Ecuador Earthquake - Three Month Report, 28 July 2016

KEY MESSAGES

1. Humanitarian and recovery assistance should be provided based on evidenced needs in the affected provinces in rural and urban areas; as well as in and out of government managed camps.

2. Efforts must be increased to meet the needs of rural communities and vulnerable populations whose needs have been exacerbated by the earthquake.

3. An official strategy is needed to respond to the basic needs of people in spontaneous sites while simultaneously sustaining with the assistance inside government-managed camps.

4. Livelihoods reactivation is urgent and essential to empower the affected population and strengthen their resilience.

5. Affected persons require complete information and two-way communication concerning government programs and the options available to take control of their lives and return to normalcy.

6. Ongoing aftershocks result in additional structural damages and psychological trauma, and entails a continuous reassessment of the response and recovery strategy.

7. Reconstruction programs must include the principles of safe construction and risk reduction.

8. Coordination between response and recovery actors - national and international - is crucial for an effective intervention. Moreover, protocols are needed clarifying authorities, coordination channels and communication.

SITUATION ANALYSIS

Three months after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake affected the northern coast of Ecuador, the Ecuadorian Government with support of the international community and the Ecuadorian population has responded in a timely manner to address the most urgent needs of the affected population. However, there is still much which remains to be done to return to normalcy and find lasting solutions to the humanitarian needs, as well as recovery and reconstruction. Humanitarian assistance remains necessary to meet the needs in rural areas and spontaneous sites and to maintain the minimum conditions achieved in urban areas and governmentrun camps.

Since the earthquake, there have been more than 2,256 aftershocks up to July 21, of which 40 have been greater than 5 on the Richter scale. These have required: 1) constant situation assessments, 2) protocol and emergency route updates, and 3) redefinition of strategies to face challenges concerning: infrastructure, psychosocial support and an increase in the demand of temporary shelter. The first State of Exception was declared for 90 days, and following the aftershock on 10 July, the President declared a subsequent 60-day State of Exception for Manabí and Esmeraldas provinces until 19 September.

The government has recognized more than 230,000 persons as “affected”. In order to organize the distribution of aid provided by the government, the Sole Registry of Affected Population was created (RUD for its initials in Spanish). Once the person is registered they may access the benefits of government programs. According to the government the definition, an “affected person” is “someone who has suffered the loss of a family member who contributed to the family’s livelihoods, or those whose house was partially or totally damaged by the earthquake”. It is important to mention that more than a million people were directly or indirectly affected by the earthquake.
The registry process for the RUD concluded on 30 June; however, exceptional cases are still being accepted. Nevertheless, there are concerns of under-registration in rural areas. As of 8 July, 68,000 families were registered and verified in the system, and around 15,000 families were in process of validation.

According to the Ministry of Security Coordination (MICS), three months after the earthquake, some 8,700 displaced persons live in 26 government-run camps three months after the earthquake. There is no official information concerning the expected duration of the camps. However, it is estimated that some camps will be needed for 6 months or more.
Humanitarian partners have shared concerns in the Camp Management Committee meetings regarding protection issues, activities for children and adolescents, availability of segregated latrines to reduce risks of violence, the lack of provision of specialized food for infants and nursing mothers among others. It is critical to maintain and improve the services in camps and at the same time to ensure the proper management and maintenance, and promote community engagement in the decision making processes.

According to the third round of the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) at the end of June, more than 11,000 displaced persons continue to live in spontaneous sites without access to basic services. These persons are living in more than a 120 spontaneous sites of five displaced families or more.
Approximately, 55 percent of spontaneous sites are in rural areas and the remaining 45 percent in an urban context. In 66 percent of the spontaneous sites, families have to share a shelter which increases the risk of violence.