Period covered by this Ops Update: 1 November 2009-2 April 2010.

Appeal target (current): CHF 918,517 (USD 896,114 or EUR 605,283)

Appeal coverage: 100%;

Appeal history:

=B7 This Emergency Appeal was initially launched on 6 August 2009 for CHF 918,517 for 9 months to assist 25,000 beneficiaries.

=B7 Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF): CHF 200,000 was allocated from the Federation's DREF to support this Appeal and related action.

=B7 Programme update no. 1 was issued on 19 October, 2009; Period covered: 6 August - 7 October 2009; Appeal target

This report covers the period 17/January/2009 to 31/December/2009.

In brief

Programme purpose: The 2009-2010 West and Central Africa Zone's (WCAZ) Plan aims at providing support to National Societies to properly address the needs of vulnerable people. The 2009 plan of action focuses on the implementation of the safety and resilient community framework. Integrated approach targeting community at risk has been developed with NS and PNS that covers DRR, Health and OD issues at branch level with strong community participation. Some of the projects

The technical consultative meeting on the ex-post 2008/2009 cereal and food balance sheets and provisional 2009/2010 in the CILSS, ECOWAS and UEMOA countries members took place from the 4th to 6th November 2009 in Accra, Ghana. The present press release is published:

- Rainfall in 2009 was highly heterogeneous. In the Central and Eastern Sahel, the rains were late with sporadic dry spells causing delays in crops establishment and development. In the Western Sahel the rains started relatively early without major interruptions. In

Executive summary

The Sahel region covers nine countries Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal. Sahel National Societies' priorities for 2010-2011 are guided by the Federation's Global Agenda Goals and the Framework for Action. Specific National Society plans also take their roots from Strategy 2010, ARCHI 2010, Algiers Plan of Action and Johannesburg commitment.

The Sahel strategy comprises four programmes: disaster management (DM), health and care, (H&C) Organizational development

Each week, the World Health Organization Health Action in Crises in Geneva produces information highlights on critical health-related activities in countries where there are humanitarian crises. Drawing on the various WHO programmes, contributions cover activities from field and country offices and the support provided by WHO regional offices and headquarters. The mandate of the WHO departments specifically concerned with Emergency and Humanitarian Action in Crises is to increase the effectiveness of the WHO contribution to crisis preparedness and response, transition

NEW YORK / GENEVA - Global campaigns to fight diarrhoea - the second deadliest illness for children - must be re-energized to prevent the deaths of millions in the developing world, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) said today as they released a new report on the disease.

"It is a tragedy that diarrhoea, which is little more than an inconvenience in the developed world, kills an estimated 1. 5 million children each year," said UNICEF Executive Director, Ann M. Veneman. "Inexpensive and effective treatments for

Executive summary

The Federation's West and Central Africa Sub-zone (WCAZ) priorities are guided by the following strategic initiatives intended to support the development and work of National Societies: the Global Agenda Goals and the Framework for Action, Strategy 2010, the African Red Cross and Red Crescent Health Initiative (ARCHI) 2010 and decisions coming out from Pan African Conferences such as the Algiers Plan of Action and the Johannesburg Commitment.

Working within these initiatives, the West and Central Africa sub-zone immediate focus is to support National

U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BUREAU FOR DEMOCRACY, CONFLICT, AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE (DCHA)
FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)

BACKGROUND

Many countries in Africa are beset by a range of disasters, from complex emergencies to drought, floods, cyclones, and earthquakes. Climate variability, rapid population growth, environmental and natural resource degradation, lack of economic development, and rapid urbanization further compound the risks by increasing populations' vulnerability to disasters. During the last two decades, cities across Africa have rapidly