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Pacific: Appeal No. MAA55001 Programme Update No. 2

Attachments

This report covers the period from 1 July 2008 until 31 December 2008.

In brief

Programme summary:

Programmes have not changed radically since the previous report. Work has continued during the second half of the year in delivering technical support to the Pacific national societies in disaster management, health and care and organizational development-related fields. Key activities carried out in this reporting period include the first regional disaster response team (RDRT) training in the Pacific, the start of the HIV programme in Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati and Samoa with support primarily from the Global Fund, supplemented by the Japanese Red Cross as well as a meeting with all Pacific national societies, followed by a three-day workshop on sustainable programming under organizational development.

In disaster management, the inaugural regional disaster response team (RDRT) training workshop was held. This has placed the region now on a much stronger footing in the event of disaster - there is a regional network of people who can be mobilized quickly. There were practical exercises in emergency water supply and telecommunications. The annual disaster management forum was held this year in Noumea, facilitated jointly with the French Red Cross. Facilitation and additional support for these meetings from the secretariat headquarters in Geneva and zone office , Australian RC and new Zealand Red Cross. Both 2007 emergency appeals for Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea have been completed and are in the final stages of being closed. There were a series of disaster management meetings held in July 2008. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) called all partners in order to plan for the cluster activation in the Pacific. The New Zealand Red Cross and the Australian Red Cross were represented along with the International Federation. New Zealand Red Cross has agreed to take the lead in a communications/telecoms cluster. The South Pacific Applied Geo-science Commission (SOPAC) then called three meetings: one with the national disaster management offices and another with partners including all United Nations components, the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement and other large non-governmental organizations. The final meeting was attended by the chief executive officers of government disaster offices in the region, where they met for two days to review the outputs of the preceding technical meetings. The International Federation introduced the concept of international disaster response law (IDRL) at this meeting and the Cook Islands, Tonga and Fiji governments expressed interest in receiving support on IDRL.

In health, the Global Fund programme began in earnest. The annual regional health meeting was attended by nine secretaries general, and the HIV Global Alliance was launched in the Pacific with the support of the International Federation's special representative for HIV. The Papua New Guinea Red Cross Society expressed interest in joining the Global Alliance, and a voluntary non-remunerated blood donation workshop was held in the Cook Islands. Furthermore, the International Federation has signed a formal agreement with Pacific Islands AIDS Foundation (PIAF) in this reporting period. The regional office and national societies have been working alongside PIAF for several years and it is a positive sign that the two organizations have formalized the relationship.

In organizational development, a volunteering development workshop was held - as a direct result of the partnership meeting where specific requests were made by the national societies for support in volunteer management. The Papua New Guinea Red Cross held their annual general meeting which was followed by a planning session for three days. This was facilitated by the Queensland executive director from Australian Red Cross. The Australian Red Cross also held their annual general meeting in this reporting period, which was accompanied by a two-day Pacific national societies' meeting and a three-day sustainable programming workshop, facilitated by the International Federation's Asia Pacific zone organizational development coordinator.

Financial situation: The total 2008 budget is CHF 3,603,911 (USD 3.4 million or EUR 2.4 million), of which 49 per cent is covered. Expenditure from January to October 2008 against income was 61 per cent over total income.