Appeal Target: US$ 7,309,587
Balance Requested: US$ 5,380,290
Geneva, 23rd December 2008
Dear Colleagues,
Please find attached the full AFDC81 Appeal which replaces the Preliminary Appeal previously issued on November 14, 2008, and which provides a more detailed and targeted relief and early recovery programme based on the latest needs assessments of the appeal requesting ACT Members and their implementing partners.
As many aid groups work to assist those in displaced person camps, ACT members are working through church and local networks to identify needs and prioritize assistance for the largely 'invisible' displaced families and the increasingly vulnerable communities who are hosting them. Initial plans for assistance include support for an estimated 27,000 people, as well as water and sanitation support for significantly more families.
While official figures of newly displaced people in crowded camps around Goma are still being determined, another reality of displacement remains in the shadows: the thousands of families who have opened their modest homes to fleeing strangers. Although these displaced persons do not appear to be immediately at risk of malnutrition and disease like those jammed into camps, they are weighing on the meagre resources of their hospitable host families -- and feeling undignified for having to do so.
In addition to poor shelter conditions for some families, the vulnerability of host communities is also increasing. With the arrival of those who fled, the need for firewood can double or triple for long periods of time and the surrounding environment is beginning to suffer from deforestation.
This full appeal has an increased target from US$ 1,888,215 (Preliminary Appeal) to US$ 7,309,587 and the overall implementation period for the appeal cover 1st November 2008 through to November 2009 for relief and recovery assistance to the affected people.
The following ACT members are participating in this full Appeal: Church of Christ in Congo (ECC - South Kivu and North Kivu)), Ecumenical Office for Support to Development (BOAD), Evangelical Lutheran Church of Congo (EELCO), Lutheran World Federation (LWF), and Norwegian Church Aid (NCA).