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EARLY ACTION PROTOCOL ACTIVATION
Activation Overview
The Honduran Red Cross has activated its Early Action Protocol for Droughts associated with the "El Niño" phenomenon.
The Risk and Contingency Management Secretariat (COPECO by its Spanish acronym) declared a Green Alert on 15 May 2023 in 64 municipalities in the country due to the possible effects of meteorological drought associated with the "El Niño" phenomenon.
Later, on 5 June 2023 COPECO raised the Yellow Alert for drought to 85 municipalities and leaved the rest of the country on Green Alert indefinitely.
On 15 June, COPECO raised the Red Alert for drought to 145 municipalities, Yellow to 101 and Green to 57.
On 26 June 2023, activation was reached when the Centre for Atmospheric, Oceanographic and Seismic Studies (CENAOS by its Spanish acronym) shared internally their forecast, which referred to the June 8 NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) forecast that officially stated that: “El Niño conditions are present and are expected to gradually strengthen through the northern hemisphere winter 2023-24”. In addition, the updated forecast for the coming months, through March 2024, shows that there is a greater than 90% probability that favourable conditions for the occurrence of El Niño will continue.
The heat wave period is expected to last until the end of August, for the southern and central areas the forecast indicates up to 60% less rainfall than normal; the western area, eastern Olancho department, and the department of Yoro are expected to have 40% less rainfall than average.
The Honduran Red Cross will target 2,060 households, 360 families for Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA), and 1,700 families with household water treatment kits in communities prioritized by the intervention map in the PDF. Honduran Red Cross will provide:
- Distribution of 360 CVA to affected families (1,800 people).
- Deployment of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WaSH) National Intervention Team (NIT) for an inventory of safe water sources.
- Distribution of 1,700 household water treatment kits (8,500 people).
- Awareness campaigns