Summary: After one month of delay due to the institutional transition in the National Society (preparation and holding of a General Assembly), the IFRC Regional Disaster Response Team (RDRT) member and Mauritanian Red Crescent (MRC) team arrived in the field on March 25th 2012. Since then, the DREF operation has been a success and 2/3 of the outcomes have been reached. Sixty-five Mauritanian Red Crescent volunteers were selected and trained on relief distribution, vaccination awareness as well as health, hygiene and Watsan promotion activities. The newly trained volunteers have distributed NFI to the 600 targeted families (100%) and promoted health and hygiene to more than 6’000 households (36’000 beneficiaries) in the Mbéra refugee camps as well as Mauritanian families receiving refugees. The volunteers also received vaccination awareness training by UNICEF and contributed to running of the first polio + Vitamin A campaign.

This operation was expected to be implemented in 3 months, and completed by June 30th 2012. However, a number of factors have made it necessary to extend the timeframe for the implementation of the remainder of activities by one month:

First the context of institutional transition within the National Society at the time generated delay in the starting up of the operation. Furthermore, it was necessary to solve the logistical challenges posed by an intervention in an area located 1,500 km distance from the National Society’s headquarters, knowing that no local capacity existed before the DREF. Finally, there were neither trained volunteers, nor even a Local Committee in the region. It has therefore been necessary to reactivate the Local Committee and train a first group of 65 volunteers before launching the field activities in earnest.

The one month extension will also allow the training on Epidemic Control for Volunteers (ECV) to take place in mid-June 2012. The former Head of the Mauritanian Red Crescent Society Health Department currently Director of the National Health School in NEMA Region (Region of our intervention) has accepted to be the lead Trainer for this activity.