Disaster

This report covers the period 1 July 2011 to 31 December 2011.

In brief

Programme outcome
To strengthen the Viet Nam Red Cross society's (VNRC) role as the leading humanitarian organization in Viet Nam.

Programme summary
The period from July to November saw significant progress on the planned activities. Being the disaster season, the national society implemented crucial emergency interventions while maintaining its efforts in annual projects. The focus on improved learning and capacity building was intensified.

In brief

Disaster response - As of 20 December 2011, various natural disasters this year had left 1,081 people dead or missing in China, 440 million people affected and created over 311 billion yuan (approx. 49 billion dollars) in direct economic losses.[1] In the second half of 2011, China was hit mainly by several floods and earthquakes. With the support of IFRC regional delegation, the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) responded swiftly to the serious disasters with relief items and other assistance needed.

DISASTER EVENTS IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC IN 2011

Asia and the Pacific continues to live up to its reputation as the world’s most natural-disaster-prone region. The International Disaster Database, EM-DAT, reports 89 natural-disaster events in the region in 2011. In terms of the number of events, China (14), Indonesia (6) and the Philippines (22) top the list. However, Japan, the Philippines and Thailand suffered the greatest number of lives lost.

(Manila/New York, 23 November 2011): Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator and United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Catherine Bragg completed her visit to the Philippines today.

(Manila, 23 November 2011) Good morning everyone, and thank you for coming.

This week, as you saw in the video, I visited Mindanao for the first time. It was an important opportunity to see and hear first-hand how communities in this part of the Philippines are coping with a protracted humanitarian crisis, brought about by years of armed conflict and other forms of violence, as well as recurring national disasters.

This Revised Emergency Appeal seeks CHF 4,114,366 (USD 4.6 million or EUR 3.3 million) in cash, kind, or services to support the Philippine Red Cross to assist 25,000 families (125,000 persons) for 12 months. The operation will be completed by 30 September 2012 and a final report will be made available by 31 December 2012 (three months after the end of operation).

Appeal history:

· Preliminary Emergency Appeal was launched on 4 October 2011 for CHF 3,550,719 for eight months to assist 250,000 beneficiaries.