million people who are also receiving medicine and sanitation kits. A CERF grant is enabling WFP to supply emergency food assistance to 35,000 people, including high-risk children and pregnant women. UNFPA is strengthening the local capacities to meet health, psychosocial and legal needs of more than 100,000 vulnerable individuals, focussing on women and girls of reproductive age, people living with HIV/AIDS, pregnant women and the elderly. It is also helping restore and strengthen local reproductive health services for 20,000 women and teenagers. UNDP is supporting the spontaneous return of some 1,000 families to their home town.

ETHIOPIA - The Somali region of Ethiopia is one of the poorest in the country, plagued by droughts, flood, and food insecurity. Hostilities between the Ethiopian forces and the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) have recently escalated, affecting 1.4 million people.

WFP and its implementing partners are using a $872,000 allocation from the CERF to start providing food aid as well as water and sanitation, health and livelihood services to 640,000 individuals. In addition, it is establishing a common UN interagency emergency telecommunication system to ensure the safety of humanitarian workers and the timely flow of critical information from the field to Addis Ababa.

MEXICO - Heavy rains at the end of October caused floods and landslides in the states of Tabasco and Chiapas, affecting over one million people. In response to the disaster, the CERF has allocated a total of $1.7 million to Mexico.

The Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) is assisting the Government and local authorities to revitalize public health facilities and improve access to safe water and sanitation, targeting a population of at least 600,000. PAHO is also setting up surveillance and early warning systems to prevent communicable diseases, such as dengue fever and hepatitis, leptospirosis and cholera in the affected areas as well as in shelters. To secure enough safe water, PAHO is providing filtering tubes for families and for water tanks in shelters.

UNICEF is distributing insecticide-treated bed nets to 7,000 families in Tabasco and 1,000 in Chiapas. Another CERF grant is enabling UNICEF to procure jerry cans, water purification tablets, and family cleaning kits to 20,000 individuals either living in shelters or returning to their homes in flood-affected communities. In addition, UNICEF is disseminating, via radio and print, hygiene messages.

UNFPA is implementing a project to reduce maternal mortality and prevent unwanted pregnancies as well as sexually transmitted infections among 37,000 women and 28,000 men living in over 500 shelters. The CERF grant is also enabling UNFPA to make available emergency obstetric and prenatal care as well as family planning methods. In addition, UNFPA is training 240 health service providers.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is providing shelter, housing materials and non-food items (NFIs), such as mattresses, clothing, and pots and other cooking utensils to 2,500 families in selected rural areas of Tabasco. Another project utilizing a CERF grant is targeting 1,700 families in Chiapas who need shelter and non-food items because of the floods and the mudslides.

RWANDA - Heavy rains in early September have caused severe floods in several districts of the Western Province, killing at least 20 people, displacing another 4,000, and destroying 700 houses and 2,500 hectares of crop land. The CERF allocated over $400,000 to Rwanda as a response to the natural disaster.

With a $166,000 grant, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is relocating by bus 800 potato growing farmers to resettlement sites in safer zones. In order to bridge the gap until new and diversified crops are secured, these households are receiving a basic package of domestic NFIs, such as kitchen sets, jerry cans, blankets, plastic sheeting, hand tools, and hygienic pads. To avoid an increase in acute malnutrition, particularly among children under five years of age and pregnant and breastfeeding women, the WFP is using a $93,000 allocation to provide foods, including maize, pulses, vegetable oil, corn-soya blend and salt, to 4,000 beneficiaries at the temporary camps for internally displaced persons. With 2,500 hectares of cropland covered with sand and debris, the FAO is supplying - with a $157,000 grant - seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and agricultural tools to the same 800 farming households.

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