The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) is a source of un-earmarked money created by the Federation in 1985 to ensure that immediate financial support is available for Red Cross and Red Crescent emergency response. The DREF is a vital part of the International Federation’s disaster response system and increases the ability of National Societies to respond to disasters.
CHF 188,083 has been allocated from the IFRC’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the Congolese Red Cross National Society in delivering immediate assistance to some 750,000 beneficiaries. Un-earmarked funds to repay DREF are encouraged.
Summary: Cases of cholera have been registered in the Republic of Congo (RoC) since the beginning of July 2011, with the Mossaka and Loukolela districts identified as foci of the outbreak. These two localities border neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which is currently facing a serious cholera outbreak. Since the beginning of the epidemic, about 708 cases of cholera have been reported in RoC.
So far, the epidemic has already spread to the Brazzaville, Likouala, Sangha, Cuvette, plateaux, and Pool divisions. It should be noted that RoC experienced chikungunya and measles outbreaks in 2011. Moreover, the country is just recovering from a serious polio outbreak that affected close to 700 people and killed more than 200. The Congolese Red Cross and IFRC’s Central Africa Regional Representation (CARREP) believe that there is an urgent need to launch an operation to respond to cholera in order to avoid an uncontrollable humanitarian situation in RoC. This DREF operation has therefore been requested to enable the Congolese Red Cross to carry out activities in the sector of emergency health in order to contribute to stopping the spread of cholera in affected localities of RoC.
This operation is expected to be implemented over 3 months, and will therefore be completed by 24 January, 2012; a Final Report will be made available three months after the end of the operation (by 24 April, 2012)