Six-Month Consolidated Report
Period covered by this update: First six months, 16 May - 30 November 2008
Appeal target (current): CHF 167,102,368 (USD 137.7 million or EUR 110 million), <click here to view the attached revised emergency appeal budget
Appeal coverage: With contributions received to date, in cash and kind, and those in the pipeline, the appeal is currently approximately 51 per cent covered.
Appeal history:
- A revised emergency appeal was launched on 20 November 2008 for 167,102,368 (USD 137.7 million or EUR 110 million) to assist 200,000 families (up to 1,000,000 people) for 31 months.
- An emergency appeal was launched on 30 May 2008 for CHF 96.7 million (USD 92.7 million or EUR 59.5 million) in response to the huge humanitarian needs and in recognition of the unique position of the Red Cross Society of China supported by Red Cross Red Crescent partners to deliver high quality disaster response and recovery programmes.
- A preliminary emergency appeal of CHF 20.1 million (USD 19.3 million and EUR 12.4 million) was issued on 15 May 2008 to support the RCSC to assist around 100,000 people affected by the earthquake for 12 months.
- CHF 250,000 (USD 240,223 or EUR 155,160) was allocated from the International Federation's Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) on 12 May 2008, to support the RCSC to immediately start assessments of the affected areas and distribute relief items.
Summary: This is a six-month consolidated report of the progress and challenges against some of the objectives set out in the 20 November Revised Emergency and Recovery Appeal. The operation is expected to end in December 2010, therefore the timeframe of the revised emergency appeal which was launched on 20 November is amended from 31 months to 26 months. A final report is due in March 2011.
With the exception of the few remaining relief activities, the focus of the International Federation operations has since moved from the procurement, distribution and monitoring of relief items, meeting emergency shelter needs, and the provision of emergency water and sanitation services with accompanying base camp support through the deployment (and handing over) of four International Federation Emergency Response Units (ERUs) towards reconstruction, recovery and disaster risk reduction actions.
The situation and needs have changed significantly in the past six months since the earthquake struck, resulting in a revision of the appeal. The appeal reflects the RCSC and its partners continued efforts to focus on areas where needs have been identified based on technical assessments in relief, shelter, water and sanitation, psychosocial support and health services, disaster management and livelihoods.
The RCSC will address these needs through support of the International Federation and partners in the key areas of relief, recovery and reconstruction, community-based programming and organizational development. An integrated approach to programming and capacity building as well as the cross-cutting measures of disaster risk reduction will be at the core of all activities.
The plans of action were developed after technical assessments were conducted and are based on realistic expectations of the ability of the RCSC to scale-up the size and complexity of its programming. The processes and activities implemented under this appeal will include the provision of technical assistance to the RCSC and the joint implementation of pilot programmes that RCSC may then consider scaling up with the substantial resources raised in response to their national fundraising campaign. It is clear that the needs in the region are enormous. The only limit of the International Federation's support will be the funding received and the joint capacity of the RCSC and International Federation to implement the planned activities.
At the request of the RCSC leadership, the International Federation will continue to play a key role in the coordination of Red Cross Red Crescent Movement-supported activities. The East Asia regional office in Beijing supports the Chengdu operations support office and the RCSC headquarters with mainly strategic planning and communications with partners, and is further supported by the Asia Pacific zone office in Kuala Lumpur.
Many partner national societies have already made contributions to the appeal: American Red Cross, Australian Red Cross/Australian government, Belgian Red Cross/ Belgian government, British Red Cross, Bulgarian Red Cross, Canadian Red Cross/Canadian government, Cook Islands Red Cross, Croatian Red Cross, Czech Red Cross, Danish Red Cross/Danish government, Estonian Red Cross, Finnish Red Cross/Finnish government, German Red Cross, Icelandic Red Cross/ Icelandic government, Indian Red Cross, Irish Red Cross/ Irish government, Japanese Red Cross/Japanese government, Lithuanian Red Cross, Malaysian Red Crescent, Mauritius Red Crescent, Monaco Red Cross, Netherlands Red Cross/Netherlands government, New Zealand Red Cross/New Zealand government, Norwegian Red Cross, Qatar Red Crescent, Singapore Red Cross, Spanish Red Cross, Swedish Red Cross/ Swedish government, Sri Lanka Red Cross, Turkish Red Crescent and United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Society, as well as contributions from American, Greek, Italian, Luxembourg, Slovenian and South Africa governments, OPEC Fund for International Development, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and many corporate partners.
The Red Cross Society of China has also received many bi-lateral contributions of funding, including the following: Canadian Red Cross, Cambodian Red Cross, French Red Cross, German Red Cross, Japanese Red Cross, Republic of Korea Red Cross, Norwegian Red Cross, Pakistan Red Crescent, Singapore Red Cross, Spanish Red Cross, Swiss Red Cross, Thai Red Cross, Turkish Red Crescent and Viet Nam Red Cross. These contributions have been added to the various substantial resources raised domestically by the Red Cross Society of China in its national fundraising appeal.
The appeal totalling 167.1 million is 51 per cent covered, with cash and in-kind contributions totalling CHF 85.4 million received. Total expenditure from May until the end of November 2008 is CHF 50.1 million.
The International Federation, on behalf of the Red Cross Society of China, would like to thank all partners for their very quick and generous response to this appeal.