This report covers the period 01/01/08 to 31/12/08
In brief
Programme purpose: Support the ten National Societies in the South American Region to effectively operationalize the Inter American Plan 2007 - 2011.
Programme summary:
2008 was a transition year for the Federation Secretariat in South America. After the establishment of the Zone office, the Regional Representation for South America reduced its personnel to 16, revised budgets and plans in line with adjusted capacities and support, and implemented the decision to create a second Regional Representation for the Southern Cone with the aim to be closer to the National Societies. The new office, staffed by two delegates, opened on 1 September as planned. The Regional Representative in Lima has since been focusing support to the Andean countries and coordinating programme support from Lima for all ten National Societies in South America.
During 2008, as part of the New Operating Model, the Lima Regional Representation has based its planning for 2009-2010 on a consultation process with all ten National Societies. Although the consultation tool showed some flaws, the process was important to integrate needs-based planning with strategic plans, the recommendations/priorities of the technical areas and networks of the National Societies and the recommendations from the Study of the Americas carried out in 2007 by the Complutense Institute for International Studies (Instituto Complutense de Estudios Internacionales - ICEI), together with Latin American School of Social Sciences (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales - FLACSO) and the University of West Indies. In addition, both Regional Representations made the decision to pilot a Federation Secretariat support 'country plan' in three countries: Argentina, Colombia and Ecuador. These plans were developed by the National Society and Federation regional staff in joint meetings at the end of the year and will be finalized at the beginning of 2009. These plans allow for more targeted support to the identified and agreed-upon priorities of these National Societies. The process will be gradually extended to all ten National Societies in South America.
Programme areas successfully implemented the 2008 plan with progress made in the following areas: the disaster risk reduction programme contributed to strengthened institutional and community capacities to face vulnerabilities; the health and care programme ensured increased support to National Society capacities in HIV and AIDS and community health; the organizational development support to National Societies has been strengthened through the new zone model and working mechanism; and the humanitarian principles and values programme promoted nondiscrimination, non violence and respect for diversity as well as gender equity. Programmes have continued to work in an integrated way, to ensure complementarity between initiatives, and the optimization of resources with a strong focus on capacity-building.
The consolidation of partnerships with key Red Cross partners and external actors during 2008 has further strengthened the implementation of strategic lines of work, ensuring improved support to National Societies and increased positioning in key areas.
Financial situation: The revised budget for 2008 is CHF 3,290,719 (USD 3,122,124 or EUR 2,208,669), of which 91 per cent was covered by the end of 2008.
For more information on the progress and current figures of the Peru Earthquake Emergency Appeal, click here: http://www.ifrc.org/docs/appeals/07/MDRPE00308.pdf
No. of people we help: Both Regional Representations focus on building the capacities of National Societies in South America. The direct beneficiaries of the Regional Representations' programmes are National Societies' volunteers, staff, and governance bodies. The Regional Representations' indirect beneficiaries are the communities with which our National Societies work.
For more information on the figures of beneficiaries of the Peru Earthquake Emergency Appeal, click here: http://www.ifrc.org/docs/appeals/07/MDRPE00308.pdf
Our partners: Movement coordination has continued with the four regional delegations of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Partner National Societies (PNS) that cooperate, bilaterally or multilaterally, with the ten National Societies of our region, such as the American Red Cross, the Belgian Red Cross, the Finnish Red Cross, the French Red Cross, the German Red Cross, the Italian Red Cross, the Netherlands Red Cross, the Spanish Red Cross, the Swedish Red Cross and the Swiss Red Cross.
The Regional Representations have been working closely in partnership with the following actors: the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), UNAIDS, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), FLACSO, the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development (Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo-AECID), Andean Committee for Disaster Prevention and Response (Comité Andino para la prevención y atención ante desastres - CAPRADE), the ProVention Consortium, the Organization of American States (OAS), the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), MERCOSUR, Oxfam and the Save the Children Foundation. During the Peru earthquake operation, partnerships with other actors have also been developed, see below for details.