INDONESIA
Relief Supplies to Kutacane Flood
Survivors
On 18 October landslides and flash floods caused by days of heavy rain struck villages south of Kutacane, the district capital of Aceh Tenggara, killing at least 16 persons and leaving some 3,000 homeless.
IOM provided and delivered 4,000 two-liter bottles of water and food, and non-food items including medicine and plastic sheeting provided by the WHO and UNHCR, were dispatched from Medan immediately after the disaster. Five trucks loaded with 250 family tents provided by UNHCR and a sixth with IOM-supplied mineral water were also dispatched. The supplies were distributed to the affected population, in collaboration with local authorities and NGOs.
IOM participated in a multi-agency road assessment to determine how to effectively move aid into the worst-affected areas.
Kutacane is seven hours by road from Medan, IOM's logistics hub in support of post-tsunami relief and reconstruction efforts in Aceh province. IOM currently has 96 trucks under contract and has offered its transport services to international and domestic agencies responding to the floods.
SHELTER
IOM is continuing to build homes through the fasting month and recently added several new contractors to the project, bringing to 16 the number of local factories producing components for the shelter program.
Among the other new initiatives, IOM started building barrack-type units to accommodate the staff of the American Red Cross in Calang. These units include kitchen and water and sanitation facilities and will be used as their operational base in the region.
On behalf of UNICEF, IOM is building seven temporary schools in Meulaboh. More than 100 schools have been completed to date including some three dozen in Calang.
IOM-Public Works joint task force conducted an assessment in Singkil, Aceh Singkil district, to determine where the shelter needs are and whether there is suitable land for building. The task force, established at the end of April 2005, identifies promising construction sites, and in consultation with IDPs and host communities, pairs them with needy communities.
Sri Lanka
SHELTERS
IOM has completed 4,188 transitional accommodations in seven tsunami affected districts. IOM is committed to building a total of 5,775 transitional accommodations; so far it has secured land for 5,445 accommodations.
In the first two weeks of October, IOM completed 233 houses and a further 437 are nearing completion. The provision of transitional accommodations for those who lost their homes to the tsunami is made possible through funding from ECHO, Greece and Japan.
A two-day training course was held by the Norwegian Refugee Council on Site Care and Maintenance for IOM site managers and Heads of sub-offices. The course covered successes and challenges, best practices, new approaches and tools to support implementation while contextualizing practical approaches for living in Sri Lanka.
IOM staff in Matara participated in a session of the RedR organization training on Community Participatory Approaches (CPA) held in Wadduwa, Matara district. The aim of CPA is to increase the understanding of community development and equip the participants with the appropriate tools and techniques for development.
IOM arranged for the Red Cross to conduct the first of several camp care workshops in Gampaha district.
The workshop was attended by 21 members of three Site Care Committees which have been established in IOM supported sites. A second training was conducted by IOM's sub-office in Kalutara.
More than 70 representatives from 35 sites in Kalutara district convened at the government agency auditorium for a seminar designed to build capacity among site leaders and to formally inaugurate the establishment of welfare societies. IOM Sri Lanka presented information on site management and answered questions on livelihood development.
The UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, Mr. Jan Egeland, travelled to Batticaloa district and visited an IOM-managed site in Rizvi village, where he saw transitional houses and discussed issues such as water, and sanitation and livelihood generation.
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