Caribbean: Appeal No. MAA49001 report Dec 2006

Caribbean: Appeal No. MAA49001

This report covers the period of 01/01/06 to 31/12/06 of a two-year planning and appeal process.

In a world of global challenges, continued poverty, inequity, and increasing vulnerability to disasters and disease, the International Federation with its global network, works to accomplish its Global Agenda, partnering with local community and civil society to prevent and alleviate human suffering from disasters, diseases and public health emergencies.

In brief

Programme Summary:

Following the decisions at the General Assembly in November 2005, the Federation's Port of Spain Sub Regional Office has worked closely with the Caribbean National Societies to identify ways to respond to the Global Agenda and scale up the impact of Red Cross work in the region.

The 2006 hurricane season was fortunately relatively calmer than experienced in previous years. The major disaster response, supported through the Pan American Disaster Response Unit (PADRU), was that to the Suriname floods in May through an international Emergency Appeal. Disaster Response Emergency Funds (DREF) were released in response to floods in Guyana and Jamaica. The Disaster Risk Reduction programme continued to support the promotion of the Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (VCA) tool through funding from DiPECHO, supporting community risk reduction in five countries.

The Regional Health Programme saw the expansion of the promotion and use of common methodologies in HIV and AIDS, a Psychosocial Support programme and the start of preparing National Societies for their role in responding to Avian Influenza / Pandemic Influenza as well as an increased focus on monitoring and evaluation of the different programme components.

A key achievement of the Organizational Development programme during 2006 was the production and dissemination of the Volunteer Management Toolkit, developed by and for the Caribbean National Societies. The Humanitarian Principles and Values programme focused on building its information and communications capacities, working closely to incorporate HPV into each core programme area, particularly HIV and AIDS and Disaster Management. Efforts were focused on the promotion of communications tools such as the Caribbean website and the newsletter Caribbean News. Unfortunately, both the OD and HPV programmes - vital to build the capacities of the NS in the subregion - were unable to achieve all their objectives due to a lack of donor funding.

Goal: National Societies in the Caribbean sub-region are implementing efficient, responsive and focused programmes that contribute to improving the lives of vulnerable people. These programmes are aligned with the International Federation's Global Agenda, which sets out four broad goals to meet the Federation's mission to "improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity".

Needs: 2006 and 2007 Appeal target: CHF 5,633,169 (USD 4,613,759 or EUR 3,523,043); (of which 46% is covered); 2006 Appeal target revised to CHF 3,526,778 (USD 2,887,047 or EUR 2,206,787) of which 73% is covered).

No. of people we help: The Port of Spain Sub Regional Office - in conjunction with the Panama Regional Delegation and (PADRU) - focuses on building the capacities of the 13 National Societies (NS) in the region as well as providing support to the Overseas Branches (OSB) of the British and Netherlands Red Cross in the core programme areas. These NS and OSB are the key beneficiaries of the Federation's support. However, these figures provide an indication of the scope of some of the Federation's programmes during 2006.

Our Partners: Alongside the key Red Cross partners working in the region, such as the British, French and Netherlands Red Cross, the Federation continued to build strong partnerships with intergovernmental agencies in the region. This was exemplified by the signing of memoranda of understanding with the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), CDERA (Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency), and the Caribbean Development Bank. Relationships with the regional media continued to be developed through the Caribbean Journalist Network.

Current context

The Caribbean, a region composed principally of small island states, faces unique social, economic, and environmental challenges. Socially, the region is affected by a proliferation of urban slums, a "brain drain" with the migration of educated people and the persistence of areas of entrenched poverty. A disturbing development has been the significant increase in the number of people living with HIV and AIDS, with the sub-region having the second highest sero-positive prevalence rate after sub Saharan Africa. The Caribbean has also seen an upsurge in negative social phenomena such as drug-use, crime and domestic violence.

Economically the region struggles with limited resource bases and stagnant economies. Communications and transportation constraints and economies heavily reliant on fragile sectors such as tourism and the production of primary products, leave the countries open to the adverse effects of global economic trends, already seen with a decrease in demand for traditional agricultural exports.

Environmentally, the region remains vulnerable to a range of natural disasters including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and flooding from hurricanes and tropical storms, while climate change poses a serious threat to a region already vulnerable to meteorological extremes.

Fortunately, 2006 presented a relatively calm hurricane season which provided the Port of Spain Sub- Regional Office with the opportunity to take important steps in the implementation of the regional programmes, together with revision of Plans of Action for 2007 in preparation for the 18th Inter- American Conference in mid 2007.

For further information please contact:
In Trinidad and Tobago: Tanya Wood, Coordinator, Port of Spain Sub-Regional Office;
email:Tanya.Wood@ifrc.org; Telephone: +1 868 627 2665; Fax: + 1 868 627 9627

In Geneva: Regional Department, Luis Luna, Federation Regional Officer, Americas Department;
email: Luis.Luna@ifrc.org; Telephone + 41 22 730 4274; Fax + 41 22 733 0395

To support or find out more about the Federation's programmes or operations, click on http://www.ifrc.org