The International Federation's Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) is a source of un-earmarked money created by the Federation in 1985 to ensure that immediate financial support is available for Red Cross and Red Crescent response to emergencies. The DREF is a vital part of the International Federation's disaster response system and increases the ability of national societies to respond to disasters.

CHF 151,145 (USD 132,519 or EUR 99,818) has been allocated from the Federation's Disaster Relief Emergency Fund

- An estimated 220,000 people have been affected by floods in Cunene, Kuando Kubango, Moxico, Malange, Bie, Huambo and Lunda Sul provinces with 30 reported deaths.

- From 22 March to 28 March 2009, 22 cases of cholera have been reported;

- According to the National Institute of Meteorology of Angola, these abnormal rains will last up to April, with flood waters then moving towards the South.

II. Situation Overview

The Zambezi River level is subsiding at Katima Mulino but water levels are still increasing in the floodplains.

He travelled to remote Achham District, where DFID and the World Food Programme (WFP) are working closely with government and other agencies to provide assistance to 120,000 people over the next six months. This money will support food-for-work programmes, rebuild schools and health posts that were either damaged or neglected during the conflict, and build new water supplies and irrigation schemes.

In August 2007, USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) launched a three-year program to promote peace and stability in Lebanon through an initial emphasis on cross-confessional dialogue at the community level. After a six-month start-up phase involving action-oriented research, the program-known as the Lebanon Civic Initiative-reoriented its strategy to focus on providing youth with alternatives to political extremism and mitigating tensions in conflict-prone areas. These objectives seek to preserve democratic space in a highly polarized society and to

The Northern Uganda Transition Initiative (NUTI) is a three-year post-conflict transition program working in the four districts of north-central Uganda in the Acholi sub-region. This region was hardest hit by the 23-year insurgency and, as a result, experienced massive internal displacement, high levels of abductions, and significant levels of infrastructure destruction.

Since a 2006 peace process and a subsequent military offensive against the remnants of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the security

I. HIGHLIGHTS/KEY PRIORITIES

- Water scarcity problems during the dry season (April-May).

- Continue and expand Disaster Risk Reduction programmes.

- Raise funds for Agriculture, Shelter and WASH clusters for urgent pre-Monsoon needs. 130,000 families or half a million people are living in hopelessly vulnerable shacks, with failing tarpaulins for roofing materials.

- Indebtedness is rising amongst Nargis-affected

In brief

This programme update focuses mainly on the health and the disaster management programmes. The disaster management programme has been modified towards a community-based disaster risk reduction (CBDRR) concept, after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Red Cross Society adopted recommendations from a comprehensive DPRK Red Cross disaster management review conducted in November 2008, as well as incorporating additional recommendations from a tree planting management

The assistance, funded through a US$445,000 grant from the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), is aimed at providing displaced people with temporary protection from the remainder of the rainy season and basic support in the rehabilitation of damaged housing in Cunene, Moxico and Kuando Kubango areas where damage to homes has been the most extensive.

Saudi Public Assistance for Pakistan Earthquake Victims, (SPAPEV) Media Director, While collecting the cartons of special dates from Saudi Arabia, told newsmen that these packets of dates would be distributed among the quake affectees of AJK and NWFP.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's special