Launched on: 2 May 2002 for CHF 6,803,000 for 12 months; revised on 22 July 2002 to CHF 89,285,274 (USD 61.6 m or EUR 60.9m) in cash, kind and services for 12 months to assist 1.3 million beneficiaries.
Appeal coverage: 91.9% Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) Allocated: CHF 50,000

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Summary

Thanks to the positive response to this emergency appeal through the Federation and on a bilateral basis, the operating national societies have been able to provide assistance to over one million people who were threatened with starvation in Southern Africa over the past 12 months. The Southern African food security operation has successfully met most of its appeal objectives. Since the operation started in July 2002, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (Movement) has delivered at least 47,190 tones of food to more than 734,360 people in Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Some 118,860 drought-stricken farming families were helped with seeds, tools and fertilizers. A further 101,360 people were helped with hygienic and medical supplies. More than 76,000 people are benefiting from the improvement of water sources and sanitation facilities.

Some relief and capacity-building initiatives between donors and implementing national societies yet to be completed; this is primarily due to uncontrollable delays, but an extended timeframe has been agreed with respective donors. These include branch constructions in Malawi and Zambia, and ECHO-funded food distributions in Zimbabwe.

During the course of the entire operation, some plans were revised to address evolving needs and financial reality. The operating national socie ties have demonstrated a profound commitment to overcome the tremendous logistical challenges which had thoroughly stretched their capacity. Activities have nonetheless reached the overall target in all countries of operation.

To support its relief activities, the Federation and WFP concluded an operational agreement - the TSP1 - that comprised one of the largest vehicle fleets ever assembled by the Federation. In place from July 2002 to July 2003, the TSP enabled WFP to transport food commodities to remote, inaccessible areas not served commercial vehicles. More than 58,480 tonnes of WFP-provided food was delivered throughout Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The all-terrain transport fleet, resourced from the Norwegian Red Cross, will continue to operate from 1 July 2003 for another year in Malawi, Lesotho, Zambia and Mozambique; this continuation falls under a new partnership agreement between WFP, the Federation and Norwegian Red Cross. WFP is undertaking the overall strategic management of the TSP; the Federation is providing international experts, seconded to WFP, to support the operation and maintenance of the transport fleet. Please note that the activities of this extended TSP will no longer be reported through the food security operations updates (appeal 15/2003).

Despite a generally-favorable outlook for cereal harvest in Southern Africa, hundreds of thousands of families, mostly in Zimbabwe, are still in grave danger. The threat of famine may have seemingly retreated for now, but the crisis is only developing. There is a need to integrate HIV/AIDS prevention into everything the Movement is doing in the region. Future famines cannot be prevented otherwise; HIV/AIDS continues to be the single biggest destroyer of lives and livelihoods in this region, killing over half a million people each year in these countries at the most productive stage of their lives.

In May 2003, the Federation launched emergency appeal 15/2003 (Southern Africa: Food Security and Integrated Community Care). It supports the eight national societies of the region (Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe) to assist approximately 347,000 vulnerable people through integrated nutrition, health care, water and sanitation, HIV/AIDS prevention and economic self-reliance. This new appeal is a logical continuation of the original appeal (12/2002), and covers the period August to December 2003. It will allow the Federation and the operating national societies to transform short-term emergency relief into integrated medium- and long-term programmes with greater impact upon the root causes of the disaster.

The balance from the Southern Africa Food Security operation (appeal 12/2002) will be transferred to the new appeal (15/2003). Nonetheless, an early response from donors remains critical to prevent the vulnerable segments from sliding into destitution caused by the continuing drought and worsened HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Coordination

At the initial stage of the Southern Africa Food Security Operation there were a number of challenges. The establishment of the OMCC2 in Johannesburg had proved its efficiency in co-coordinating and administering this large and uniquely complex operation. A team of international and locally hired staff had been providing readily availa ble support in the areas of finance, logistics, telecommunication, procurement, human resources, administration, information, and reporting. Its location had been an invaluable asset to the successful implementation of the operation. A real time evaluation was conducted early in the year and the OMCC had been implementing the recommendations of the team with regards to better organization and coordination of food security operations. A number of coordination meetings had been held during the course of the operation to pool together efforts and resources from the operating and partner national societies in the region to maximize the impact of integrated and longer-term programming.

This endeavor was further reinforced by the decision to incorporate OMCC functions and human resources into the structure of the Regional Delegation. As of 1 July, the operation coordination of the Southern Africa food security operations has been officially undertaken by the Regional Delegation in Harare. OMCC was closed by the end of June 2003 while a small-scale logistics service remains in Johannesburg to support the remaining procurements and

those under the new appeal. The Federation has been coordinating food security activities and monitoring the latest development through the UN RIACSO3 and other regional and country coordination mechanisms.

A complete list of expatriate delegates assigned to this appeal is available from the Federation Secretariat; please contact the Regional Officer listed on page 33.

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