This report covers the period from 1 January 2010 to 30 June 2010
In brief
Programmes summary:
The IFRC's East Asia regional office serves to support and build capacities within the national societies of the East Asia region. The region includes China, Mongolia, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, and Japan. The IFRC has programmes that support the national societies in China, Mongolia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). A focus of the East Asia regional office during the first half of 2010 has been in supporting disaster relief efforts of the region's national societies. China experienced a string of major disasters in the first half of the year, including a 7.1 magnitude deadly earthquake in Yushu, Qinghai in April, which killed 2,698 people. The Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) quickly responded to the disaster by sending relief items, search and rescue teams, medical teams, ambulances and one emergency response team (ERT) and one sanitation ERT, which were used during the Sichuan earthquake operation in 2008. RCSC also responded quickly to other disasters in the country, including snowstorms, drought, sandstorms and floods. In this reporting period, Mongolian Red Cross Society (MRCS) prioritized its efforts to meet the needs of the thousands of herders who have suffered from harsh winter conditions. A total of CHF 100,000 was allocated from the IFRC disaster relief emergency funds (DREF) to assist MRCS in delivering relief supplies to 1,500 families. After further assessments, an emergency appeal was launched in March for an additional CHF 1,062,295, relief distribution of food and basic non-food items, health education and psychological support to 1,800 families and livelihood support for 1,600 families, communication, logistic support and capacity building for the national society were covered in the emergency appeal.
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent pavilion in the Shanghai Expo site has been visited by over 100,000 visitors. More than 160 Red Cross staff and volunteers work at five stations on the Expo site to offer first aid to visitors. Seizing the opportunity of the spot light on this big event, the RCSC and its partners have packed some special-event activities into the pavilion site.The regional office continues to support national societies in strengthening their capacity in building up the resilience of hazard-prone communities in their respective countries. In China, the office supported the National Society's community-based disaster risk reduction programme in the process of assessment and planning. In Mongolia, assistance was provided to the Mongolian Red Cross Society (MRCS) on its community-based disaster preparedness project proposal and plan of the activities funded by the Norwegian Red Cross and Finnish Red Cross. In the DPRK, the regional office continues to support the DPRK Red Cross on the contingency planning. The regional health programme successfully organized the second annual regional health team meeting in March. A total of 36 participants attended the meeting, including representatives from four regional national societies, WHO China, Global Road Safety Programme (GRSP), British Red Cross and the IFRC health, water and sanitation as well as disaster management delegates and officers from the region, Asia Pacific zone and global health and care department. The regional office supported two regional national societies, Mongolia and China in developing proposals on TB prevention and control for the first time. In addition, the regional health unit continued to provide extensive technical support to the DPRK Red Cross and MRCS on a master facilitator community-based health and first aid (CBHFA) workshop in Mongolia and a pre-planning workshop on CBHFA in the DPRK. Financial situation: The total 2010 budget is CHF 764,599 (USD 718,390 or EUR 573,158), and is 103 percent covered. Expenditure over income received from January to May 2010 is 30 per cent
Click here to go directly to the attached financial report.1
No. of people we help: During this reporting period, the headquarters and branches of the Mongolian, Chinese and DPRK Red Cross Societies directly benefited through support of the IFRC's initiatives. Indirect beneficiaries include branch staff, volunteers and communities that gain further knowledge and better services through the workshops and trainings held at the regional level. Furthermore, through support from the regional office, the national societies were better able to reduce risks in the communities they serve both from disaster and public health concerns.
Our partners: The IFRC's East Asia regional office works closely with the national societies in the region, their governments, and local communities. Other partners include the American Red Cross, Australian Red Cross/Australian government, British Red Cross/British government, Canadian Red Cross/Canadian government, Danish Red Cross/Danish government, Finnish Red Cross/Finnish government, German Red Cross/German government, Japanese Red Cross, Netherlands Red Cross/Netherlands government, Norwegian Red Cross/Norwegian government, Spanish and Swedish Red Cross/Swedish government .The United Kingdom Department of International Development (DFID) is also a supporter in the region. Close coordination with other Movement partners, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Asian Red Cross Red Crescent Network on HIV (ART) is a key element of our work. Maintaining and building relations within the United Nations system continues to be important, especially with partners such as World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), UNFPA and other international and non-government organizations. Furthermore, the regional office works with international media agencies and other partners to promote the work of the Red Cross national societies in the region. The national societies in the region have many Red Cross partners engaged in both bilateral and multilateral projects. The IFRC supports the national societies in their coordination with partner national societies, specifically the CAS established in the DPRK and the Global
Alliance on HIV in both Mongolia and China.
The IFRC, on behalf of the national societies in the East Asia region, would like to thank the above mentioned partners for their generous support.