The Federation's mission is to improve
the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. It
is the world's largest humanitarian organization and its millions of volunteers
are active in over 183 countries. For more information: www.ifrc.org
In Brief
Appeal No. 05AA061; Programme Update no. 3, Period covered: September to December 2005; Appeal coverage: 77.1%; Outstanding needs: CHF 239,948 (USD 182,692 or EUR 154,196).
Appeal target: CHF 1,047,807 (USD 797,782 or EUR 673,346); The appeal budget has been revised from CHF 1,390,588; The revision is mainly because of the removal of infrastructure budgets that are now funded by programme support recovery (PSR) and do not require voluntary donor support. Click here to go directly to the attached revised appeal budget.
Related Emergency or Annual Appeals:
China Floods Appeal 05EA017,
China Annual Appeal 05AA058,
DPRK Annual Appeal 05AA059,
Mongolia Annual Appeal 05AA060
Programme Summary:
The main focus in East Asia during this period has been on the implementation of the country-level activities reported on in the separate country programme updates, notably the relief operations in China and Mongolia, as well as the DPRK government's decision to require humanitarian organizations working in the country to cease their activities. Reasonable progress, however, has been made in achieving the objectives set for the year in this annual regional appeal, particularly in the area of cooperation, coordination and strategic partnerships. In general, adequate support has been made available by donors to this appeal, although the absence of key staff in the delegation for parts of the year has been the main reason for the shortfall in the budget and the slower than anticipated implementation of planned activities.
Operational developments
Recent further economic growth and econom ic recovery witnessed in Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and China have contributed towards East Asia's expanding role and influence in the global economy. Nonetheless, East Asia is the source of starker statistics. Although it now ranks as the world's sixth largest economy, China, home to 1.3 billion people, remains the world's largest developing country with an economic output per capita lower than that of over 100 countries. According to a December report given by China's top statistician, the country's population living in poverty outnumbers the total population of most countries in the world. By the end of 2004, roughly 100 million rural farmers and more than 20 million urban residents, nearly one tenth of the country's total population, required financial support from the government. At the same time, large percentages of the populations in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Mongolia are coping with economic hardship that, among other factors, has been triggered by natural disasters and unemployment.
On the political front, relations in the region with the US have been strained at times. In November, visits from high-level officials from the US included stops in Japan, the Republic of Korea, China and Mongolia in an effort to decrease tensions . At the same time, both China and the DPRK granted greater access to journalists over the reporting period, allowing US-based news agency CNN to file a series of reports from the DPRK, while China's government recently announced it would allow journalists from the New York Times access to its courtrooms.
All of the countries in East Asia are highly disaster prone and subject to earthquakes, floods and typhoons. In 2005, earthquakes struck China and Japan while DPRK, ROK and China were subject to severe floods and landslides. Mongolia and China both battled debilitating droughts, while Mongolia, DPRK and China coped with severe frosts and heavy snowfalls.
The main highlight for the Red Cross and Red Crescent world during this period was the holding of the General Assembly of the International Federation and the Council of Delegates in Seoul, South Korea from 11 to 18 November. This brought together 165 of the Federation's 181 member national societies, with a further two, Timor Leste and Comoros, being admitted during the assembly. The Republic of Korea National Red Cross (KNRC) managed the organization of this event very efficiently and participants were able to get a sense, not only of Korean culture and hospitality, but also of the range of activities and stature of the national society within the public life of South Korea. Societies from East Asia featured prominently in the elections held for the various positions on the Federation's governing bodies, with the president of the Japanese Red Cross elected as the vice-president for the Asia Pacific region and both the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) and KNRC gaining seats on the governing board.
For further information specifically related to this operation please contact:
Federation East Asia regional delegation in China: Mr. Alistair Henley (head of regional delegation); alistair.henley@ifrc.org ; phone: +86.10.65327162, fax: +86.10.65327166.
Federation Secretariat in Geneva: Ms. Ewa Eriksson (regional officer, Asia Pacific department); email: ewa.eriksson@ifrc.org; phone: +41227304252; fax: +41.22.7330395
This Programme Update reflects activities to be implemented over a one-year period. This forms part of, and is based on, longer-term, multi-year planning (refer below to access the detailed log frame documents). All International Federation assistance seeks to adhere to the Code of Conduct and is committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable. For support to or for further information concerning Federation programmes or operations in this or other countries, or for a full description of the national society profile, please access the Federation's website at http://www.ifrc.org
(pdf* format - 291 KB)