Glide Nos. FL-2007-000158-TGO; FL-2007-000132-BFA; FL-2007-000153-GHA
Appeal history:
- This Emergency Appeal was initially launched on a preliminary basis on 17 September, 2007 for CHF 1,469,434 (USD 1.2 million or EUR 892,617) for 6 months to assist 60,000 beneficiaries in Ghana.
- CHF 100,000 was allocated from the Federation's Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the initial delivery of relief and assistance.
- Given the regional scope of the disaster, and in coordination with the National Societies in the affected countries, the Federation's approach to this operation was based on a regional strategy, with separate country-specific updates on each country. This appeal was therefore revised on 18 September 2007 to include Togo, with a revised budget of CHF 2,501,246 (USD 2.1 million or EUR 1.5 million) to assist a total of some 82,000 beneficiaries for 6 months.
- The appeal was revised a second time on 2 October 2007 to specifically include activities in Burkina Faso for the delivery of assistance to a total of some 94,825 beneficiaries over 6 months, with a revised budget of CHF 2,934,182 (USD 2.5m or EUR 1.7m).
- With Operations Update no. 1 (issued 10 October 2007), the appeal budget was revised to CHF 3.9 million (USD 3.2m or EUR 2.3m).
- This appeal was initially planned to end on 30 April 2008. While most of the planned activities were concluded, in view of the generous donor support and a limited number of on-going activities related to planned training/workshops and the shelter construction phase of the operation, the appeal was extended for 1 month (ending on 30 May, 2008). The budget was also revised to reflect the slightly adjusted activities, to CHF 4,408,754.
- An interim final report, one month appeal extension, was published on 28 May, 2008, which included the revised budget.
- In addition to the 3 separate Emergency Appeal documents, a total of 6 Operations Updates (countryfocused) were issued. This Final Report provides a synthesis of the activities implemented, and a Final Financial Report.
- Final appeal coverage: 95%
Summary: This appeal received timely and generous donor support. Despite operational challenges encountered in each country, this flood response clearly reached the intended objectives, and had a positive impact on the intended beneficiaries.
In Burkina Faso, the Burkinabé Red Cross Society (BRCS), with the support of the International Federation, completed the emergency phase and the planned Red Cross relief activities were carried out with partners. Training of Red Cross volunteers was conducted related to health and hygiene education sensitization.
In Ghana, the Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS) responded to the needs of the affected communities, with Red Cross staff and volunteers providing first aid, health and hygiene education, assessments, distribution of emergency relief and shelter items, and monitoring. As a result, the GRCS, supported by the Federation, distributed food items and non-food items in 53 villages and reached 5,171 households. GRCS staff and volunteers were also involved in the identification and selection of the 320 beneficiaries for construction of houses by the Ghana Red Cross (see photos), in collaboration with the rural housing department and the beneficiaries themselves.
Coordination, partnership, and capacity building efforts have proved to be a particularly successful aspect of this operation, with a core Federation team providing support to the National Societies of flood-affected countries in terms of implementing immediate relief operations, mid-term recovery and shelter activities, as well as in providing vital training to increase future response capacity. In Togo, the National Society, the Federation, and the French Red Cross developed an effective operational plan to complement activities in the affected regions. The French Red Cross carried out relief distributions and watsan training for volunteers in the northern Savanes Region, while the Federation supported the National Society in coordinating the distribution of non-food items (particularly in the southern Maritime region), as well as with multi-sectoral recovery phase activities.
In Ghana, the Federation's field operations team worked with GRCS operations staff members to ensure Red Cross participation in the various coordination meetings (NADMO, the Red Cross, UN agencies such as UNICEF, WHO, UNHCR, WFP, and other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) involved in the floods operations) at the UNDP office in Accra. The GRCS, with technical support from the Federation team in Tamale, collaborated with the rural housing department, community leaders as well as the beneficiaries themselves, in the reconstruction of houses in the Northern and Upper East regions. This included regular coordination and monitoring meetings between the Federation team, the GRCS officials and officials from the rural housing department. The training of trainers for community-based health education and promotion activities achieved the objective of preparing volunteers to be able to disseminate first aid and health education lessons-learned to their communities.
In the last week of March, 2008 four members of the GRCS Governing Board visited the sites of Daboya and Balungo to familiarize themselves with ongoing work, and assess the GRCS's performance in the operation. The GRCS worked closely with the communications team from the Federation's West and Central Africa Zone office in Dakar to ensure regular profiling of the Red Cross and sharing of information on progress. From 22-30 March 2008, a team of journalists invited from the Zonal Office in Dakar visited Daboya and Balungo to cover progress made. The Federation and the GRCS received an appreciation letter from the Upper East region authorities on assistance provided to the flood-affected population. The GRCS Secretary General was profiled by a media team in Geneva, and highlighted the progress, challenges, and constraints of the operation. The Minister of the Upper East Region also commended the impact of the Red Cross operations after meeting with Red Cross personnel in the field and visiting affected communities.