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In Brief
Appeal No. 17/2004; Operations Update No 7 including revised Budget and programme extension; Period covered: 14 October to 30 November 2004; Appeal coverage: 103.8%1 (click here to go directly to the attached Contributions List, also available on the website).
Appeal history: Launched on 27 July 2004 for CHF 2,767,360 (USD 2,193,457 or EUR 1,802,246) for initially six months to assist 180,000 beneficiaries (30,000 families). The appeal budget is revised down in this Operations Update to CHF 2,026,765,000. Bilateral donations, local fundraising and partnerships have, together with the contribution to the appeal, ensured that the full plan of action will be implemented, exceeding the number of beneficiaries in the rehabilitation phase than originally planned. The appeal has been extended to nine months (27 April 2005) to ensure proper implementation of the rehabilitation and capacity building phase.
Outstanding needs: nil
Related Annual Appeals: Nepal 01.58/2004 and Nepal 05AA048/2005
Operational Summary: The armed conflict and the unstable political situation in the country have continued during the operation. However, the Nepal Red Cross has been able to implement activities without any major problems. The operation has shown that the Nepal Red Cross has been respected as a competent and neutral organisation and the operation has now entered into the rehabilitation phase. The Nepal Red Cross will assist at least 2,000 families by supplying materials to assist with reconstruction of homes. Identification of 1,700 of these families has been done and procurement of construction materials is taking place.
The emergency relief phase of the operation was successfully completed at the beginning of November. Over 30,000 families have received family packages and 1,000 vulnerable families have received food items covering their mid-term needs. Food assistance was also given to families in the emergency phase of the flooding. The district branches were responsible for raising funds and in-kind food items in the first response phase. By the end of October, 15,000 families had received water purification liquid, meeting the target of the appeal, however outside the planned time frame. This was due to difficulties in obtaining enough liquid from the sole supplier in Nepal.
Most of the warehouse replenishment of relief stocks has been done and pre-positioning of goods at regional and zonal warehouses is ongoing.
The positive impact of earlier disaster preparedness (DP) activities on the Nepal Red Cross emergency response has been reviewed in a participatory three-country action learning process (PAL) led by the South Asia regional delegation. The Nepal report can be obtained upon request.
Through coordination and cooperation with local international non-government organisations (INGOs) and United Nations (UN) agencies, the Nepal Red Cross has been able to deliver more relief assistance than planned.
Local donations have also made it possib le to revise the budget and ensure that rehabilitation and capacity building activities can go ahead even if the original appeal budget was not fully funded. An updated appeal budget is included in this update.
To ensure the rehabilitation and capacity building phase can be fully implemented the time period for this appeal has been extended by three months, until 27 April 2005.
The Federation and Nepal Red Cross have used a cash transfer system for many years and pledge-based reporting will therefore be provided directly by the national society.
Background
Heavy rains which began in early July resulted in widespread flooding and landslides, affecting 800,000 people in 25 of Nepal's 75 districts, killing 185 people .
Parts of southern Nepal were submerged for over two weeks. There were numerous landslides in the hilly region with many homes swept away. At the height of the disaster, 37,000 families were displaced. A total of 68,000 houses were destroyed or damaged. Infrastructure such as schools and roads and bridges were severely affected in the flood-hit districts.
The situation is back to normal and all displaced persons have either returned to their homes, are living with relatives or in temporary housing. Many families are still facing problems as they have lost their livelihood and rehabilitation activities supporting these families are now commencing.
Operational developments
The rehabilitation phase started as planned with the identification of families that will be assisted to reconstruct their homes. Seeds are being distributed to provide food support and cash-income for families. To further strengthen the response mechanism of the Nepal Red Cross, some capacity building activities are funded through this appeal. To ensure the effective implementation of the rehabilitation and the capacity building phase, the time period of the operation has been extended by three months to a total of nine months.
By the end of October, the planned 30,000 family packages had been distributed to beneficiaries. Distribution of food items to 1,000 families covered by this appeal was finalised in the beginning of October. This distribution targeted the mid-term needs of especially vulnerable families. Additional food distribution in the direct emergency phase had been done through raising local resources. Replenishment of relief stocks to the warehouses is being finalised.
District chapters continue to mobilise volunteers and staff for specific interventions. The assessment and identification of beneficiaries for the rehabilitation phase has been done in the districts concerned.
The Nepal Red Cross is coordinating closely wit h other organisations as it is seen as the lead agency in response to the disaster due to its extensive network. There is regular contact with UN agencies, the Home Ministry and other organisations active in the DP Net.
A regionally coordinated action learning exercise took place in the flood-affected areas in September. A national society/Federation team visited and consulted communities and districts affected as well as having discussions at headquarters level and with national stakeholders. National and regional lessons learnt workshops have been organised to evaluate the relief phase of the operation. Preliminary findings underline the importance of the Nepal Red Cross's role as the only organisation able to effectively provide disaster relief to people in conflict areas. The value of the community-based disaster preparedness (CBDP) programmes is also emphasised. Communities who were prepared have been able to respond, evacuate and save lives. The report from the action learning exercise will be published shortly.
For further information specifically related to this operation please contact:
- Nepal Red Cross Society, Kathmandu, Badri Khanal, Executive Director, badri@nrcs.org phone: 977 1 42 70 650 fax: 977 1 42 71 915.
- Federation Office, Kathmandu, Karin Hakansson-Furga, Federation Representative, ifrcnp01@ifrc.org phone: 977 1 42 85 843, fax: 977 1 42 86 048.
- ICRC Delegation, Kathmandu: Nicolas Bachman, Communication Delegate, Kathmandu.kat@icrc.org phone 977 1 44 82 285, fax: 977 1 448 29 37.
- For regional overview, contact Alan Bradbury, Acting Head of Regional Delegation, South Asia , New Delhi. Phone +91 11 2685 8671, mobile +91 98 1030 1984, email -- ifrcin134@ifrc.org
- In Geneva: Suzana Harfield, Asia-Pacific Department; email: suzana.harfield@ifrc.org; phone: +41 22 730 4353 and Ewa Eriksson, email ewa.eriksson@ifrc.org phone +41 22 730 4 252.
All International Federation assistance seeks to adhere to the Code of Conduct and is committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable. For support to or for further information concerning Federation programmes or operations in this or other countries, or for a full description of the national society profile, please access the Federation's website at http://www.ifrc.org
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