JAKARTA, April 26, 2007 - The World Bank Board today approved the disbursement of a special US$123 million interest-free credit to sustain and expand the activities of the Third Kecamatan Development Program (KDP3), Indonesia's best known community-driven poverty alleviation program.

KDP works nationwide to provide funds to rural communities so they can make poverty-reducing investments based on their own plans and management. From covering 28 villages at its start in 1998, the program now covers 34,000 villages in 30 out of Indonesia's

Emergencies, in the form of natural disasters and new or protracted conflict, continued to extract a toll on the lives of children and women around the world. Massive flooding in the Horn of Africa and the multiple typhoons in South Asia were typical of the ever more frequent occurrence of floods, typhoons and earthquakes that have affected thousands of families in 2006. While in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the occupied Palestinian territory, Sri Lanka and the Sudan, women and children continue to be impacted by the reverberating

OCHA Situation Report No. 28
INDONESIA EARTHQUAKE
Central Java and Yogyakarta Provinces

This report is based on information received from the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator's Office in Jakarta and the UN team in Yogyakarta.

Update on cold lava and hot cloud flows at Mt. Merapi

Strong rainfalls triggered cold lava and hot cloud flows at Mt. Merapi on 20 November, which reached 3km from the top towards Gendol and Adem rivers in Kaliadem sub-village, Cangkringan sub-district in Sleman.

137 households in Kaliadem were evacuated

Head of a JICA delegation to Yogyakarta, Kato Keichi, said that Gendol river was the most dangerous one as it had large deposit of volcanic materials upstream, reported the national Antara news agency Tuesday.

"Our survey showed that volcanic materials in Gendol river can be easily carried downstream by water,"

Background

People of the Asia-Pacific region are severely affected by natural hazards such as earthquakes, typhoons, floods, landslides, volcanoes, droughts, tsunamis, and wildfires. Asia's vulnerability is compounded by socio-economic conditions that steadily increase the impact of disasters. Demographic changes, urbanization, and environmental degradation

OCHA Situation Report No. 23
INDONESIA EARTHQUAKE and Mt. MERAPI Volcano

This report is based on information received from the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator's Office in Jakarta and the UN team in Yogyakarta.

HIGHLIGHTS

1. The Government has identified a total of 303,000 houses as being beyond repair and qualifying for assistance (206,000 in Yogyakarta and 97,000 in Central Java).

2. With the onset of the rainy season at hand, there are concerns that a lack of durable transitional shelters

INDONESIA -CENTRAL JAVA AND YOGYAKARTA - EARTHQUAKE AND MT MERAPI VOLCANO

On 27 May, an earthquake measuring 5.9 on Richter scale struck Yogyakarta Province. The epicentre was approximately 37.2 km south of Yogyakarta at a depth of 33 kilometres. The most affected districts were Bantul and Kulonprogo south of Yogyakarta. The death toll stands at 5,778. The number of injuries stands at 37,912. 205,888 homes have been completely destroyed. 406,166 additional houses have suffered earthquake damage.

Immediately after the earthquake, OCHA

OCHA Situation Report No. 22
INDONESIA EARTHQUAKE and Mt. MERAPI Volcano

This report is based on information received from the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator's Office in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the UN team in Yogyakarta.

HIGHLIGHTS

1. As the rainy season draws closer, the need for school tents replacement or temporary schools has become a pressing issue. The Cluster is planning to build approximately 550 temporary schools. Currently 50 temporary schools have been constructed.

2. The provision of free medical care