Tajikistan: Drought Appeal No. 26/00 Situation Report No. 4

Period covered: 21 December, 2000 - 24 January, 2001
The International Federation and the Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan (RCST) have finalized the preparations and the first phase of procurement for the full-scale drought response operation. The initial plans had to be revised, however, in order to adapt to the actual availability of funding and to avoid further delays in the provision of assistance, especially in view of the harsh winter conditions in many parts of the country. The total number of beneficiaries has thus been decreased to approximately 128,000 people. An agreement has been reached with WFP on partnership in the food distribution where the RCST existing structures and expertise will be used to reach the vulnerable population. Due to the delays in funding support, the seeds component of the appeal has been abandoned. To prevent further delays in the provision of assistance, the initially planned three food distribution rounds have been adjusted to two. The details of the revised appeal will be communicated shortly.

The context

On 19 September 2000, the International Federation and the Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan (RCST) launched an emergency appeal seeking CHF 22.6 million to assist 250,000 people affected by the worst drought that has hit Tajikistan in 75 years. Since the launch, main efforts have concentrated on securing sufficient funding to start the food and seeds distribution components of the programme. At the same time a number of activities were initiated as funding allowed. At the end of the year, a prioritization of activities was carried out, subsequently followed by an exercise to revise the initial programme objectives. While the actual revised budget is pending the results of the final assessments in the water and sanitation and disaster preparedness components, the Federation and RCST have reformulated the objectives and started the assistance programme to the most vulnerable.

Latest events

The Federation has finalized the co-operation agreement with United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on the implementation of the food assistance programme, as part of the drought emergency operation. According to the agreement, WFP will provide 5,951 tonnes of wheat flour, oil and salt for a total of 127,131 beneficiaries. The Federation and RCST will be responsible for distribution and monitoring.

At this stage, negotiations with the World Bank on the distribution of seeds procured as part of the grant to the Government of Tajikistan are on hold. Some agencies, namely German Agro Action and CARE International, already distributed the seeds allocated for the Karategin Valley, and Rayons of Republic Subordination, around the capital Dushanbe, respectively. It is reported that the full amount of seeds allocated for the southern, Khatlon, and northern, Sughd (former Leninabad) regions has not yet arrived in the country. At the same time, agreements for distribution in these two regions are still to be concluded. Should such an agreement be reached, the Federation would be responsible for distributing 10,000 MT of seeds in the north of the country.

Red Cross/Red Crescent action

Provision of food (objective 1)

According to the revised plans, and in close co-operation with the partners, namely WFP, German Agro Action, ACTED and others, the Federation and RCST will provide food assistance to a total of 130,000 beneficiaries - 69,000 beneficiaries in the north and around 60,000 in the south of the country. In order to compensate for initial delays in the procurement caused by a slow donor response to the appeal, it has been decided to reduce the number of distribution rounds from three to two. The first round will take place in February and the second round in late April and early May.

In the Sughd region in the north, the Federation and RCST are operational in four districts (Ghonchi, Zafarabad, Shakhristan and New Maschoh), assisting some 69,000 people and thus covering approximately 30 per cent of the total population in each district, with the exception of Zafarabad, where only around 15 per cent of the population will be assisted (due to a high population density compared to the other three districts). Following the workshops for local authorities (in charge of the beneficiary listing) and for RCST and Federation field officers and monitors (in charge of distribution and monitoring) held in December 2000, most beneficiary lists in the north have been finalized and pre-distribution monitoring of 20 percent of the listings almost completed. It is expected that by the end of January, three weeks ahead of schedule, the lists for all four districts will be complete and the food distribution will start in the first weeks of February.

The RCST branch is mobilizing 216 volunteers who will be carrying out the distribution on 18 distribution points. The volunteers will be provided with training on distribution on a district level. To this date, a total of 1,420 tonnes of wheat flour and 151,000 litres of oil have been procured and delivered to Khujand, the capital of the Sughd region. An additional amount of 2,060 tonnes of wheat flour and 140,000 litres of oil are being procured as part of the ECHO/German Red Cross programme and the Finnish Red Cross in-kind donation, and are expected to arrive to Tajikistan by the end of February. The ECHO allocation, originally planned to cover 1,250 people, will now be used to serve an additional 2,100 beneficiaries due to lower prices of food obtained by the German Red Cross, the ECHO contract holder. This additional number of people will be assisted in the Zafarabad district, thus raising the total population coverage there to 19 per cent. According to the agreement with WFP, the Federation and RCST will be provided with some 2,941 tonnes of food (wheat flour, oil and salt) for 50 per cent of the needs in Zafarabad, Ghonchi and New Maschoh, and 100 per cent of the needs in Shakhristan.

In the Khatlon region, in the south of the country, the Federation and RCST will operate solely as a WFP implementation partner, serving some 60,000 people in the districts of Danghara, Sovietsky and Farkhor, and will be responsible for pre- and post-distribution monitoring of beneficiary lists provided by WFP, and for the food distribution. In the South, WFP will provide some 3,010 tonnes of wheat flour oil and salt. While awaiting the signing of the agreement, and the subsequent pre-positioning of food by WFP, the Federation has carried out two assessment visits to WFP distribution sites and several beneficiary households, and started setting up the necessary infrastructure for the upcoming operation. Three monitoring teams and RCST branch programme officers have been hired, and the workshop on monitoring and distribution is scheduled to take place on 26 January. The Federation has engaged a relief delegate who will be based in Kulyab as of early February, and will supervise the operation in the south.

Provision of seeds (objective 2)

As announced earlier, and in spite of numerous pleas for assistance, there has been no donor response to this component of the Federation appeal. Due to the fact that the planting season starts in late February - early March, at this stage it is already too late for the procurement and distribution of seeds and fertilizer. Apart from a possible co-operation agreement with the World Bank, as described above, no activities will be undertaken to achieve this programme objective. The revised operational plan will not contain the seeds distribution component.

Repair of water-supply systems as part of food-for-work activities (objective 3)

The implementation agreement with WFP contains a food-for-work component, including the ditch-cleaning, repair of water systems, and other similar activities. At a workshop for local authorities, held in December 2000, a separate briefing was provided on this programme, and guidance given on the types of eligible activities, and selection of potential participants. The need to include women in food-for-work activities was particularly stressed. However, during the monitoring process it was discovered that additional guidance is necessary on a district level. To this date, only one rayon has produced a list of people and possible activities for this component. Therefore, it has been decided to carry out the distribution of food commodities as part of the food-for-work activities only in the second distribution round to give the authorities more time to come up with sound and realistic programmes.

Public health (objective 4)

In the first two weeks of January, the Federation health delegate, together with the RCST health team, carried out an assessment mission in the north of the country in order to finalize a detailed operational plan for a public health campaign within the drought operation. Four operational districts were visited, and a core group of 90 community volunteers selected (20 from each district with the exception of Ghonchi where 30 volunteers were identified due to the size of the area to be covered). There is one RCST focal person responsible for the supervision of each district team, organization of activities and reporting to the National Society branch programme co-ordinator. Preparations started for a series of three-day workshops for volunteers, to be held between 1 and 14 February in Khujand. The workshops will be treating issues such as prevention of water-borne diseases, personal hygiene, sanitation, malaria, tuberculosis, hepatitis, etc. The seminars will be organized in a highly interactive way, and, upon their completion, participants will be encouraged to independently plan and initiate the campaigns in their respective regions. Close monitoring will be carried out by the RCST programme co-ordinator and the Federation’s health delegate.

In the southern region of Khatlon, a similar assessment will be carried out in late February - early March, soon after the completion of workshops in the north, and the startup of campaigns. According to present plans, the training is scheduled to take place by the end of April. The procurement and distribution of hygiene items such as soap and towels, along with the distribution of food commodities, is currently being explored.

Water and Sanitation (objective 5)

The project to repair the water supply system for six villages in the Kabadian district, Khatlon region, is now completed. As previously reported, the original plans for the north of the country have evolved due to a need to find longer-term solutions for the local community, and to ensure that the population claims ownership of the implemented programmes. An assessment of the current water and sanitation supplies to institutions (schools, kindergartens, etc.) in four operational districts of the Sughd region is currently underway, and the plan of action will be communicated in the revised appeal.

RCST Capacity Building (objective 6)

RCST, alongside the Federation delegation, has been involved for a number of years now in food-assistance programmes. In the current operational areas of Sughd and Kulyab included in the drought response operation, however, it has not had any previous experience. This operation serves as a major opportunity to use the National Society’s existing knowledge and experience, mainly from the areas around Dushanbe and Rayons of Republic Subordination, and apply it in the north and south of the country. This will lead to an increased capacity of the respective Red Crescent branches in the areas of relief distribution, beneficiary selection and monitoring, as well as warehousing and other logistical matters. National Society relief, health and disaster preparedness teams, both at headquarters and regional level, are being encouraged to take the lead in the programme planning for all of the above mentioned appeal components. RCST programme co-ordinators, field officers and volunteers have been hired and/or identified in branches, and are being trained by the headquarters staff and Federation delegates in all operational aspects. In addition, the inclusion of the RCST-run public canteens programme in the emergency appeal, as well as a planned disaster preparedness component of the operation, will aim at combining the knowledge from various fields and thus further strengthening the RCST disaster response capacity.

Strengthening of the RCST image and visibility (objective 7)

The National Society continues to play a major role in the inter-agency partnership efforts in the drought response. Through a tripartite agreement reached with the Federation and the local authorities regarding the operation in the North, it has strengthened its position vis-a-vis the governmental structures. At the same time, the implementation partnership with WFP is based on the National Society’s structural assets, enabling the humanitarian assistance to reach everyone in need, as well as its experience in this type of relief activities. In addition to raising the awareness of partner-agencies’ of the added value of RCST involvement in the operation, the Federation is making its utmost efforts to achieve the same with the local and regional media, the government and the general public.

Outstanding needs

With the revised assistance plans and numbers of targeted people, and taking into account the implementation agreement reached with WFP, the Federation and RCST lack a total of 1,000 metric tonnes of wheat flour and some 50,000 litres of oil to fully cover the total of 71,100 beneficiaries in the north of the country.

External relations - Government/UN/NGOs/Media

Regular inter-agency co-ordination meetings on the drought response operation are ongoing. The Federation and RCST are working closely with WFP, German Agro Action and other agencies, in order to achieve an even distribution of assistance to the vulnerable population in a swift and efficient manner.

Efforts are being constantly made to further raise the visibility of the Federation and RCST drought response operation in Tajikistan in the international and local media, and with the donor-community.

Contributions

See Annex 1 for details

Martin Faller
Head, a.i.
Europe Department

Peter Rees-Gildea
Head, a.i.
Relationship Management Department

Annex 1