Period covered by this Operations Update: 11 March to 26 March 2009.
Appeal target (current): CHF 1,110,665 (USD 957,924 or EUR 757,518)
Appeal coverage: 28%;
Appeal history:
This Emergency Appeal was initially launched on a preliminary basis on 11 March 2009 for CHF 1,110,665 (USD 957,924 or EUR 757,518) for six months to assist 25,000 beneficiaries.
Disaster Relief Emergency Fund DREF): CHF 177,000 (USD 152,369 or EUR 118,932) was initially allocated from the Federation's DREF on 26 February 2009, to support the Colombian Red Cross Society in delivering immediate assistance to 1,000 families.
Summary: The department of Nariño has been affected by two natural hazards this year: volcanic activity and floods due to heavy rain. On 16 February 2009, the Mira River overflowed, severely affecting the residents in the south-west of the Nariño department in Colombia. Based on the urgency of the situation, a preliminary emergency appeal was launched on 11 March in response to a request from the Colombian Red Cross Society (CRCS). The plan of action focuses on providing appropriate and timely assistance to the affected families that includes relief, shelter, water and sanitation and health support. The DREF support has enabled the National Society to kick-start the relief activities, but longer-term funding support is needed to sustain the relief operation. This operations update n=B0 1 shows the activities accomplished by the Colombian Red Cross Society, and the mobilization of non-food items by the Federation's Regional Logistics Unit (RLU) from Panama to Colombia.
The Colombian Red Cross Society and the International Federation would like to thank the Participating National Societies (PNS) which have responded to this appeal with cash and in-kind donations. To date, the Canadian Red Cross, Japanese Red Cross Society, Norwegian Red Cross, Swedish Red Cross and the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent have contributed cash donations to this appeal. In addition, the Canadian Red Cross, British Red Cross and the American Red Cross have supplied in-kind donations that include non-food items. Currently, there are other Partner National Societies interested in contributing to this appeal and their contribution will be confirmed in the next operations update. Nevertheless, in order to accomplish early recovery actions, crucial for the reestablishment of livelihoods of those those affected by the floods as well as capacity-building activities, additional funds are required.
This operation is expected to be implemented over six months, and will therefore be completed by end September 2009; a Final Report will be made available by the end of December 2009, three months after the end of the operation.