Iran: Drought support for Afghan refugees No. 19/2002

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IN BRIEF

THIS APPEAL SEEKS CHF 899,000 (USD 606,703 or EUR 612,426 ) IN CASH, KIND AND SERVICES TO ASSIST 65,000 (16,000 families) BENEFICIARIES FOR 12 MONTHS

Situation

The unprecedented shortage of precipitation over the last five years has adversely affected much of Iran. The prolonged drought is depleting the water supply of the Afghan refugees and of the permanent population. The reservoirs of the rivers and lakes are now completely dry. Afghan refugees residing in the Sistan and Baluchistan

Province (bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan) in particular are suffering from the effects of the drought. The frequency of health problems and diseases among the refugees is increasing. In the villages where the authorities have built pipelines, drastic measures taken regarding water rationing in the Sistan and Baluchestan provinces have culminated in the population having access to the water supply a mere six hours every second day. The water which is obtained, in the mostly Iranian-inhabited villages according to this new governmental project, is salty and not proper to drink. To date, there are no existing projects to provide water to areas primarily inhabited by refugees.

Based on information provided by the Iranian meteorological organisation, the drought phenomena is expected to continue. Given these expectations for a continued drought, and the serious effect the situation is having on the health and well being of the Afghan refugees, the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), Sistan and Baluchistan Branch, has requested that the drought relief programme introduced in September 2000 under the Federation's Appeal (21/2000) is continued through the next twelve months (June 2002 - May 2003).

Despite the recent events in the region and the subsequent movement of refugees, the projected size of the community has remained roughly the same as in 2000. According to the IRCS, only 15,000 out of the total 380,000 Afghan refugees have been repatriated from Sistan and Baluchistan to Afghanistan.

The Iranian government has made considerable efforts to maintain the appropriate living conditions for the drought affected population by constructing a water pipeline for 800 rural villages, mainly Iranian inhabited. Despite these efforts, however, the Afghan refugees continue to require clean water.

With reference to the implemented actions, since all the capital items have already been procured by the IRCS and the International Federation during the operation launched in September 2000, and the necessary infrastructure has been put in place, the 12 month programme will mainly concentrate on 1) continuing water distributions, and 2) health and hygiene related matters.

Needs

Immediate Needs

The operation is well staffed and has a sufficient number of vehicles and fixed tanks to continue. With basic structures in place, the primary and critical need is funding. If no additional funding is granted the programmes will have to be discontinued.

During the initial phase of this programme, the IRCS provided the necessary material and equipment to allow the emergency programme to be operative as quickly as possible, especially in regard to the distribution of water. Gradually as new capital items (trucks, tractors and tanks etc.) arrived the materials were replaced with new ones.

Project coordinators and field staff (local coordinators, project manager financial managers, local monitors) were recruited and selected from existing IRCS staff. Staff such as drivers, solid waste workers and guards were externally hired for the project, many from within the Afghan refugee community.

As the local branch of the IRCS in the Sistan and Baluchestan Province has been implementing the Water Project for over two years, it has sufficient experience to carry out the continuation of the project. The running cost of the water and sanitation projects on a monthly basis is approximately CHF 4.68 per family.

Continuing the project will require renewing contracts with well owners and national staff. The plan is to be able to continue this programme for the next 12 months. During this period, hopefully, the vast majority of the refugees will be able to repatriate to their place of origin - once the security situation in Afghanistan permits.

In order to ensure that the project continues to work efficiently, a water and sanitation consultant is required as soon as possible to visit the area of implementation of the project to advise the Federation/IRCS regarding alternative long-term solutions to the population's water and sanitation needs.

Coordination

The government is sponsoring a variety of income generation projects for refugees including relief work programmes to construct and improve irrigation channels.

The "800-village" project in Sistan & Baluchestan is intended to link 800 rural villages to a network which will give them access to a piped water network and electricity and by telephone lines.

The delegation is also working in contact with the UNHCR offices in Tehran and in Zahedan.

Proposed Operation

Objectives and activities planned to reach the objectives

• Health and care
• Water and Sanitation

Health and care

Objective 1: Establish a community based preventive health and hygiene promotion programme to improve the living conditions of the population of Afghan refugees in the settlements.

Under the preventive health care and hygiene promotion programme, the beneficiaries will be educated in hygiene and health related matters. Brochures and posters will be distributed amongst the population, as well as coverage by the media.

There will be home visits planned to distribute hygienic and health items to the families. This will be carried out with the coordination and cooperation of the IRCS's Sistan and Baluchestan Province Branch office and local health departments (which are under the auspices of the Ministry of Health.)

Water and sanitation

The number of families being supported in full or partially by the water and sanitation project is approximately some 16,000 of which 12,500 families are in Zahedan and 3500 in Zabol. Most of the project beneficiaries are Afghan refugees who have been identified by the IRCS as the most vulnerable community as they have extremely limited possibilities to generate any income for themselves or their families.

In order to create and increase work opportunities for the refugees, priority was given to them in the selection of staff for the water and sanitation project. At least 40 of the local Afghan refugee staff were recruited from this under privileged group.

Regular assessments and surveys have been carried out since the start of the programme in August 2000, primarily by international observers from the donor countries and the Federation. Since January 2001, an international monitor from the Federation has been based in the area, assessing the implementation of the programme.

With the goal of finding long-lasting solutions for the population, and an exit strategy for the water and sanitation project, the Federation will carry out a water and sanitation assessment in which the possibility of drilling bore hole wells will be assessed also in other provinces affected by the drought. The IRCS and the Federation will implement any additional wat/san activities deemed necessary following the assessment within the framework of this appeal.

Objective 1: Distribute fresh water to the affected population in Zahedan and Zabol, populated mainly by Afghan refugees living in non- camp settlements.

The IRCS entered into agreements with well owners, and set up a logistical base in order to distribute fresh water to the most vulnerable refugees in the identified areas.

Water is purchased from the contracted wells and distributed on a daily basis to 32 distribution points where stationary tanks are installed. At these distribution points, the mobile tankers empty the water in the stationary tanks, at which people can fill their jerry cans and containers from. The average amount of water distributed per day is roughly about 500,000 liters both in Zahedan and in Zabol. There are also mobile distribution points where the people may get water directly from tractor-trailers equipped with water tanks.

Objective 2: Clean up solid waste in non-camp settlements, especially settlements close to the existing water distribution points.

As mentioned earlier, some of the refugee community members are hired as staff to gather solid waste mostly in their areas of residence and especially close to water distribution points. These workers are equipped with safety gear and tools, as well as garbage collection trailers.

With the cooperation of the IRCS local branch office and the Municipality of the areas involved, special dumping areas away from the habitable places were selected for dumping of garbage by the workers.

Capacity of the National Society

Throughout the duration of the programme, local IRCS branches in Zahedan and Zabol have increased their capacity by hiring and training over one hundred employees. Several of the project's field workers and local coordinators have developed new skills and taken on a greater number of responsibilities.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The IRCS will continue to manage and report on the entire programme, assisted by the Federation's delegate who will monitor the operation on a regular base. Regular reporting will be the responsibility of the IRCS following Federation reporting standards, or if needed, special reporting if the donors so require. All financial matters (presentation of documents, expenditures), will be handled by the IRCS and presented to the Federation's delegation.

Changes in climate conditions, as well as consequences of the repatriation programme will be assessed in 6 and 12 months, in order to plan for revision, extension or termination of the operation.

Capacity of the Federation

The Federation established a delegation in Tehran, Iran in February 2002. The delegation is comprised of a Head of Delegation (HoD), finance/admin. delegate, relief delegate, and a logistics delegate.

The Federation relief delegate is responsible for monitoring the projects on behalf of the Federation. The finance/administration delegate is responsible for monitoring financial aspects of the project, both in Tehran and in Sistan and Baluchestan Province. A drought field officer (national staff) will work on site to monitor project activities on a daily basis, and reports regularly to the Federation's relief delegate.

Budget summary

See Annex 1 for details.

For further details please contact: Cynthia Petrigh, Federation Desk Officer, Phone: 41 22 730 4312; Fax: 4122 733 0395; email: petrigh@ifrc.org.

All International Federation Assistance Operations seek to adhere to the Code of Conduct and are committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (SPHERE Project) in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable.

In line with the Minimum Reporting Standards, the first operations update on this appeal will be issued within 30-days of the launch and the second will be issued over the course of the operation; a final narrative and financial report will be issued no later than 90 days after the end of the operation.

This operation seeks to administer to the immediate requirements of the victims of this disaster. Subsequent operations to promote sustainable development or longer-term capacity building will require additional support and these programmes are outlined on the Federation website.

For support to or for further information concerning Federation operations in this or other countries, please access the Federation website at http://www.ifrc.org

Jean Ayoub
Director
Disaster Management and Coordination

Didier J. Cherpitel
Secretary General