Period covered by this update: 19 February to 11 April 2011.
Summary: 40,810 Swiss francs were allocated from the IFRC’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) on 17 February 2011 to support the Peruvian Red Cross (PRC) and the Bolivian Red Cross (BRC) in delivering assistance to at least 3,000 families.
Since the start of the operation, the PRC has procured and distributed the necessary safety equipment to start the cleaning and fumigation campaign. In addition, the National Society has trained volunteers, teachers and health staff and initiated educational campaigns in the affected areas. Thus far, the PRC has surpassed the goal of reaching the 4,200 students in their schools and has reached 70 per cent of the target households under the first planned output.
In Bolivia, the situation is evolving. During April 2010, the Department of Santa Cruz has seen an increase in dengue cases while in many areas of the country, including the department of Beni, have been severely affected by floods. Therefore, the BRC is simultaneously working on the dengue prevention operation and on relief activities across the country. The BRC plans to complete all the programmed workshops on community health education and epidemic control by the end of April, finalizing the first stage of the educational campaign to reach 1,000 families. In addition, the fumigation equipment and mosquito nets will be distributed on the following days now that the waters that isolated the Municipality of Riberalta are receding.
This operation is expected to be implemented in three months, and completed by May 2011. In line with IFRC reporting standards, the Final Report (narrative and financial) is due 90 days after the end of the operation.
The Belgian government, the Canadian government and the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO), contributed to the DREF in replenishment of the allocation made for this operation. The major donors to the DREF are the Irish, Italian, Netherlands and Norwegian governments and ECHO. Details of all donors can be found on http://www.ifrc.org/what/disasters/responding/drs/tools/dref/donors.asp