Period covered by this Ops Update: 1 January to 11 April 2011.

Appeal target (current): 1,045,054 Swiss francs.

Appeal coverage: The Appeal coverage currently stands at 61 per cent

Appeal history:

· 51,653 Swiss francs were allocated from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ (IFRC) Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support this operation.

· A Preliminary Emergency Appeal was issued on 3 November 2010 for 611,470 Swiss francs to support the National Societies of Barbados, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to assist 1,550 families for 6 months. · A revised Emergency Appeal was issued on 22 November featuring a revised budget of 1,045,054 Swiss francs to assist up to 2,050 families for 6 months.

· This Operations update reflects an extension of the implementation timeframe to seven and half months; therefore the operation will now conclude by mid July 2011. This Operations update also reflects a decrease in the number of target beneficiaries under the shelter component in Barbados from 50 to 15 due to high costs of repairs in this island.

Summary: During the reporting period, the three National Societies have worked in close collaboration with agencies in country to bring relief items to some 2,147 families. In Saint Lucia, as part of the effort to reduce the risk of water-borne diseases, the National Society has provided a total of 784,675 litres of safe water within the affected communities. The National Societies of Barbados and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have concluded all relief distributions and are now undertaking shelter activities, providing safer roof and house damage repairs.

Due to the strong rains that affected Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in April 2011, the timeframe of the operation has been extended, adding 45 days to the original plan, to allow the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Red Cross (SVGRC) to complete their shelter activities. The operation will therefore be completed by mid July 2011. In line with the IFRC’s reporting standards, the final report (narrative and financial) is due 90 days after the end of the operation (by October 2011).

The IFRC is thankful to the following Partner National Societies and governments for their kind support to the Appeal: American Red Cross, Australian Red Cross (Australian government), British Red Cross, Canadian Red Cross (Canadian government), Finnish Red Cross, Japanese Red Cross Society, Monaco Red Cross, and the Spanish government. The International Federation also gratefully acknowledges the Kraft Food Foundation, the private donors in Bahamas, Barbados, United States, Jamaica, and Saint Kitts and Nevis, the Voluntary Emergency Relief Fund of the World Health Organization (WHO), who have contributed to this operation.