This report covers the period 01 January 2012 to 31 December 2012

Overview

Created to promote relief work in times of peace, the Empress Shôken Fund received many applications this year from Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies and is pleased to announce its support for five Red Cross Red Crescent projects around the world which address local vulnerabilities, namely in Belarus, Bolivia, Eritrea, Iran, and Kiribati. The total amount of the grant allocations is 98,779 Swiss Francs.

In the community of San Juan de Mocoví, some 150 kilometres from the city of Trinidad, in Bolivia, the United Nations is making a difference in the lives of 25 indigenous families. This zone, prone to flooding and other natural disasters, benefits from resources of the UN Trust Fund for Human Security (UNHSTF) implemented by three agencies: WFP, FAO and UNICEF.

Small and subsistence farmers were about to harvest and, now, find themselves with no food reserves. 25,000 peoples are in urgent need of food assistance.

HIGHLIGHTS:

 BOLIVIA: Cochabamba under a state of emergency for floods - 30,450 people affected.

 PERU: About 1,130 people affected by rains in the departments Tumbes, Huanaco and Cajamarca.

 ECUADOR: Rains in the coastal area have forced 1,280 people to shelters.

CHF 299,846 has been allocated from the IFRC’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the Bolivian Red Cross in delivering immediate assistance to some 10,000 beneficiaries.

Unearmarked funds to repay DREF are encouraged.

Summary: Since January 2013, the rainy season in Bolivia intensified, causing several floods, hail storms, frosts, and overflowing rivers. Over 21,200 families have been affected in 67 municipalities from eight of the nine departments of the country.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• COLOMBIA: Some 12,960 people affected by rains in 2013. At least 4 regions are under alert for rains.

• PERU: 57,700 people affected by rains in the department of Arequipa. 730 are homeless.

• BOLIVIA: 18 municipalities in La Paz declared a state of emergency. 12,500 people affected by rains.

The work days and efforts are rewarded with coupons that the farmers’ families will swap for food in grocery stores in the cities of San Julian and Montero, in the department of Santa Cruz.

Summary: The rainy season was difficult in Bolivia due to the La Niña weather phenomenon which led to serious floods in the country’s central Andean departments (Cochabamba, Oruro, and La Paz) and the Northern department of Pando. On 22 February 2012, the Bolivian government declared a State of National Emergency in these four departments due to the floods that affected 13,817 families and caused 13 deaths.