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Angola

Angola: Floods Emergency Appeal No. MDRAO002

Attachments

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 EMERGENCY APPEAL SEEKS CHF 1,416,264 (USD 1,133,011 OR EUR 874,237) IN CASH, KIND, OR SERVICES TO ASSIST 30,000 BENEFICIARIES (5,000 HOUSEHOLDS) FOR THREE MONTHS.

CHF 90,764 (USD 74,397 or EUR 56,463) was allocated from the Federation's Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to initiate the Angola Red Cross response to the floods situation.

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.

The situation

Since January 2007, Luanda and Moxico provinces of Angola have experienced heavy rains that resulted in flooding, causing damage to infrastructure and displacing thousands of people. According to assessments conducted by the Angolan Civil Protection Service, approximately 28,531 families have been affected, with 114 deaths recorded - out of which 25 are from Cacuaco Municipality in Luanda Province. Five municipalities of Luanda Province have been severely affected, leaving thousands of families without shelter and increasing the occurrence of cholera, malaria, typhoid and stomach infections.

The government's assessment team reported that approximately 16,635 people (5,365 families) in Moxico Province have been affected by widespread flooding since 10 January 2007. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) update of 11 February 2007, the most affected villages include Lunanci, Ceramica, Koto, Chikalweji, Mupachi, Kazeke, Kavili, Caungo, Lovua, Lumbala, Caquengue and Caianda of Cazomgo Municipality in Moxico Province. A total of 429 houses were destroyed in Lunachi, 19 in Mupachi and 1,160 in Koto Village.

Approximately 9,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Cazombo Municipality are in need of immediate emergency relief in the form of food, medicines, emergency shelter and other non-food items. The number of IDPs is expected to increase as more rains are expected.

Cholera is endemic in Angola, and Luanda was severely affected in 2006. The total cumulative cholera cases as at 21 December 2006 was 65,666, with 2,676 deaths (a case fatality rate of 4%). Between 1 and 15 January 2007, a total of 6,527 cases and 224 deaths were reported in 16 of the 18 provinces in the country. The three most affected provinces are Luanda (1,919), Benguela (1,378) and Cabinda (1,212). The Angola Red Cross has, since May 2006, been implementing an operation in response to the cholera crisis. The cholera emergency operation was recently extended until the end of June 2007 due to an upsurge in cholera cases. For more details, please refer to the appeal extension available on: http://www.ifrc.org/docs/appeals/06/MDRAO001r04.pdf.

At the moment, cholera has not affected Cazombo Municipality; however malaria cases have been recorded, with 307 treatments and three deaths reported at the hospital in Cazombo. According to the hospital authority, there is a lack of malaria treatment medicines at the hospital. In addition to health risks, IDPs are not safe from wild animals such as lions, elephants, crocodiles which are reported to be in the affected area. In terms of accessibility, the main road to Cazombo Municipality and Luena (the provincial capital of Moxico) is passable though heavy rainfall might trigger new landslides.

For further information specifically related to this operation please contact:

- In Angola: Varter Bombo Guange Quifica, Secretary General, Secretary General, Angola Red Cross, Luanda ; Email: cruzvermelha@netangola.com; Phone: +244.2.33.39.91; Fax: +244.2.39.11.70

- In Angola: Martin Acosta, Federaton Representative, Angola Delegation, Luanda; Email: martin.acosta@ifrc.org; Phone: + 244.222.372.868; Fax: +244.222.372.868

- In Zimbabwe: Françoise Le Goff, Federation 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

For longer-term programmes, please refer to the Federation's Appeal 2006-2007 for Angola.