The Federation's mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. It is the world's largest humanitarian organization and its millions of volunteers are active in over 185 countries.
In Brief
This DREF Bulletin is being issued based on the situation described below reflecting the information available at this time. CHF 112,877 (USD 90,301or EUR 69,677) has been allocated fro m the Federation's Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to respond to the needs in this operation and to replenish disaster preparedness stocks distributed to the affected population. This operation is expected to be implemented over 6 months, and will be completed by August, 2007; a Final Report will be made available 3 months after the end of the operation. Unearmarked funds to repay DREF are encouraged.
This operation is 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".
Global Agenda Goals:
- Reduce the numbers of deaths, injuries and impact from disasters.
- Reduce the number of deaths, illnesses and impact from diseases and public health emergencies.
- Increase local community, civil society and Red Cross Red Crescent capacity to address the most urgent situations of vulnerability.
- Reduce intolerance, discrimination and social exclusion and promote respect for diversity and human dignity.
Background and current situation
Due to heavy rains in Angola, the Zambezi River had a high inflow on the Namibian side, which exceeded its capacity and burst its banks into the flood plains. The recurrent floods are experienced when Angola receives too much rain. Similar floods have taken place in the past years with the most devastating floods in 2004.
On February 19, 2007 the level of the Zambezi River was 6.73 meters as compared to 2.4 at the same time in 2004. It is anticipated that this year's floods might be of a bigger magnitude compared to the previous years with the Zambezi River having already exceeded the six meter mark in February 2007.
The current floods are affecting the four constituencies, of Kabbe, Katima Rural, Linyanti and Kongola. Some families have already been displaced by the floods especially those residing close to the river banks and the nearby flood plains such as Lisikili, Isize and Kabbe. The displaced communities lack basic necessities such as shelter, clean water and sanitation. The roads in the flood plain will be impassable in a few days. The government has identified temporary relocation sites at Lusese, Schuckmansburg, Kabbe and Impalila, but all of them are not yet cleared. No proper assessment has been done and the situation is worsened by lack of transport facilities such as vehicles and boats. Most of the fields in these villages are under water and crops that are far from maturing are completely submerged.
A total of 1,569 students from 11 schools in the Kabbe and Katima rural constituencies will be relocated to higher grounds as their schools are already surrounded by flood water. The schools in upper land need assistance in the form of shelter and food for students and teachers. The villages located in low lying areas have also been put on alert for evacuation if the river continues rising. Floods come against a background of high levels of poverty, worsened by one of the highest rates of HIV and AIDS prevalence rates in the country.
Red Cross and Red Crescent action
Following the disaster, the Namibia Red Cross (NRC) in collaboration with other stakeholders conducted a rapid assessment in some of the affected areas to assess the impact of the disaster. Recommendations were made to provide the appropriate disaster response. In disaster preparedness, the national society (NS) is ensuring that volunteers are mobilized and well trained in social mobilization, health and hygiene promotion. Currently, NRC has 11 regional disaster response team (RDRT) members available for deployment. The Federation regional delegation in Harare is closely monitoring the situation and has put other RDRT members on standby and a representative has been deployed to assist the NRC in programming for a period of one month. Owing to the reports of impending abnormal floods in Caprivi region, the representative joined the team deployed to Caprivi to do some preparations and pre-positioning of relief items on 18 February 2007.
The Federation has allocated CHF 112,877 from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to NRC. The funds will be used to conduct an assessment in the affected areas to determine the needs of the affected population and assist the government by providing relief assistance to 1,000 families with shelter, water and sanitation (WatSan), health and hygiene promotion for 6 months.
The needs
The NRC response will require procuring relief items in order to provide temporary shelter, provide safe clean water, adequate sanitation and to conduct health and hygiene promotion in the relocation sites. The relief items include blankets, kitchen sets (five plates, five cups, five spoons and three cooking pots), and insecticide treated mosquito nets (ITNs) in order to effectively initiate the response operation. Resources are also required to further train volunteers on social mobilization in health and hygiene.
The NRC and the Federation regional delegation need to replenish the disaster preparedness stock, which has been depleted by dispatches to several disasters in the region since the beginning of the year. The NS is requesting for technical support in coordination of the response efforts.
Coordination
With the first indication of the floods, the Regional Emergency Management Unit, REMU set up a task force to coordinate the response mechanisms. The task force meets twice a week to discuss issues related to the floods. Coordination meetings are being organized by the government with relevant partners and a plan of action has been drawn. The coordination is spearheaded by the REMU which is composed of the Ministry of Health, NRC and other partners.
Traditional leaders (authorities) are also encouraged to be fully involved in monitoring and relocation activities to ensure that activities are done with dignity and are gender sensitive. The leaders will also play an important role in encouraging their people to move to higher ground especially in areas where communities are reluctant to move.
Map: Namibia: Caprivi Floods - Situation Map
For further information please contact:
In Namibia: Shannon Schroeder, Acting Secretary General, Namibia Red Cross, Email financehead@redcross.org.na; Phone + 264. 6.1 235. 216; Fax + 264. 61. 228. 949
In Zimbabwe: Françoise Le Goff, Head of Southern Africa Regional Delegation, Harare; Email: francoise.legoff@ifrc.org; Phone: +263.4.70.61.55, +263.4.72.03.15; Fax: +263.4.70.87.84
In Geneva: John Roche, Federation Regional Officer for Southern Africa, Africa Dept., Geneva; Email: john.roche@ifrc.org; Phone: +41.22.730.44.00, Fax: +41.22.733.03.95
All International Federation assistance seeks to adhere to the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's) in Disaster Relief and is committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (Sphere) in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable.
For longer-term programmes in this or other countries or regions, please refer to the Federation's Annual Appeal. For support to or for further information concerning Federation programmes or operations in this or other countries, or for national society profiles, please also access the Federation's website at http://www.ifrc.org