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Sudan

Sudan: Floods Appeal No. MDRSD002 Final Report

Attachments

Period covered by this Final Report: 18 August 2006 to 30 April 2007

Final appeal coverage: 77%

Beneficiaries assisted: About 32,000 flood-affected households (some 160,000 people).

Summary:

This Emergency Appeal was launched on 18 August 2006 for CHF 607,487 (USD 491,136 or EUR 384,006) for six months to assist 3,000 households (15,000 people) affected by the flooding.

On 14 September 2006, in light of the new information gathered through the assessments, a revised plan of action was published, the appeal budget was revised to CHF 2,017,353 (USD 1,642,528 or EUR 1,280,412) and the beneficiary caseload increased to 4,620 households (some 23,000 people).

On 13 October 2006, the appeal budget was revised to CHF 1,512,497 (USD 1,231,172 or EUR 960,435) to reflect operational realities on the ground. The total number of target beneficiaries was increased to 8,494 households (approximately 43,000 people).

CHF 225,000 was allocated from the Federation's Disaster Relief Emergency Funds (DREF) to cover a part of expenses associated with immediate relief distributions and initial assessments.

The situation

Torrential rains caused massive flooding across Horn of Africa in 2006. In Sudan, it was estimated that more than 90,000 people were affected, 40 people were killed and more than 11,000 homes were destroyed. Sinnar, River Nile, Northern and Khartoum states were hardest hit.

Rains came later than usual, but the destruction they caused was enormous. Schools, shops and clinics were damaged and large swathes of agricultural land were submerged. An immediate humanitarian intervention was required to ensure the most vulnerable had decent shelter, food, safe water, clean sanitation facilities and access to basic health care.

In Sinnar State alone, 3,622 families were stranded homeless. Damage was largely caused by the river flooding triggered by heavy downpours in neighbouring Ethiopian highlands that swelled and burst Sudan's rivers. River flooding in Sinnar is a usual phenomenon. What was particular about the 2006 season was the scale and spread. Villages, which had not been previously believed to be at risk, were affected. The flooding reached its peak in mid August 2006.

Red Cross and Red Crescent assessment teams found 50 villages totally or partially destroyed in the state. A total of 400,000 hectares of agricultural land was submerged. Traditionally, people live in mud and thatchedroofed houses, but many of those traditional houses were levelled to the ground.

The worst affected was Al Dinder locality with 35 affected villages (1,976 families) on the eastern side of the Blue Nile river. In Sinja locality, on the western side of the river, 15 villages with 1,646 families were affected. Over 51% of the affected were accommodated in temporary camps erected by the local authorities with assistance of Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS) volunteers. Fourteen temporary camps were set up in total (refer to the table below for the location and camp population). Some of the displaced people were sheltered by relatives; others put up tents next to their homes. Many of those tents, however, were overcrowded. According to Red Cross and Red Crescent teams two to three families clustered in one tent. The tents were provided by the state's governor and the civil defence. SRCS volunteers helped to set them up and provided basic amenities - water, sanitation and health services. Sanitation was a major concern due to the absence of proper pit latrines andunsafe hygiene practices. Extreme temperature changes (from 35-40 degrees in daytime to 15-19 degrees at night) made life in displacement even more unbearable. The capital town (Sinja) itself was spared as it was protected by a two-metre high earthy embankment, strengthened daily by volunteers until the critical period was over.

In Khartoum State, all seven localities were affected. Damage was caused by heavy rainfall and flash flooding in the areas where the drainage system functioned poorly.

In Northern State, one locality - El-Dabba - was flooded. El-Dabba is one of the state's four localities and is situated along the banks of the River Nile. It is inhabited by Bederiya farmers and Hwaweer pastoralists. The latter came to the locality in the 1980s, escaping severe drought, and have eventually adopted new trades such as brick making and farming. El-Dabba's population was thus predominantly engaged in farming and the destruction of farmland by the flooding left those already living on tight margins with little or no recourse to restart their livelihoods. The staple food in the state is wheat, sorghum and beans. Medical facilities were chronically understaffed and undersupplied.

In River Nile State, the damage was relatively less compared to other states, but was still significant enough to require humanitarian intervention. The flooding only compounded the already grim humanitarian conditions.

Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS), supported by Movement partners, mounted a major relief operation to extend a helping hand to those whose coping capacities had been undermined by years of poverty and recurring climatic shocks. In total, some 32,000 households (160,000 people) affected by the flooding benefited from the National Society's services in 2006. Of these, nearly 13,000 households (65,000 individuals) were supplied with one or more emergency shelter and relief items, mobilized either through the Federation appeal or bilateral donations (see table below). Access often was a challenge with roads and bridges washed away. An extraordinary effort was exerted to reach some of the remote and hardest hit areas.

How we work

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.

The International Federation's activities are aligned with its 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.

Contact information

For further information specifically related to this operation please contact:

In Sudan: Osman Gafer Abdalla, Secretary General, Sudanese Red Crescent Society, Khartoum; email: srcs_sg@yahoo.com; telephone +249.83.78.48.89

In Sudan: George Gigiberia, Federation Country Representative; email: george.gigiberia@ifrc.org; telephone +249.83.77.10.33

In Kenya: Philimon Majwa, Disaster Management Manager, Nairobi; email: philimon.majwa@ifrc.org; telephone +254 733.35.96.294

In Kenya: Dr. Asha Mohammed, Federation Head of Eastern Africa Zone, Nairobi; email: asha.mohammed@ifrc.org; telephone + 254.20.283.51.24; fax + 254.20.271.27.77

In Geneva: John Roche, Federation Operations Coordinator (Africa); email: john.roche@ifrc.org; telephone +41.22.730.4527