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Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives: Earthquake and Tsunami OCHA Situation Report No. 28

Ref: OCHA/GVA - 2005/0042
OCHA Situation Report No. 28
Earthquake and Tsunami
Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives

Main Highlight

In Indonesia, there are serious concerns about water and sanitation in various camps and relocation sites throughout Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD).

Financial Highlights

Out of US$862 million pledged to the FA by official donors on or after 11 January, US$500 million has been contributed ("paid," "disbursed"). A further US$216 million has been committed. (50 + 216 = 716, meaning that 83% of official FA pledges have been converted into commitments or contributions.) Private donors have contributed an additional US$62 million, and UN agencies have allocated US$6 million from their own resources. The rest (US$146 million) remains uncommitted official pledges.

INDONESIA

Situation

The latest figures from BAKORNAS on 21 February indicate that 122,232 bodies have been buried, and 113,937 people are missing. Meanwhile, the number of displaced people in scattered IDP settlements across 20 districts/cities has increased from 403,428 to 406,156. The number of displaced people rose in Banda Aceh, Kota Sabang, Aceh Singkil and Aceh Tenggara. However, with the Government IDP re-assessment process ongoing, the IDP figures remain fluid. The Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare has officially launched the use of new technology to ensure the accuracy of IDP data.

Overview of Activities

WHO is collaborating with the provincial health office and other partners to support water and sanitation plans by providing technical advice. CARE is currently carrying out a water and sanitation assessment, the results of which will be available soon.

The number of regular health surveillance reports from relief agencies decreased due to the departure of some of their staff, who previously provided operational health support at medical clinics and temporary health shelters. Their equipment and activities were handed over directly to functioning hospitals and Indonesian staff this week. The Government of Indonesia is in the process of recruiting national and local medical staff for deployment in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) to replace departed international medical staff. However, the number of registered recruits is significantly lower than the need.

Although the number of NGO medical staff is increasing in NAD, the number of patients visiting health clinics, particularly in Calang and the surrounding area, is reportedly increasing with an average of 70 outpatients per day as compared to 40 patients per day in previous weeks. This increase may reflect an improved awareness of the availability of health services, as well as a high prevalence of malaria.

Main Challenges and Response

There are serious concerns about water and sanitation in various camps and relocation sites throughout NAD. While proper assessments need to be conducted, some reports indicate a decrease in the quality of water and sanitation facilities. To respond to these concerns, a region-wide evaluation of the water and sanitation capacity is under consideration. At various meetings, the government has emphasized the need for more coordination. A special meeting is scheduled for 22 February in Banda Aceh for all parties involved in water and sanitation to develop strategies on how to strengthen overall operational capacity.

The transfer of international medical activities to local staff is a challenge. For example, there are concerns that local medical staff may not have received adequate training prior to the hand-over of activities, and local authorities may lack sufficient capacity to maintain the current health facilities.

Useful websites

Government:

www.bakornaspbp.go.id (National Coordination Board for Natural Disaster Management)

www.depsos.go.id (Department of Social Affairs)

www.depkes.go.id (Department of Health)

www.lin.go.id (National Information Board-Ministry of Information and Communication)

www.info-ri.com (Information-Republic Indonesia)

Other:

www. coe-dmha.org/tsunami.htm (daily chronology of key events)

www.apan-info.net - tsunami page (Pacific Command)

www.humanitarianinfo.org - Humanitarian Information Centre (HIC)

SRI LANKA

Situation

The last figures released by the Centre for National Operations on 1 February state that 248,866 families have been affected by the tsunami. A total of 553,287 persons have been displaced, with 411,302 of those staying with relatives and friends, and 141,985 residing in welfare centres or camps (of which there are 315). In sum, 30,974 people are reported dead, 23,176 injured and 4,698 still missing. The Sri Lankan Department of Census and Statistics is currently compiling a district-by-district census of tsunami-affected people and structures.

Former U.S. Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton visited Sri Lanka on 20-21 February for meetings with government officials and to tour tsunami-affected regions of the country. In Colombo, they held discussions on relief and reconstruction efforts with President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Foreign Minister Lakhsman Kadirgamar and other high-level government officials. On Monday, they traveled to Matara in the South to inspect tsunami damage and reconstruction efforts.

The government announced that people in the South who have lost or suffered damage to their homes will receive between Rs100,000 to Rs 250,000 (US$1,006 to $2,517) in compensation.

Overview of activities

UNFPA has assembled approximately 20,000 hygiene packs for distribution in various districts through Government Agents (GA) and humanitarian agencies involved in providing non-food relief items.

FAO has tentatively agreed with the government's boatyard organisation, Cey-Nor, to finance the repair of up to 15,000 boats. The first installment is for US$500,000. Between 30 and 40 repair yards would be established around the country depending on need. As of 17 February, Cey-Nor has repaired 971 boats throughout the country using materials provided by FAO.

UNICEF reported that the Department of Probation and Child Care in the South is in the process of making the current guardians of children who lost both parents in the tsunami legal foster parents. The Ministry of Health is also adopting this approach in Gale, Hambantota, and Matara Districts, as well as establishing child protection monitoring measures.

This week the Humanitarian Information Centre (HIC) distributed a "P-Code" Atlas to NGOs and other agencies to help them more effectively manage and share information. "P-Code" stands for place code and is similar to a postal code in that it identifies a specific geographic location and helps to systematically link data or information common to various locations. This provides an efficient means to both exchange and analyze post-tsunami relief and rehabilitation data.

Main challenges and response

In Batticaloa District, heavy equipment is urgently needed to clear the Batticaloa Lagoon and coastline areas. This is essential for fishermen to resume their work. Such heavy equipment is currently unavailable in the district. During the last GA meeting, held on 18 February 2005, the Infrastructure and Livelihood Task Forces requested the GA to seek such equipment from the Sri Lankan Army as well as assistance from the international community.

Useful Website

http://www.humanitarian-srilanka.org/Pages/tsunami.htm

The HIC website was launched this week and can be accessed at the following address: www.humanitarianinfo.org/srilanka. Any organisation that would like to submit information to this website should contact Soenke Ziesche, HIC Liaison Officer, at Soenke.Ziesche@gmail.com.

MALDIVES

Situation

The United Nations Assistant Secretary General, Director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific and the Chairperson of the UNDP Tsunami Taskforce, Mr. Hafiz Pasha concluded a three-day visit of the Maldives as part of a regional tour that spans the tsunami-affected areas of Asia. He emphasized that a key challenge in the recovery efforts will be the restoration of livelihoods and noted that it might take months or years for the agriculture sector to regain productivity due to the level of soil degradation.

Former US Presidents, Mr. George Bush and Mr. Bill Clinton made a one-day visit to the Maldives. During their visit to the capital, Male', they visited the National Disaster Management Centre where they received an update on government recovery and rehabilitation efforts.

Overview of Activities

IDPs and other tsunami-affected residents moved into five temporary housing units recently built on the two affected islands of Dhaalu Kudahuvadhoo and Meemu Kolhufushi. An estimated 70 additional housing units are still required to accommodate IDPs on these two islands alone. The Government has stated that 86 islands need assistance reconstructing and repairing homes and shelters. The most recent government figures estimate that 11,500 people have been displaced by the tsunami in the Maldives.

An outbreak of mumps has been reported in one IDP settlement. Of the ten suspected cases, two patients have been referred to the main hospital in Male' for observation, while the remaining people have been placed in isolation within the settlement.

Responding to a government request, the OCHA Inter-Agency Internal Displacement Division (IDD) will deploy a mission to the Maldives from 25 February to 7 March. The purpose of the mission is to obtain a comprehensive picture of the government's IDP relocation plans and to identify areas in which OCHA can support government and UN Country Team efforts to ensure that the relocation of IDPs takes place in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and other relevant international legal instruments, norms and standards. The IDD mission will advise on the development of a set of principles for the relocation of IDPs. It will also provide resources and technical advice on protection and assistance to the newly created IDP Unit within the Ministry for Gender, which is responsible for registering all IDPs.

Useful Websites

United Nations Maldives Disaster Relief Taskforce: http://202.1.199.67

Maldives National Disaster Management Centre: http://www.tsunamimaldives.mv

Other Information

Field office contact Aishath Jeelaan, Communications Officer, United Nations Resident Coordinator System, Tel: (960) 324501 ext. 227, mob: (960) 787 987.

OCHA contact Thierry Delbreuve, Humanitarian Affairs Officer, UN Building Male'. Mobile: (960) 778 971; email: delbreuve@un.org

THAILAND

In a statement in Phuket, Thailand on 18 February, former President Clinton said that US$11

to 12 billion will be needed over the next two years for tsunami reconstruction in the region. He said that the focus must remain on three key areas: raising more money, spending the money wisely and effectively, and ensuring that reconstruction efforts are well-coordinated.

REGIONAL

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced it will contribute US$600 million to its newly created multi-donor Asian Tsunami Fund. The fund will provide emergency assistance for the prompt restoration of services in the tsunami-affected Asian countries of India, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. ADB will accept and distribute contributions from bilateral, multilateral, and individual sources, including companies and foundations. The fund will support public services such as water, sanitation, electricity and communications; infrastructure such as roads and ports; health and education services; agriculture and fisheries; housing; restoring livelihoods; and containment of environmental damage.

PLEDGES - CONTRIBUTIONS

Regarding overall funding in response to the tsunami, according to the information available to the United Nations:

The total amount pledged, committed or contributed to all recipients is US$ 6.3 billion. Of this: 90 governments and inter-governmental organisations have pledged, committed or contributed US$5.8 billion. Private persons and institutions have contributed at least US$ 564 million.*

Total amount pledged, committed or contributed to the UN-NGO Flash Appeal is US$ 930 million. Of this:

  • 55 Governments have specifically pledged, committed or contributed US$ 682 million to 16 UN agencies, and another US$46 million to NGOs and other international organisations.

  • Private persons and institutions have contributed US$ 62 million to 7 UN agencies.**

  • The balance (US$162 million) consists of general pledges for the Flash Appeal but not yet assigned or committed to any agency or NGO.

*UN agencies are informing FTS of the private contributions they receive, but not all NGOs are; therefore this figure is known to be understated.

** More than US$200 million in additional private contributions has been reported by UN agencies, but the agencies are re-allocating the funds from Flash Appeal projects to medium-term reconstruction activities.

Updates on contributions to this disaster may be found on the Financial Tracking Service (http://www.reliefweb.int/fts; or, click "Financial Tracking" at the top of the ReliefWeb page for this disaster). Donors are requested to verify this table and inform OCHA Geneva of corrections/additions/values. Donors are encouraged to notify OCHA Geneva of their contributions to this disaster using the OCHA Standardized Contributions Recording Format, available electronically on the above-mentioned FTS website.

Together with further information on other ongoing emergencies, this situation report is also available on the OCHA Internet Website at http://www.reliefweb.int.

Aid agencies are encouraged to use the Virtual On-Site Operations Coordination Centre (OSOCC) at http://www.reliefweb.int to share information on assistance and coordinate activities.

Tel. +41-22-917 1234
Fax: +41-22-917 00 23/06 28
E-mail: ochagva@un.org

In case of emergency only: Tel. +41-22-917 20 10

Desk Officers:
Ms. Marie Spaak/Ms. Hannah Entwisle
Direct Tel. 41-22-917 1728/6786

Press contact:
(GVA) Ms. Elisabeth Byrs, direct Tel. ++41-22-917 26 53
(N.Y.) Ms. Stephanie Bunker, direct Tel. +1-917 367 51 26
(N.Y.) Mr. Brian Grogan, direct Tel. +1-212-963 11 43

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