IRC Award No.720FDA20GR00078 December 2020 Monthly COVID-19 Report

INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE, INC. December Monthly COVID-19 Report COVID-19 Emergency Response for Crisis-Affected Persons in the Lake Chad Basin and Burkina Faso

I. Overview of Challenges and Success In Chad, 30 COVID-19 cases were investigated within 24 hours, but no COVID-19 cases were confirmed in the IRC intervention areas. In Cameroon, WHO reported 939 active cases in December1 while in Burkina Faso, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases increased throughout the month of December, bringing the total of confirmed cases at 7,126 (as of January 2, 2021) with most of the cases contracted through local transmission2. This increase in cases is explained by the gatherings of the holiday period, and the recent presidential electoral campaign during which large mass gatherings were organized, without application of prevention measures. In , the number of COVID-19 cases increased as well, with 1,779 new cases detected in December, and the epicenter of the pandemic remaining in . In terms of successes in December 2020, in Burkina Faso, the IRC implemented the following activities:  Distributed maintenance and cleaning equipment to 12 water point management committees (WPMCs) in Titao and Djibo.  Installed seven hand washing stations in communal places in Titao.  Reached 12,770 people (6,885W, 5,885M) with COVID-19 prevention measures sensitizations.  Conducted a post distribution monitoring (PDM) survey in Titao and Djibo following the finalization of the WASH kits distribution in November 2021. In Niger, the IRC:  Cleaned 56 school and 44 community latrines in the Gueskerou, and communes. These activities benefited to 14,892 individuals (1,056 M, 1,144 W, 6,166 B, 6,526 G).  Decommissioned 400 old community latrines, including 200 in Chétimari and 200 in Gueskerou.  Extended standpipes in 10 schools of Diffa to ensure sufficient water supply in schools, benefitting 7,895 students (3,858 B, 4,127 G). In Chad the IRC:  Completed a second distribution of NFIs kits in the 23 project sites of Fouli, Kaya and Mamdi departments, benefiting to 21,517 households.  Conducted awareness raising on preventative measures to fight against COVID-19, reaching 98,740 people (16,254 M, 20,686 W, 33,689 G and 28,111B) in local languages.  Organized an advocacy workshop on December 3, 2020 in Fouli and December 22, 2020 on Mamdi departments on risk communication and community engagement in the fight against the COVID- 19 pandemic, which were attended by 35 (2F, 33M) civil and military authorities and traditional and religious leaders  Trained 215 complaints management committees (CMP) (110M, 105F) in Fouli, Kaya and Mamdi departments on their roles and responsibilities, from December 11 to 30, 2020.  Distributed 41 thermo-flash thermometers to health centers in Fouli, Kaya and Mamdi departments for temperature checking during the NFI kit distribution.  Met the 70 WPMCs in Fouli, Kaya and Mamdi departments to explain the importance of their roles and responsibilities.  Carried out the final satisfaction survey in December 2020, interviewing a total of 415 households.

1 UNOCHA: https://reports.unocha.org/en/country/cameroon/card/1D7RNQ8SRM/ 2 Ministry of Health situation report.

1 IRC Award No.720FDA20GR00078 December 2020 Monthly COVID-19 Report

In Cameroon, the IRC:  Distributed handwashing kits to 2,836 HHs in five villages in Mayo Sava and 6,979 HHs in 32 villages in Logone et Chari.  Continued individual awareness-raising on COVID-19 preventive measures for 29,202 (15,145M, 14,057F) people across 3,644 HHs, and mass sensitizations for 72,603 individuals (9,815 HHs).  Trained 24 WPMCs in Mayo Sava on prevention of COVID-19 and their roles and responsibilities  Installed 29 handwashing stations in eight health centers and two schools.  Conducted post distribution monitoring for the handwashing kits distributed during the project.

II. COVID-19 Indicator Updates Indicator Target Achievement this month Cumulative Notes achievement to date Sector: Health Sub-sector: Public Health Emergencies of International Concern and Pandemics Number of health 444 (124  Burkina: 0  Burkina: 40 The target in Chad was not care staff trained3 women, 320  Cameroon: 0  Cameroon: 196 reached (92 instead of 138) men)  Chad: 92  Chad: 92 due to delays in start-up,  Niger: 0  Niger: 70 leading to an overall  TOTAL: 0 TOTAL: 398 underachievement. Number of people 82,812 HHs  Burkina: 12,770  Burkina: 52,857 reached through  Cameroon: 29,202 (individual  Cameroon: 162,607 risk communication communication), 72,603 (mass (individual), 228,264 activities by communication) (mass) channel4  Chad: 98,740  Chad: 98,740  Niger: 2,220 persons (indiv. HH  Niger: 44,864 visits) 51,289 (mass radio (individual), 51,289 communication) (mass) TOTAL: TOTAL: 266,824 indiv. 587,332 indiv. Sector: WASH Sub-sector: WASH NFI Total number of 583,462  Burkina: 0  Burkina: 42,572 Number of individuals reached people receiving  Cameroon: 73,155  Cameroon: 226,426 was underachieved in Niger, as WASH NFIs  Chad: 21,517 HHs  Chad: 129.102 the HH size was lower than assistance through  Niger: 0  Niger: 159,362 initially estimated. However all modalities (w/o TOTAL: 154,447 TOTAL: 557,462 the target of HHs was reached double-counting) (30,000)

III. Plans for Next Month As January 9, 2021 is the last day of this project, only plans include project closure and transition, and work on final reports. In addition, the IRC will continue the sensitization to COVID-19.

3 NB: due to the nature of the proposed intervention, the number targeted under this standard indicator will include Community Health Workers as well as community relays and identified focal points not formally attached to the Health Care System but who will spread prevention messages. 4 This indicator will estimate the number of people sensitized in each household reached under Indicator 3, with a conservative target of minimum 1 person sensitized per household. Based on experience, it is likely that more than one person attends the session, but this will not be encouraged to limit the exposure and contacts between the promoters and the household members.

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