This update represents a sixmonth summary (31 October 2012 to 30 April 2013) of the operation (cumulative narrative and financial).
Appeal target (current): 4,367,527 Swiss francs excluding the Emergency Response Units (ERUs) value of 253,562 Swiss francs. The appeal target with the ERUs value is 4,621,089 Swiss francs.
Appeal coverage: 93%;
Appeal history:
31 October 2012: 150,000 Swiss francs were allocated from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies´ (IFRC) Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the Haiti Red Cross Society (HRCS) to respond to the emergency caused by Hurricane Sandy.
1 November 2012: A preliminary emergency appeal for 2,162,206 Swiss francs in cash, kind, or services was issued to support HRCS to assist 8,000 families (40,000 beneficiaries) for nine months.
12 November 2012: An emergency appeal was launched reflecting a revised budget for 7,511,993 Swiss francs in cash, kind or services to support HRCS to assist 8,000 families (40,000 beneficiaries) for 12 months. The budget revision was based on needs identified from the assessments conducted in the affected regions.
7 December 2012: The emergency appeal operation update no. 1 highlighting preliminary intervention and relief assistance was issued.
22 April 2013: The emergency appeal operation update no. 2 covering implementation of activities between 1-31 December 2012 was issued.
18 June 2013: A revised emergency appeal was issued. This appeal adjusts the appeal budget downwards from Swiss francs 7,511,993 to 4,367,527 Swiss francs with operational changes based on a detailed situation analysis.
The operation’s timeframe has been extended until 28 February 2014. A final report will be made available by 30 May 2014—three months after the completion of the operation.
Summary: On 1 November 2012, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) launched a preliminary emergency appeal, on behalf of the Haiti Red Cross Society (HRCS), to respond to the needs of the people affected by Hurricane Sandy, which hit Haiti during the last week of October 2012 and had a devastating impact in the Ouest, Nippes, Sud, Grand’Anse and Sud-est departments as well as in the coastal areas of Artibonite and the north-western part of the country. The activities covered under the appeal included: distribution of non-food items (NFIs), repair and reconstruction of damaged homes, early recovery of families whose livelihoods have been affected, water, sanitation and hygiene promotion, emergency health as well as disaster preparedness and risk reduction for future disasters of a similar kind.
At the onset of the storm, HRCS, in collaboration with its Partner National Societies (PNS) and IFRC, activated its contingency plan. The HRCS Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) was activated and 2,887 Red Cross volunteers were mobilized in all 13 regional branches. Thirteen HRCS ambulances were pre-positioned in the country, with seven in Port-au-Prince and six in other vulnerable regions. A total of 26 radio bases were in place for all the 13 regional branches, and team leaders had VHF radios. HRCS, together with the Haiti Civil Protection Agency (DPC ) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), proceeded with preventive evacuations on 24 October 2012, reaching 826 of the most vulnerable individuals living in 12 most-at-risk camps. The evacuations were complemented with psychosocial support provided by 38 HRCS volunteers, who were deployed to support awareness actions in all regions. Preparedness messages were sent through Radyo Kwa Wouj (Red Cross Radio) and cell-phones (SMS).
A Field Assessment and Coordination Team (FACT), with experts in water and sanitation, livelihoods, logistics and shelter, accompanied by a Regional Intervention Team (RIT) reporting focal person, were deployed during the second week of November for one month to further assess the field situation and support the HRCS and IFRC teams in designing a targeted and appropriate recovery-and-rehabilitation plan. From 13 to 27 November 2012, the FACT team, together with HRCS staff and volunteers, conducted field assessments in Nippes, Sud and Grand‘Anse departments.
Planning and preparations for early recovery assistance started alongside relief interventions. The IFRC/HRCS shelter team identified, registered and provided unconditional cash grants of USD 100 each for 735 families whose houses were either completely destroyed or partially damaged in four communities in Grand’Anse department. In addition, a water-and-sanitation Mass Sanitation Module-Emergency Response Unit (MSM-ERU) was deployed in Grand'Anse to assess and rehabilitate cholera treatment centres (CTCs) and cholera treatment units (CTUs). Nineteen CTUs and CTCs have since been rehabilitated and provided with incinerators for solid waste management. The Norwegian RC also deployed one WASH delegate to Grand Goave/Les Cayes to work closely with the IFRC WASH ERU/delegation in Jérémie. During the reporting period, the Norwegian RC has conducted disaster response Kit 2 and hygiene promotion trainings for volunteers. In addition, the construction of household latrines and sanitation blocks is underway in Sud, Petit and Grand Goave departments. These activities are being implemented directly with HRCS.
The German Red Cross (GRC) implemented the early recovery food security and livelihood component. GRC in partnership with IFRC and HRCS ensured close coordination at the operational level, the sharing of expertise and the synergy of efforts throughout the operation. Significant attention has been directed towards maintaining an efficient and effective level of coordination among all stakeholders in the target areas, especially with HRCS and its local Red Cross branches, in the case of whom the component will complement their ongoing and planned activities.
The Food Security/Livelihoods component directly contributes to the fourth enabling objective of the food security strategy of the IFRC: “strengthening community and National Red Cross Red Crescent Society’s organizational and structural capacities.” Effective food security capacity building requires special competencies, and GRC is focusing on strengthening the active listening, as well as the analytical, technical and communication skills of the HRCS staff, particularly of frontline HRCS volunteers engaging with beneficiaries. Additionally, the operation draws from best practice in the Small Enterprise Education and Promotion (SEEP) companion, the Handbook of Minimum Economic Recovery Standards (developed using the same structure as SPHERE), in terms of livelihood recovery from natural disasters, with specific attention to promoting simple and concise data collection; core standards and approaches for gender-equitable economic recovery; and communicating the results of assessments and data analyses to key decision-makers.
Towards the end of February 2013, meetings between staff, HRCS branch committees and the local authorities were held in each commune with the aim of targeting beneficiaries for agricultural support. A total of 1,800 beneficiary households were targeted using a quota system in a joint exercise between HRCS branches, local authorities (including the DPC) and the wider community. Owing to seasonality, the focus of the food security component has been on the distribution of inputs over late March and early April 2013, to be followed by trainings, field monitoring and crop yield assessment. A yam distribution to the same beneficiary households is to be implemented in late June. Additionally, GRC has developed a backyard vegetable gardening sub-component to support household dietary diversity and income-generating opportunities for approximately 900 vulnerable households as well as 35 HRCS volunteers.
The GRC has developed a tender for an Emergency Market Mapping Analysis (EMMA) assessment of the fisheries sector, as previously used for other value chains in Haiti. The results of the assessment scheduled for June will provide a defined response analysis based on the market system logic, feasibility, timing, gender preferences and risks of different options, including cash, in-kind relief or other market support, and will be communicated to a wider audience (HRCS, the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development, and other humanitarian actors). Furthermore, it will provide actors in the operational area with critical information with which to measure the cost-efficiency and cost-effectiveness of different livelihood support mechanisms and guide the strategy ahead of the forthcoming cyclone season.
The German Red Cross has made initial contact with the French agency Solidarite based in Nippes regarding their support to the coastal fisheries livelihood sector. It will be important in the coming months to foster the sharing of beneficiary lists and activity plans to ensure an appropriate response in coastal communities of Nippes.
GRC staff held a series of meetings in March with HRCS branches to identify potential activities that could be supported under the Cash-for-Work component. Beneficiary assessment, targeting and validation began at the end of this reporting period (April). Keeping up the momentum will remain important so that beneficiaries remain interested in the intervention, even when their primary and secondary livelihoods activities demand their time and effort.
Taken together, the above actions have provided HRCS staff with hands-on training and supervision in using beneficiary Household Economic Analysis (HEA) assessment for targeting and distribution management, particularly important in the context of a disaster-prone zone. Implementation speed remains vital for the successful delivery of the agricultural and Cash-for-Work components, but the quality of interventions must be ensured through proper decision-making, strategizing and post-distribution monitoring and evaluation.
Due to operational changes based on detailed situation analysis, this appeal was revised downwards from 7,511,993 Swiss francs to 4,367,527 Swiss francs. This six-month update is thus based on the revised appeal.
The major donors to this appeal include British Red Cross (from DFID - British Government), Austrian Red Cross (from the Austrian Government), The Canadian Red Cross Society (from the Canadian Government), Swedish Red Cross (from the Swedish Government), Swiss Red Cross, Finnish Red Cross, Japanese Red Cross , American Red Cross, The Netherlands Red Cross (from the Netherlands Government), German Red Cross, Danish Red Cross (from the Danish Government), China Red Cross (Hong Kong branch), Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross , New Zealand Red Cross, Red Cross of Monaco, Red Crescent Society of Islamic Republic of Iran, VERF/WHO Voluntary Emergency Relief, as well as online donations. IFRC and Haiti Red Cross Society take this opportunity to thank all the partners and donors for their support in this operation.