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Bangladesh

Bangladesh: Cyclone Aila Emergency Appeal No. MDRBD004 Operations Update No. 3

Attachments


Period covered by this Operations Update: 1 August to 6 September 2009;

Appeal target: CHF 2,355,249 (USD 2.2 million or EUR 1.6 million) in cash, kind, or in the form of services to support the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) to assist 36,800 families (or 184,000 beneficiaries) for nine months. <click here to see the interim financial report closing July 2009>

Appeal coverage: The appeal has 48 per cent coverage to date. The plan of action and budget is currently being revised and will be reflected in the next operations update. No further funding is required at the present.

Appeal history:

- Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF):

CHF 253,000 was allocated from the International Federation to support the national society's response to the cyclone Aila operation on 2 June 2009.

- Emergency Appeal for cyclone Aila was launched on 24 June 2009 for CHF 2,355,249 (USD 2.2 million or EUR 1.6 million) for nine months to assist 36,800 families (or 184,000 beneficiaries)

- Attached to this operations update is the interim financial report closing July 2009 which reflects CHF 1,070,872 in cash and in-kind contributions.

Summary:

The emergency activities of the operations are almost coming to an end. Hence, no further funding is sought. The programmes covered under the emergency phase are emergency response: This includes the distribution of: food items (FI) and non-food items (NFIs); emergency shelter materials; household items; primary health care services; and early recovery activities. As per the revision of the appeal a total number of 35,000 families (175,000 people) will be assisted. As of today, we were able to cover 25,000 families with food and non-food items as well as emergency shelter materials. Some of the major items for emergency shelter, such as, water and health packages like tarpaulin, hygiene parcels and water jerry cans have been mobilized from the cyclone Sidr stock. (Details are available under each objective within this report).

On 25 May 2009, a catastrophic cyclone hit the southwestern coast of Bangladesh. As per the information from the ministry of food and disaster management (MFDM), cyclone Aila had left up to 190 dead and thousands marooned in the coastal areas of six districts. Within hours of the natural disaster, as part of emergency relief, BDRCS distributed cash to its respective units to purchase dry foods. Additionally BDRCS in a joint effort with the International Federation, mobilized assessment teams for further emergency response. The government and Bangladesh' navy, together with local administrations and non-governmental organizations, provided significant assistance during the initial relief operation.

Relief efforts are continuing in the most affected districts with some early recovery interventions. The immediate response by the BDRCS/the International Federation includes non-food item packages comprising of plastic sheets, water jerry cans and hygiene parcels. Non-food items have been dispatched and distributed from pre-positioned stock among the 10,000 households of the eight most affected areas: Barisal, Bhola, Pirojpur, Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat, Barguna and Patuakhali. In addition to the distribution of non-food items, the BDRCS/the International Federation collaborated with Save the Children and Oxfam to provide 11,000 water jerry cans for beneficiaries. The jerry cans enabled the beneficiaries to collect clean drinking water from the water purification plants set up by Save the Children and Oxfam in the affected areas.

The distribution of emergency shelter kits and household items for 7,000 targeted families: 5,000 in Satkhira, and 2,000 in Khulna, is in progress and is expected to be completed by the second week of September 2009.

The affected families of three districts who are continuing to live in makeshift shelters on the embankments, roadsides, public places, and so on have been targeted for assistance with the emergency shelter package. The procurement process for emergency shelter materials for 8,000 target families: 4,000 in Shatkhira, 2,500 in Khulna and 1,500 in Noakhali, have been initiated and the physical distribution is likely to be completed by the first week of October 2009.

A detailed shelter assessment for Khulna and Satkhira districts has been conducted by a shelter delegate from the Spanish Red Cross supported by the federation emergency shelter cluster coordination team. The findings were shared within the Movement and the Aila shelter-working group. Based on the shelter assessment and recommendations from the technical working group within the disaster and emergency shelter working group, the BDRCS/the International Federation will be distributing further emergency shelter kits.

Standard food package distribution among 10,000 households has been successfully completed by 20 July 2009.

Response at a glance:

Distribution/Assessment
No. of families
Date of distribution completed/targeted
Remarks
Non-food items and dry food
10,000
15 June 09
Food distribution
10,000
20 July 09
Detailed shelter assessment 20 July 09 Report submitted
Non-food items
7,000
10 September 09 In progress
Shelter materials
8,000
30 September 09 Planned

To date the following partners have contributed to this appeal: Red Cross Society of China Hong Kong Branch, Danish Red Cross, Japanese Red Cross, Monaco Red Cross, Netherlands Red Cross/government; and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund for International Development.

The International Federation, on behalf of the BDRCS would like to take this opportunity to thank all partners who have contributed to this appeal.