Democratic Republic of the Congo - River Floods OCHA Situation Report No. 2

Ref:GVA/OCHA/99/0246
Democratic Republic of the Congo

• River Floods
  OCHA Situation Report No. 2
  6 December 1999

Situation

1. On 2 December the Humanitarian Coordinator convened a meeting of Heads of diplomatic missions, UN agencies and NGOs with three objectives:

- to arrive at a common evaluation of the flood situation,
- possibilities of the local donor community to respond and
- possibilities to mitigate the current crisis.

2. Taking into account the main aspects of the problem, that is: the flooding, the potential breakdown of water supply and epidemic risks, the meeting agreed on the following:

- the floods, which have displaced about 15,000 citizens, continues to be a major threat,
- its current dimension is considered to be manageable with existing human and financial resources,
- the situation requires continuous vigilance by all actors concerned, at least until mid-January 2000 ( including resource mobilisation as well as coordination).

Coordination

3. The international partners have proposed a coordination plan comprising the establishment of four sectoral coordinators, namely;

- WFP: food

- Red Cross movement - medical/sanitation at the regroupement site

- WHO - anti-epidemic prevention

- UNDP/OCHA - contingency planning for worse-case scenarios

All sectoral coordinators will work with a government counterpart.

Response Activities

4. The Red Cross is intervening in several areas: strengthening its health centres, provision of water to the planned cholera section of the General Hospital and epidemiological surveillance, including sensitisation campaigns, disinfection and the construction of latrines.

5. A number of NGOs have distributed food in the established centres for displaced people.

Planning/Prevention Measures:

6. All participants at the coordination meeting agreed on the need for a thorough risk analysis in the areas of water provision (OCHA sitrep No. 1, para 2), contamination of sub- terrain water and epidemic/food shortages. Technical evaluations by national authorities on both Inga and Ndjili stations are underway. Their results will be discussed with the members of the Crisis Committee in order to determine necessary measures in collaboration with assistance from international partners.

International Response

WFP - 4-ton supplementary food rations for 967 families

UNHCR - non-food items such as plastic sheeting, blankets, tents

Belgium - 36 tons of food (2 tons distributed by Belgian NGO - MEMISA).

7. OCHA is prepared to serve as a channel for cash contributions for the immediate relief needs. Funds channelled through OCHA will be spent in coordination with the relevant organizations of the UN system and OCHA will provide written confirmation of their use. Funds should be transferred to OCHA Account No. CO-590.160.1 SWIFT-code SBC0CHGG12A - at the UBS AG, PO Box 2770, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland, with reference: OCHA - Democratic Republic of Congo - Floods 1999.

8. For coordination purposes, donors are requested to inform OCHA Geneva, as indicated below, of relief missions, pledges or contributions and their corresponding values by item.

9. This Situation Report and further information on ongoing emergencies are also available on the OCHA Internet Website at: http://www.reliefweb.int

Telephone number: + 41-22-917-12 34
In case of emergency only: + 41-22- 917 20 10

Desk Officers: Mr. Klaus Wiersing, Head, Africa Desk
Ms. Yasuko Sawada, Associate Humanitarian Affairs Officer
Disaster Response Branch, direct Tel:+41 22 917 2270/+4122 917 1768

Contact person for the media: Ms. Elena Ponomareva, direct tel:+41-22-917 23 36

Telex 4142 42 OCHA CH
Fax: + 41-22 917 00 23
E-mail: Ochagva@un.org