GENERAL ISSUES
Nias
Residents in Gunung Sitoli, the capital city of Nias, have been asked not to construct permanent building on top of their destroyed houses, as the local government want to redesign the city. If they insist in doing so, the government wouldn't hesitate to re-destroy the new building. Nias District Infrastructure Office is to closely monitor buildings that have been rebuilt before Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency for Aceh and Nias (BRR) launched their reconstruction programme which prioritizes 3 sectors that will be implemented during 2005: education, transportation, and health.
Joint office urged for tsunami and quake prevention, handling
Representatives of five countries hit by the tsunami disaster a few months ago (Indonesia, Myanmar, the Maldives, Thailand and Srilangka) recommended that the five countries establish a joint office that would function as an information, data and training center for tsunami prevention and handling. The recommendation was made on Tuesday at the end of the two-day "Regional Workshop on Post-Tsunami Lessons Learned and Best Practices.", held in Medan, June 13-14. Besides recommending the establishment of a joint office, the workshop participants also recommended the setting up of an early warning system in the five countries. In addition, the workshop participants called on foreign aid workers to respect local cultures when operating in the areas affected by the tsunami. The workshop was supported by The Indonesian People's Welfare Department and UN-OCHA (United National Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affair). The workshop was aimed at identifying best practices for preventing and dealing with the aftermaths of tsunamis and earthquakes.
ACTIVITIES
Health
CWS
Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar
CWS provided heath services in one village and supplementary feeding to 62 children in another village. CWS also monitored the progress of supplementary feeding programme in the area and held training for cadres in Health, Nutrition and Child Development and Anthropometric Measurement in some places and seminar with a topic of "Hygiene and Health Consciousness" (attended by 44 mothers).
YEU
Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar
YEU provided their regular health services in several locations.
Lhok Seumawe
YEU provided their regular health services in several locations. YEU also recollected data on beneficiaries and patients, especially under-five year children regarding the integrated health care for mother and children programme. YEU handed some health equipments to local health posts three locations.
Meulaboh
YEU provided health services with their mobile clinics in 5 areas and fixed clinics in two areas with an average for 20 patients. YEU also provided health services at two primary school health units and provided education on care for fever and diarrhea.
Nias
YEU provided health services in three locations. YEU also distributed supplementary feeding for babies, children and pregnant mothers and conducted toddler measuring.
Livelihood recovery
CWS
Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar
CWS coordinated with the regional Livestock Department on the planned distribution of 400 chickens to poultry breeders in one village. The distribution will take place the first week of July. CWS also met with representatives from another village to discuss preparations for a livelihood programme in the village which will take place at the end of this month, conducted assessment in two villages and met with the women group in one barrack to discuss revolving funds for the group (revolving funds here refer to CWS providing community-based organisations with support to their businesses and in return the beneficiaries have to share some of their profit with the rest of the community). CWS' partner MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) conducted a two-day workshop at Unsyiah University on community empowerment.
Pidie
CWS met with 50 fishermen in one village for gathering information on their condition and conducted assessment in one village.
Meulaboh
CWS monitored the activities of the community-based organisations in the area.
YEU
Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar
YEU held discussions with their credit union groups to monitor and assess the progress.
Lhok Seumawe
YEU held discussion on production and pricing with their sewing group in the area.
Meulaboh
YEU monitored their boat building group, embroidery group, farmer groups, tempe production group and baking group in several locations. Two of four boats are being repaired and the farmer group has harvested melons. YEU provided loans for the groups which it will be paid back in by monthly instalments.
Nias
YEU held discussion and assessment on the possibility of rubber industry for the IDPs in Nias. YEU also held discussions with their fishermen group, cake/bakery group and made assessment in another area on community development activities there.
Food Distribution and Non-Food Items
CWS
Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar
CWS distributed 111 School Kits, 76 relief Kits, 53 mattresses, 81 blankets, 83 mosquito nets, 4 baby kits, 49 kid kits to 377 IDPs in three villages.
Meulaboh
CWS distributed 421 relief kits to a total of 1,467 beneficiaries (421 households) in several barracks in one location.
YEU
Meulaboh
YEU distributed 133 hygiene kits in two locations.
YTB
Nias
YTB's partner (BPB PGID Nias) continued the distribution the food and non food items in one sub-district.
Water and sanitation
CWS
Banda Aceh
CWS finalised the rehabilitation of the latrines at the community health centre in one area and continued the installation of clean water pipes in another area. UNICEF provided materials for the water pipe installation: 10 sacks of cement, 12 m³ of concrete sand, 7 m³ of gravel and 2 water tanks with the capacity of 2 m³ each. CWS, in collaboration with PCI (Project Concern International) prepared the water pipe installation in the area. As part of a cash-for-work programme, residents in the surrounding areas will be assisting in the installation of the system which will provide the inhabitants of the camp with clean water.
Meulaboh
CWS conducted routine monitoring of the Water Purification and of the water distribution at 19 distribution points in one sub-district. UNICEF will supply CWS will 3 water bladders. CWS also visited their three water distribution points in one camp, each with a capacity of 5 m³, as well as the 2 other sites, each with a capacity of 3 m³. Another visit was made to one distribution point in another sub-district, with a capacity of 10 m³.
CWS visited the 4 camps to monitor the progress on the sanitation facilities being provided there. CWS together with their partner, Habitat for Humanity, conducted assessment in two villages for forthcoming watsan interventions.
Nias
CWS staff in collaboration with local volunteers conducted assessment on water and sanitation and on livelihood recovery programmes in two villages for forthcoming interventions scheduled on third week of June.
YEU
Banda Aceh
YEU monitored the on going construction of sanitation facilities.
Nias
YEU continued the on going construction of latrines in three sub-districts.
Meulaboh
YEU completed the drilling of a well and the construction of 2 other wells and 4 washing-bathing-toilet facilities) in two locations. YEU distributed 88 divans to IDPs in 2 locations and completed the construction of 120 trash bins.
Psycho-Social Activities
CWS
Banda Aceh
CWS provided FEAT (Fun & Educational Activities in Tents) and supplementary feeding in one village.
Meulaboh
CWS conducted FEAT and provided supplementary feeding for 70 mothers and 98 children in one camp.
YEU
Lhok Seumawe
YEU facilitated information sharing and discussion with the IDPs and others relevant parties on sport and art events in 4 sub-districts. YEU also provided individual and group counselling activities
Meulaboh
YEU provided counselling to 7 clients with psychological problems. YEU also facilitated women's prayers and Koran readings, and children toys and games in several locations. YEU provided Korans and 200 sets of men's and 300 sets women's Moslem clothes and 3 bags of used clothes. .
Nias
YEU provided individual and group counselling and socialised the use of client cards.
Shelter
CWS
Pidie
CWS coordinated with Department of Public Works on Earthquake Resistance and Housing and Building Layout. CWS has also socialised their plan on provision of shelter for the beneficiaries in the area. For shelter programme, CWS collaborated with Terre des Hommes (TDH) staff for technical advises.
YEU
Banda Aceh
YEU continued the construction of houses for IDPs.
Lhok Seumawe
YEU continued the construction of houses for IDPs.
Networking and Liaison
CWS
CWS attended a Livelihood Working Group Meeting at the Department of Social Affairs.
CWS attended an Open Humanitarian Briefing at Oxfam's Office.
CWS attended the Aceh Shelter Working Group in which representatives from HIC, UN Habitat, UNJLC, Handicap International, ICRC, GTZ, World Bank, GenAssist, World Vision, CRS, among others, also participated.
CWS attended a Shelter Coordination Meeting at SATLAK of Aceh Barat, hosted by the Public Works' Department.
CWS attended the weekly Government, INGOs/NGOs Coordination Meeting at SATKORLAK in Medan.
CWS met Helen Keller to discuss action plans for a joint distribution by CWS and CWS partner Helen Keller International (HKI) at CWS office in Banda Aceh.
CWS met with WFP to discuss distribution standard procedures, monitoring and evaluation. CWS will put together a list of our previous assessments which will be compared to WFPs list, and joint assessments will be carried out next week.
CWS met with Terre de Hommes (TDH) to discuss the possibility of a Livelihood program in Pidie in the near future.
YTB
YTB's partner (BPB PGID Nias) attended the coordination meeting which was conducted by BRR (Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency).
ACT
ACT International Medan Office and CWS attended the Government, INGO/NGO Coordination Meeting in Medan.
ACT INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION
Regional Coordination
Donor's Country Summit on Nias Reconstruction
ACT Medan and two partners CWS and YTB attended the Donor's Countries Summit on Nias Reconstruction, responding the invitation of the governor, at Tiara Hotel Medan on June 2005. This meeting was attended by 150 invitees from UN Agencies, Mexico Ambassador/several embassy representatives from Jakarta, foreign consulates in Medan, foreign and local NGOs, Asian Development Bank, World Bank and others. The meeting was opened by the governor of North Sumatra. In principle, there are positive response from the donor and NGOs. ADB has allocated part its USD 300 million to assist Nias and some NGOs and other Donor has also promised to continue their work in Nias. Coordination is one important issues rose on the meeting. ACT and Partners should study and adjusted their plan to the proposal and have more coordination with others who participated in Nias rehabilitation and reconstruction.
National Coordination
Hannele Kankuri, ACT Intl National Coordinator met with directors of CWS, YEU and YTB-I to discuss coordination issues at Jakarta level.
Hannele Kankuri also met with Ernst and Young to discuss Work Plans on Internal Controls in order to enhance transparency and accountability of the programme.
Visitors
Effendi Panjaitan, Director of North Sumatra Research and Policy Advocacy Institutes (ELSAKA) visited ACT International Medan Office. ELSAKA, in cooperation with ICCO Netherlands, has conducted cleaning for 125 buildings in Nias. After emergency phase ended, ELSAKA is the only institute manage heavy equipment to clean the city of Gunung Sitoli. He said that the cleaning of the city will complete in the next one month. Effendi also disclosed that according to its research, unemployment has increased 125 percent from before earth quake. He notices that short term program to solve the unemployment problem is urgent in the island. Constructions, rehabilitations and other activities in Nias should consider the using of local people.