Tsunami-Earthquake Emergency Programme
Major Developments
The Government now estimates that 11,322(1) people on the islands of Gizo, Ranonnga, Vella la Vella, parts of southern coast of Choiseul, Simbo, Shortlands, Munda and Kolombangra have been affected by the earthquake and tsunami on 2 April 2007.
The Director of the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO), Chair of the National Disaster Council (NDC) and Officer in Charge of the Technical Advisory Team (TAT) for the recovery provided a briefing on consolidated data and Initial Recovery Strategy Paper for donors today (7 May 2007). Key future action points set out in the paper are:
- Coordination teams to be strengthened at the national and provincial levels including a Coordination Manager, Management Information Assistant and Public Information Assistant by Friday 11 May 2007; and
- The TAT and NDMO to produce a Recovery Action Plans (including a monitoring and evaluation framework) covering Housing and Shelter; Water Supply and Sanitation; IDP camp management; Livelihood Recovery; Information Sharing and Coordination; Health and Education and Transport Infrastructure by the end of the month (31 May 2007).
Needs Assessment
NDC/PDC has been conducting an independent assessment of all affected areas and it is expected to be released on Friday 11 May 2007 in accordance with the timeframe set out in the Initial Recovery Strategy paper.
A detailed water and sanitation assessment form was developed for ongoing assessments and a database of all affected villages is under development, based on previous assessments by UNICEF, Oxfam and ADF, in a form suitable for water and sanitation and other sectors.
The MHMS infrastructure assessment of all clinics in the affected Provinces is expected to start on the 7th of May. As part of UNICEF's collaboration with MHMS, our WASH consultant will accompany the team to assess the WES component of the infrastructure damage.
The assessment teams of the Ministry of Education are now returning to Honiara. As reported in the last sitrep, feedback is that the relocation of communities away from schools, livelihoods and infrastructure is causing complications. Another concern is that some buildings being used for school are unsafe. UNICEF is working closely with the Ministry to quickly plan and act on the priority situations over the coming weeks.
UNICEF Response
WASH
A technical meeting was held with the Provisional Public Works Department (PWD) and Oxfam to determine appropriate methods of restoring the sewage outfall from Gizo Hospital.
Footnote
(1) Solomon Islands Government, Initial Recovery Strategy Paper, 7 May 2007