Attachments
Highlights
• On 26 October, the Government of Indonesia officially declared the end of the emergency response phase in Sulawesi, signaling the start of the early recovery phase. In Lombok, the recovery phase continues, as critical needs gaps remain which the Government and agencies are working to address.
• UNICEF has now deployed over 20 staff covering all programme sectors (WASH, health, education, child protection) in Central Sulawesi and Lombok, and continues to scale up its emergency response on the ground through a combination of supplies, cash and technical assistance. Since the beginning of the response, Child Protection, Education, Health, Nutrition and WASH supplies worth over US$3.7 million have been procured for the responses in Sulawesi and Lombok.
• In Sulawesi, over 6,000 children now have access to psychosocial support and other activities in over 80 child-friendly spaces set up by UNICEF and partners in the affected districts. Seven children have been reunified with their family.200 temporary learning spaces (TLS) tents have been delivered to the affected areas in Palu, Donggala and Sigi districts that enabled 16,000 children to re-start their learning.
• In Lombok, 550 teachers and education officials have been trained on EiE and CPiE in collaboration with MoEC and NGO partners. These teachers are now providing emergency-conscious lessons to at least 22,000 children affected by the earthquake.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
On 28 September, a series of strong earthquakes struck Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi province. The strongest earthquake (7.4M) triggered a tsunami which struck Palu and Donggala districts, resulting in significant damage and loss of life. Instances of liquefaction and landslides also ocurred, exacerbating the situation. Thousands of families have lost their homes, access to services and sought refuge in safer areas.
Over 211,000 people have been displaced, many of whom are residing in spontaneous and informal settlements as per the first round of the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM). The DTM specifically recorded over 82,891 displaced people in 289 sites in Donggala district; 76,994 in 409 sites in Sigi; and 52,256 in 282 sites in Palu city. To date, the DTM has only recorded the ‘informal settlement’ population, however several people are residing with host families whose homes and assets were not completely damaged; a household survey is required to determine the numbers and needs. Meanwhile, initial estimates suggest around 80,000 people from Palu city have left the affected areas. Social media tracking indicates this population has mostly disbursed to South Sulawesi, but also to Kalimantan and Java islands.
Needs assessments identified clean water, sanitation and hygiene, health and nutrition, recovery of infrastructure and public services, shelter, protection, food, education, logistics and economic recovery as priority needs. Debris and damaged structures need to be cleared to reduce risk of further damage and accidents. Many IDP sites have inadequate shelter, limited access to latrines and water and insufficient lightning, causing protection concerns. Sanitary conditions have significantly deteriorated since the disaster, with diarrhoea and skin infections on the rise, increased risk of communicable diseases and malaria.
Following the Government’s announcement that it is now entering the “recovery phase” of the response, UNICEF continues to collaborate with line ministries and other partners to respond to the emergency through a multi-pronged combination of supplies, cash and technical assistance. UNICEF is supporting the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) in family tracing and reunification and through the supply of recreational kits for children. Besides data management and coordination, UNICEF is supporting the Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC) with the provision of temporary learning space (TLS) tents, school in a box and recreational kits. Across all sectors, UNICEF is actively contributing with information management and coordination.