Iran Drought: Support to Afghan refugees Appeal No. 19/02 Operations Update No. 5

The Federation's mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. It is the world's largest humanitarian organization and its millions of volunteers are active in over 181 countries.

In Brief

Period covered: August to October 2004; Revised Appeal coverage: 84.7%; (Please click here to go directly to the Contributions List)*

Appeal history:

- A first Appeal (21/2000) was launched on 22 August 2000 for CHF 2,268,146 for 12 months for 100,000 beneficiaries. The final report was issued on 31 December 2002.

- A second - related but separate Appeal (19/2002) - was launched on 15 July 2002 for CHF 899,000 for initially 12 months (later extended ) for 65,000 beneficiaries.

- A revised Plan of Action was presented in August 2004 to continue the programme until March 2005, supporting 45,335 beneficiaries.

- A new revised Appeal budget from July 2002 to March 2005 is CHF 2,249,198.

- Disaster Relief Emergency Funds (DREF) allocated: N/A

Outstanding needs: CHF 572,756

Operational Summary

In August 2004, the Federation revised the plan of action for the implementation of the current project and extended the operation time frame to March 2005, in order to provide more sustainable solutions to the problems faced by Afghan refugees. In this extended period, the project basically aims four activities :

• Meeting the water needs of beneficiaries by continuing the water trucking operation,
  
  
• Providing refugees with permanent sources of water supply by constructing public water distribution stations,
  
  
• Teaching self-help skills to refugees through health education
  
  
• Developing a communication strategy by supporting the IRCS in building its capacit ies to work closely with the beneficiary communities

The Federation believes that these approaches will make it possible to continue meeting the urgent needs of beneficiaries in a fixed period, while providing them with a more sustainable water solution and an opportunity for their capacity building, thus, ensur ing a smooth phase out of the project. However, the project implementation was restricted by limited funds being available. Only the water trucking operation has been carried out in the reporting period in order to meet the water needs of beneficiaries.

To make a planned phase out of the project in March 2005, it is necessary to meet the outstanding funding needs as soon as possible , so that all activities which have been planned as part of the final exit strategy are pushed forward in accordance with the revised plan of action.

On 18 November 2004, ECHO announced allocation of EUR 150,000 to ensure at least partial implementation of the project aimed at the construction of public water distribution points.

Operational Developments

In August 2004, the Federation revised the plan of action for implementation of the current project with a view to provide more sustainable solutions to the problems faced by Afghan refugees and extended the operation time frame to March 2005 (For details, please see the Operations Update No. 4 at www.ifrc.org/cgi/pdf_appeals.pl?02/190204.pdf).* The revised plan of action has been designed to provide for a final phase out of the project and is aimed at:

• Meeting the water needs of beneficiaries by continuing the water trucking operation;
  
  
• Providing refugees with permanent sources of water supply by constructing public water distribution stations;
  
  
• Teaching self-help skills to refugees through health education;
  
  
• Developing a communication strategy by supporting the IRCS in building its capacities to work closely with the beneficiary communities.

The IRCS and the Federation started implementing the project in August 2004 with the fund remaining from the previous appeal. However, due to the limited funds available , only the water trucking operation has been carried out in the reporting period in order to meet the water needs of beneficiaries. To increase the frequency of the water trucking service, 3 water collection points are now under construction.

Coordination

The IRCS and the Federation have been carrying out this operation in close cooperation with provincia l authorities. The Zahedan Public Health Department is in charge of the chlorination of water and is providing regular information on the general drought situation in the region, the on-going water supply project and prospects for the future. In Zabul, regular meetings are held with the local water department to facilitate water collection and distribution. In addition, coordination meetings are being held at the field level between the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), the Federation, United Nations agencies and MSF. Efforts are being made to coordinate the humanitarian assistance for Afghan refugees with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which is responsible for implementation of the voluntary repatriation of these people.

Red Cross and Red Crescent action

The IRCS and the Federation have been implementing this project since August 2000, in order to support Afghan refugees. At the beginning, the project focused on meeting the urgent water needs of beneficiaries, giving them basic health care education and ensuring sanitation in residential areas. In the new phase of the operation that began in August 2004, the focus has shifted to providing more sustainable solutions to the problems faced by the refugees while continuing to meet their daily water needs.

Red Cross and Red Crescent Society

The Sistan-Baluchistan provincial branch is in charge of the implementation of the project in Zahedan and Zabul. In the course of implementation of the project over the past several years, the staff and volunteers who have been engaged in it have increased their project management capacity. This is quite visible in narrative and financial reporting, internal monitoring system, and clear responsibilities and duties of the staff involved in the project.

Objectives, activities and results

1. Beneficiaries have better access to water through the improvement of the water trucking system and construction of a permanent water supply system

At present, approximately 5 percent (2,355 people) of the whole beneficiaries are living in villages of Zabul and the remaining 95 percent (43,000) in the out skirts of Zahedan. To continue distributing safe clean water to the beneficiaries in these regions, the IRCS is using a fleet of 11 trucks and 22 water tanks (10 mobile and 12 fixed) in Zahedan and 3 trucks and 6 water tanks in Zabul.

Water delivery is going well and smoothly , without any considerable problem. Water trucks are going around villages once or twice a day to fill the tanks with water. Beneficiaries come to the tanks with empty jerry cans to fetch water. They get water six days a week without interruptions and are satisfied with both the quality and the quantity of the water delivered by the project. On average, a beneficiary gets 10 litres of water per day.

In order to reduce the water-filling time of beneficiaries, small water taps and pipes attached to tanks have been replaced with bigger-size taps and pipes. Besides, 12 drainage wells were dug next to the fixed water tanks in Zahedan to ensure sanitation in the areas near these tanks.