EUROPEAN COMMISSION HUMANITARIAN AID OFFICE (ECHO) Emergency Humanitarian Aid Decision 23 02 01 Title: Assistance to the victims of Cyclone Gafilo, Madagascar Location of operation: MADAGASCAR Amount of Decision: Euro 2,000,000 Decision reference number: ECHO/MDG/BUD/2004/01000 Explanatory Memorandum 1 - Rationale, needs and target population. 1.1. - Rationale: On 7 March 2004, at a time of high tide amplified by a full moon, tropical Cyclone Gafilo hit North-East Madagascar near the city of Antalaha, at a speed of 120 Km per hour. There are reports of some winds reaching speeds of 200-300 Km per hour. The cyclone then crossed the northern part of the island and entered the Mozambique Channel near the town of Mahajanga on 8 March. It returned on 9 March close to Morondava, a town on the South- West coast, crossed the southern tip of the island, and was reduced to a tropical storm by the time it reached Tolanaro in the South-East. The most serious damage was caused by the wind, whilst the most extensive damage was caused by the flooding resulting from the cyclone. This occurred before Madagascar had had time to recover from Cyclone Elita, which caused considerable damage to several of its provinces between 26 January and 4 February 2004. The Government of Madagascar declared an emergency and appealed for international assistance on 8 March 2004. It is impossible to provide precise statistics on the damage caused at this stage, since many areas are inaccessible. However, an ECHO mission arrived in Madagascar on 8 March and, assisted by the EC Delegation, the Government of Madagascar and some ECHO partners, undertook several assessment surveys. Some areas could only be assessed from the air. Clearly, there is major damage to infrastructure and to agriculture, although loss of lives seems limited, with shipwrecks being the biggest cause. 1.2. - Identified needs: As stated, assessment is still ongoing. However, the following needs have already been identified: 1/8 • Re-establishment of access, by emergency repairs to roads and bridges, to enable cyclone victims to receive assistance • Decontamination of water, plus hygiene measures, to prevent outbreaks of cholera and other water-borne diseases • Epidemic surveillance and primary health care, linked to damaged health facilities and lost medicines, to reduce the spread of malaria and other illnesses • Food security for survival, as many families have lost their immediate food stocks • Non-food items, linked to shelter, to enable families to rebuild their homes 1.3. - Target population and regions concerned: Given the immense problems of access, it is very hard to produce accurate figures on potential beneficiaries at present. It is estimated that approximately 50,000 people are seriously affected by Cyclone Gafilo in North and North-East Madagascar, with a further 20,000 seriously affected in the North-West and South-West of the island. In the North-East, where the cyclone entered, the wind damage is worst, but the North-West is experiencing its worst floods (caused by the cyclone) since 1984. However, the number of people who are affected in some way (for instance, by loss of livestock or by children being unable to attend school) is much greater, but they will not all require humanitarian aid. One week after the cyclone, the following figures were supplied by the Government’s Emergency Response Centre, the Conseil National de Secours: Area (province) People Damaged Infrastructure Agricultural Food stocks Livestock without private destroyed area flooded destroyed(T) destroyed shelter houses & damaged (homeless) (Ha) MAHAJANGA 7 504 2 258 387 2 370 17 45 (NW) ANTSIRANANA 173 804 2 125 47 1 216 0 330 (N/NE) TOAMASINA 9 913 656 55 215 0 0 (NE) TOLIARA 400 312 0 2 430 0 0 (S/SW)[1] 1 not including the figures for Morondava, which are 5 000 affected families 1.4. – Risk assessment and possible constraints: As well as immediate humanitarian needs, there are medium-term and long-term needs linked to infrastructure (such as road repairs and the rebuilding of schools, homes and health centres) and to agriculture, given the loss of livestock and the acres of damaged rice and vanilla plantations. Humanitarian assistance must be carefully planned, to ensure complementarity with the Commission’s medium-term and long-term programmes under the European Development Fund and the Food Security Budget Line. Emergency assistance also faces the constraint of access, which must be solved, in order for aid to be delivered. Moreover, given the huge access difficulties currently being faced, accurate need assessments are impossible, and this is another constraint. 2/8 2 - Objectives and components of the humanitarian intervention proposed. 2.1. - Objectives: Principal objective : To save and preserve lives during the emergency caused by Cyclone Gafilo and in its immediate aftermath Specific objective : - To provide emergency assistance to cyclone victims via re-establishment of access and in the sectors of water, sanitation, health, food security and non-food items 2.2. - Components: • Emergency repairs to roads and bridges • Provision of potable water via the cleaning of boreholes and wells and the issue of decontaminants • Appropriate hygiene activities, such as distribution of soap and health information • Provide epidemic surveillance and the required response • Undertake nutritional surveillance and distribute emergency rice seeds and food, as required • Provision of tools and nails, for the rebuilding of homes 3 - Duration expected for actions in the proposed Decision. The duration of humanitarian aid operations shall be 6 months. If the implementation of the actions envisaged in this Decision is suspended due to force majeure, or any comparable circumstance, the period of suspension will not be taken into account for the calculation of the duration of the humanitarian aid operations. Depending on the evolution of the situation in the field, the Commission reserves the right to terminate the agreements signed with the implementing humanitarian organisations where the suspension of activities is for a period of more than one third of the total planned duration of the action. The procedure established in the Framework Partnership Agreement in this respect will be applied. 4 - Previous Decisions of the Commission in the context of humanitarian aid in Madagascar since 2002 List of previous ECHO operations in MADAGASCAR 2002 2003 2004 Decision number Decision type EUR EUR EUR ECHO/MDG/210/2002/01000 Emergency 1,000,000 (anti-locust campaign) Total 1,000,000 0 0 (y-2)+(y-1)+(y) Dated : 17/03/2004 Source : HOPE 3/8 5 - Other donors and donor co-ordination mechanisms. Donors in MADAGASCAR the last 12 months 1. EU Members States (*) 2. European Commission 3. Others EUR EUR EUR Austria 0 ECHO 0 Belgium 0 Other services Denmark 0 Finland 0 France 0 Germany 70,268 Greece 0 Ireland 0 Italy 0 Luxembourg 0 Netherlands 0 Portugal 0 Spain 0 Sweden 0 United Kingdom 0 Subtotal 70,268 Subtotal 0 Subtotal 0 Grand total 70,268 Dated : 17/03/2004 (*) Source : ECHO 14 Points reporting for Members States. https://hac.cec.eu.int Empty cells means either no information is available or no contribution. 6 Budget 6.1. Budget impact: CE Initial Available Credits for 2004 (23 02 01) 472 000 000 Supplementary Budgets - Transfers - Total Available Credits 472 000 000 Total executed to date 215150 368 Available remaining 256849632 Total amount of the Decision 2 000 000 6.2. Budget breakdown by specific objectives 4/8 Principal objective: To save and preserve lives during the emergency caused by Cyclone Gafilo and in its immediate aftermath Specific objectives Allocated amount by Geographical area of Potential partners1 specific objective operation (Euro) Specific objective 1: 2,000,000 Antsiranana Province - CARE - FR To provide emergency assistance to Mahajanga Province - CROIX-ROUGE - FRA cyclone victims via re-establishment of Toamasina Province - MDM - FRA access and in the sectors of water, Toliara Province - MEDAIR UK sanitation, health, food security and non- - MSF - FRA food items TOTAL:2,000,000 1 CARE FRANCE, (FR), CROIX-ROUGE FRANCAISE, MEDAIR UK (GBR), MEDECINS DU MONDE, MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES (F) 5/8 COMMISSION DECISION of on the financing of emergency humanitarian operations from the general budget of the European Union in MADAGASCAR THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Union, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/96 of 20 June 1996 concerning humanitarian aid2, and in particular Article 13 thereof, Whereas: (1) Tropical Cyclone Gafilo hit Madagascar on 7 March 2004 with wind speeds of over 120 Km per hour. (2) Serious damage was caused by the wind and extensive damage was caused by the flooding resulting from the cyclone. (3) This occurred before Madagascar had had time to recover from Cyclone Elita, which damaged several of its provinces in January and February 2004. (4) The Government of Madagascar declared an emergency and appealed for international assistance on 8 March 2004. (5) Humanitarian aid operations financed by this Decision should be of a maximum duration of 6 months. (6) It is estimated that an amount of 2,000,000 Euro from budget line 23 02 01 of the 2004 general budget of the European Union is necessary to provide humanitarian assistance to over 60,000 victims of Cyclone Gafilo, taking into account the available budget, other donors’contributions and other factors. HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: Article 1 1. In accordance with the objectives and general principles of humanitarian aid, the Commission hereby approves a total amount of 2,000,000 Euro for emergency humanitarian aid operations to provide the necessary assistance and relief to victims of Cyclone Gafilo in MADAGASCAR by using budget line 23 02 01 of the 2004 general budget of the European Union.