Operations Coordination

Appeal No. MAA00029

21/04/2009

This report covers the period 01/01/2008 to was one of the biggest disasters in some 31/12/2008. years. The operations coordination team supported the Red Cross Society in this operation from Geneva, from the Zone DMU in Kuala Lumpur, and in Myanmar itself. International Federation

In brief

Programme purpose: The programme seeks to ensure operations coordination from a local to a global level. It also covers the needs of disaster management units (DMUs).

Programme(s) summary: The operations coordination team (OCT) has coordinated the launch of 31 emergency appeals during the first six months of the year. Two of these appeals were launched in May in response to major sudden-onset disasters: Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and the earthquake that hit Sichuan province and others in China. The coordination of these emergency appeals involved extensive, regular, and fluid communication at the different levels and departments of the International Federation’s secretariat, Movement members, and external partners. Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) allocations were made as start-up funds to all the appeals except five (the Vietnam floods, the Morocco floods, -Baluchistan earthquake, Iraq-response to the humanitarian crisis, and the Zimbabwe food security operation). In addition, the operations coordination team facilitated a total of 104 allocations to DREF operations. The DMUs in the Americas and in Asia Pacific have supported the response to emergency operations throughout their respective regions.

It has been a heavy year in terms of disaster events, including two large-scale operations, coupled with decentralized secretariat structures not yet fully staffed, and OCT losing two staff in the last months of 2008. These events have led OCT activities to focus purely on , including on a considerable number of field support missions. This has resulted in very limited progress in other thematic areas of work, mostly related to the development of tools, guidelines, and procedures that would contribute to better preparedness for response.

Financial situation: The total 2008 budget is CHF 3,580,608 (USD 3,410,103 or EUR 2,387,072), of which 69 per cent covered. Expenditure overall was 47 per cent. The shortfall in expenditure in the operations coordination programme was due to the re-prioritization of activities within disaster management (DM), and the use of funds from this programme to other programmes in DM.

Click here to go directly to the attached financial report.

See also the DREF Programme Update 2008 and the Disaster Response Tools Programme Update 2008.

No. of people we help: Over 47 million people have benefited from disaster response in 2008.

Our partners: The OCT and DMUs maintain close cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and National Societies at all times, and more intensively during disasters. External partnerships mainly include the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and its member , including the non-governmental organizations (NGO) consortia. The Pan-American Disaster Response Unit (PADRU) maintains close partnerships with disaster response and humanitarian organizations, especially through the Risk, Emergency and Disaster Task Force for Latin America and the Caribbean (REDLAC). The Asia Pacific Disaster Management Unit (APDMU) represents the Federation on the IASC in Asia-Pacific.

Context

Compared to 2007, the pattern of disasters differed considerably in 2008, but the International Federation’s disaster response responsibilities (in the form of human and financial support to National Societies; or directly facilitating, managing, or coordinating larger-scale response operations) remained exceptionally heavy. There was a continued increase in smaller-scale type emergencies in the form of health and natural disasters. These were primarily responded to by the respective National Societies. Africa (178 events) and the Asia Pacific (201 events) regions have had the highest rate of disasters. In Africa, National Societies responded 214 times, supported by 46 DREF allocations and 13 emergency appeals. In Asia Pacific, National Societies responded 218 times, with 11 DREF allocations and six emergency appeals. Two of those appeals were launched for the enormous disasters that occurred in Myanmar (cyclone and floods) and China (earthquake) in May 2008. In the Americas, National Societies responded 209 times, supported by 29 DREF allocations and six emergency appeals. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), National Societies responded 23 times, with five DREF allocations and four emergency appeals launched during the reporting period. In Europe, National Societies responded 44 times, with 13 DREF allocations and two emergency appeals. A total of 104 DREF allocations have been made in 2008, with 31 emergency appeals.

The International Federation’s ongoing transition process in the form of the new operating model continues its course. Until this process consolidates fully, there will continue to be some degree of uncertainty, and a lack of clarity with regards to the roles and responsibilities at the different levels of the secretariat (country, region, zone, DMU and Geneva) in disaster response. This said, roles and responsibilities will be made clear during the first half of 2009. The disaster management team (DMT) initiative - a cross-functional, cross-divisional action group formed at the end of 2007 to improve the delivery of coordinated disaster management services, is working to further clarify the disaster response system through a disaster management services improvement project. The DMT is intended to provide the necessary leadership and consistency to meet emerging challenges in an integrated way within the context of the humanitarian reform and the International Federation’s Federation of the Future process.

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Progress towards outcomes

The programme seeks to ensure operations coordination from a local to a global level. It also covers the needs of DMUs – currently PADRU, the APDMU, the Africa Disaster Management Unit to be established in 2008, and a possible Europe and Middle East North Africa DMU.

Outcome(s)/Expected result(s)

• Enhanced and streamlined preparedness for response to ensure better and more effective International Federation support of National Societies in disaster response. • Strengthened and coordinated disaster response system, incorporating all disaster management (DM) sectors and all Federation levels, in close cooperation with the National Societies.

Achievements

Preparedness for response

• The OCT in coordination with the Operations Support Department (OSD) has carried out continuous monitoring of threats, in order to prompt early actions when needed. • Following the release of the disaster response and contingency planning guide, the OCT has focused efforts during the first half of the year in mapping existing disaster response and contingency plans throughout all regions, and analyzing their quality, relevance, and effectiveness. Insufficient human resources during most of 2008, compounded by OCT losing two staff during the last months of the year, has led the department to concentrate on disaster response, and to dedicate less time on contingency planning efforts in the last half of 2008. • To strengthen the planning process in disaster response, OCT has been coordinating the development of a plan of action process and template to ensure a more flexible planning, taking into account the chaos and resource limitations at the start of an emergency, as well as ensuring better integrated planning, including early recovery planning from the outset. The work was not finalized by the end of 2008, but is expected to be completed in 2009. • PADRU has continued to update its Regional Intervention Team (RIT) database (including the new non-RIT list - donors, the International Federation, Partner National Societies and the leadership of National Societies in the Americas). RIT trainings in information technology and telecom, information and reporting, logistics, as well as a refresher course have been completed. As part of the existing agreement between PADRU and Ericsson, a basic training course for Ericsson response was held. PADRU also organized and hosted the pre-hurricane meeting in Panama in 2008, with the participation of National Societies from the Caribbean and Central America, as well as external partners (the United Nations and other inter- governmental organizations, NGOs, donors, specialized agencies, climate centre, etc). Communication equipment was distributed to National Societies during the pre-hurricane meeting. A 4x4 driving workshop was held at the fleet base in Panama, and materials for hygiene promotion were tested in Colombia during a Water Sanitation Hygiene (WASH) group inter-agency workshop. PADRU also hosted jointly with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) a WASH cluster coordination workshop in Panama. In addition, PADRU provided support and also participated in the Field School in Belize (an initiative of the Norwegian Red Cross Society). PADRU has also carried out a workshop on cash transfer with the support of and the British Red Cross Society – the training and the cash

3 transfer component of the floods operation in Chile helped develop a video on cash transfer. Finally, the psycho-social programme and other health materials have been translated to French and Spanish. • PADRU’s preparedness for response in shelter included the preparation and revision of the 2008/2009 plan of action for shelter, and the design of pilot shelter-related projects for Peru, Bolivia, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. In 2008, PADRU was involved in shelter operations in Haiti, Cuba, Turks and Caicos and Honduras. • The APDMU response preparedness focused on contingency planning, regional disaster response (RDRT) cross-regional standardization, and the development of a “Disaster Management Capacity Mapping” database and strategy to map capacities in Asia Pacific in disaster management, as well as in technical sectors such as water and sanitation, health in emergencies, and shelter. Delegates from the APDMU assisted or co-facilitated workshops in the South Asia region, and supported the development of the South East Asia regional plan. The RDRT task force, led by APDMU, is providing oversight for the standardization of RDRT, training tools, a field handbook, scheduled technical and induction courses, and response equipment. Additionally, APDMU delegates have provided direct support with expertise for response preparedness activities in disaster management, health in emergencies, water and sanitation, and shelter. Delegates have also supported and facilitated training courses, workshops and conferences, i.e. RDRT trainings in Singapore and Suva, an emergency assessment course in , a health in emergencies training in Japan and Pakistan, water and sanitation at the Field School in Cambodia, RDRT (water and sanitation) in the Philippines, RDRT lessons-learned workshop on shelter in , and contingency planning in Afghanistan. • APDMU efforts to create a dynamic DM resource capacity database are currently in the testing phase. The DM Resource Capacity database will allow the APDMU to map human and material resources in disaster management, water and sanitation, health, shelter, and recovery throughout the Asia Pacific region. The completion and continued maintenance of the DM resource capacity database will significantly improve the ability to deploy resources in a timely manner from the best positioned location with the best suited personnel for the operational context. Several National Societies in each region have agreed to participate in the coordination of the regional disaster management coordinators. The results of this work will determine whether the database should be implemented in other zones.

Response

• OCT has coordinated the launch of 31 emergency appeals during 2008. Among these were Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, and the earthquake that hit Sichuan province and others in China which were launched in May in response to major sudden-onset disasters. Other appeals related to major emergencies were on food insecurity in Zimbabwe (appeal launched in August), the Horn of Africa food security situation (appeal launched in December), the cholera situation in Zimbabwe (appeal launched in December), extensive flooding across the Southern Africa region (appeal launched in January), and smaller appeals launched in response to Cyclone Ivan in Madagascar and, further north, to meet the preliminary needs of people affected by the drought in . Another weather-related event led to the launch of an appeal to meet the needs of people made particularly vulnerable by the cold winter in Tajikistan. At the end of June, two additional appeals were launched following flooding in Suriname, and when Typhoon Fengshen caused major damage and casualties in the Philippines. An appeal was also launched for Pakistan in connection with the Baluchistan earthquake in November. Political tension and civil strife led to three other appeals: one for Iraq, another to support the Cameroon Red Cross Society meet the needs of refugees from Chad, and for internally displaced in Georgia. Various measures were taken in Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, including the launch of an appeal, in connection with the population movements from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while an appeal was launched for floods in .

4 • The coordination of the emergency appeals involves extensive, regular, and fluid communication with the different levels and departments of the International Federation secretariat, as well as Movement members and external partners. This was carried out through a combination of activities and tools, including convening and chairing the internal emergency support group (formerly the emergency task force) meetings, facilitating teleconferences, writing up and sharing regular email updates, and participating in meetings and briefings with UN organizations and diplomatic missions. • In addition, members of the Operations Coordination Team have mobilized a total of 11 deployments (Cameroon, Kenya (twice), South Africa (twice), Myanmar, Kuala Lumpur (three times), and in China, Zimbabwe, and Panama) to support operations directly or indirectly by providing surge capacity and support to decentralized secretariat structures. This does not include other travel for meetings, workshops, and training. • During the first semester of 2008, PADRU has been assisting and supporting response to emergencies throughout the region. There have been nine DREF-supported emergency operations in South America, two in the Caribbean, including an emergency appeal for Suriname, one in Central America, and two PADRU-supported ongoing operations from last year, Tropical Storm Noel and the Mexico Floods. The Caribbean and Central American hurricane season began on June 1 and will last until the end of November. Two named storms have already hit the region, tropical storm Alma in Nicaragua and Costa Rica and tropical storm Arthur in Belize. PADRU has been providing emergency relief items, and coordinating the deployment of disaster management delegates and RIT members in order to support National Societies in their disaster response operations. • In the second half of 2008, PADRU covered 14 operations (five of which initiated emergency appeals, and nine to which DREF was used): Haiti, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and Antigua and Barbuda for the hurricane Season Costa Rica and Panama for floods, Paraguay for a storm and draught, Chile, Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia and Brazil for floods, and Colombia for a volcano. • A total of seven RITs were deployed in support of operations during the first half of 2008 in the Americas. This includes one RIT to support the dengue outbreak in Brazil, one RIT to support the National Society response to a volcanic eruption in Chile, two RITs to support a flood operation also in Chile (one of which is conducting a marketing study for cash vouchers), two RITs to support the Belize flood operation, and one RIT in support of the emergency appeal in Suriname. For the second half of 2008, 13 RITs were deployed: namely two to Haiti, three to the Bahamas, and one to Turks and Caicos – all for hurricanes, one to Chile for floods, one to Paraguay for drought, one to Costa Rica for floods, one to Nicaragua, one to Guatemala and one to Honduras for tropical depression, and one to Brazil for floods. During the hurricane season six RITs trained people were deployed to PADRU to support operations from the unit. • In 2008, PADRU covered 26 operations in 21 countries, had DREF operations for CHF 3.5 million, and emergency appeals for CHF 24 million. Fifty-three experts (RITs, delegates and staff) have been deployed, and 800 tons of aid dispatched. • The APDMU supported emergency operations throughout the region, of which four emergency appeals were launched in the Asia Pacific region during the reporting period: Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, the Sichuan earthquake in China, Typhoon Fengshen in the Philippines, and the Baluchistan earthquake in Pakistan. Assuming the role of international lead for both the Sichuan earthquake and Cyclone Nargis, the APDMU established the operations task force for global coordination of resources and information coordination. During this time, the OCT in Geneva provided support to the zone office to support and assist in coordination as well as deploying OCT staff to both Myanmar and China. In addition, the APDMU, the zone office, and the regional representation provided emergency response capacity through staff deployments for the operations support of Cyclone Nargis, the Sichuan earthquake, the Nepal and India floods, as well as the Vietnam floods. In 2008, the RDRTs were effectively deployed to support the Cyclone Nargis response in Myanmar and the Typhoon Fengshen response in the Philippines. In addition, the APDMU also supported emergency appeals and DREF operations in: Mongolia: hand, foot and mouth

5 DREF operation; Laos: floods DREF operation; Nepal: floods DREF operation, followed by an emergency appeal; India: floods DREF operation; Vietnam: floods; Pakistan: Baluchistan earthquake emergency appeal; and in Papua New Guinea: floods).

Constraints or Challenges:

• The ongoing consolidation process of a decentralized structure within the secretariat is still to reach completion, which has contributed to the uncertainty as to the roles and responsibilities of the different secretariat levels in disaster preparedness and response. This situation is being addressed, though it may take a large part of 2009, partly due to the DM services improvement project commissioned by the DMT being delayed, and partly due to the restructuring within the secretariat in Geneva. In order to minimize challenges arising from this situation, ad hoc meetings have been held between zone offices and the DMUs where they exist, which have resulted in provisional informal agreements on internal coordination and working modalities during emergencies, as well as agreeing on how some of the OCT’s tasks will be transferred to the DMUs. • A heavy year in terms of disaster events, including four large-scale operations, coupled with decentralized secretariat structures not yet fully staffed, and the loss of two positions in the OCT, have led the team to focus more on disaster response, including on increased time invested in field support missions, than originally expected. This has resulted in limited, and in some cases no progress made in other thematic areas of work, mostly related to the development of tools, guidelines, and procedures that would contribute to better preparedness for response. • Insufficient staffing and funding constrained APDMU activities, and limited its ability to complete all of its 2008 objectives for the year. Although the development of the disaster management capacity mapping is a very high priority, with limited human resources and two large disasters, this project could not be completed. However, by the end of 2008, the DMU was fully staffed with the exception of a recovery position. Five fully-funded delegate positions were also created thanks to contributions from Partner National Societies. Limited funding also placed constraints on PADRU in terms of human resources. Progress was made towards disaster management capacity mapping, and prototype software was adapted by South Asia for use with RDRT members. This software and the original one developed by the Central Europe Regional Office will be the joint models moving forward in 2009. • The opening of a strategic response centre by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECI) in Panama has raised demands for strengthened coordination between PADRU and this new regional disaster response facility. Several meetings and exchange visits have been carried out in order to ensure coordination, and to prevent the duplication of activities. • In 2008, the Asia Pacific zone office had a few key unfilled positions, such as resource mobilization, communications, and a zone disaster management coordinator. This presented significant challenges for the APDMU to fully support a more comprehensive role in the region.

Working in partnership

• The OCT maintains close cooperation with ICRC and National Societies at all times. During a disaster, a continuous flow of information ensures effective internal communication among Movement partners. The responses to Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and the Sichuan earthquake in China have brought together a very high number of Partner National Societies to support National Societies in the affected countries. An unprecedented initiative to bring together the ASEAN National Societies of South East Asia to facilitate coordination and response to Cyclone Nargis has highlighted opportunities for regional cooperation and a

6 commitment to work together in a coordinated way to support the Myanmar Red Cross Society’s response. • External partnerships mainly include OCHA, with which the OCT ensures close coordination and communication, not only at times of disaster response, but also for matters such as early warning and early action or trainings and workshops. Liaison with the wider humanitarian community takes place through regular IASC events and emergency directors meetings from IASC member organizations, including the NGO consortia. • PADRU maintains close partnerships with disaster response and humanitarian organizations, especially through the REDLAC (which includes UN agencies and IOs working at the regional level and based in Panama). Closer partnerships are being strengthened with some UN organizations, particularly with OCHA, UNICEF and the Health (WHO). • The APDMU was able to build a full working relationship with significant external partners in the area of response, and continues to build strength in preparedness for response and early recovery. The APDMU, represented by the South East Asia regional office, is a standing member of the IASC working group in the Asia Pacific which promotes the UN-led humanitarian reform process. Collaborations were strengthened with ICRC, in coordination with the ICRC Movement coordinator located in Kuala Lumpur. The Myanmar Cyclone Nargis operation benefited from this cooperation which was demonstrated by the close collaboration and ultimately the inclusion of ICRC in the Nargis emergency appeal. This is the first time the ICRC was included in a Federation emergency appeal. Partnerships with UN and NGOs, such as OCHA, WHO, and RedR were also strengthened, and in some instances, new ones were developed. A new partnership in health was forged with the International Planned Parenthood Association, which resulted in a joint training in two regions in Asia Pacific. The APDMU also made significant contributions towards the deliberations on community-based approach in the intergovernmental coordination group for the Indian Ocean tsunami warning and mitigation system (Working Group 6).

Contributing to longer-term impact

• In order to ensure better management, learning and improvement in the programme, the OCT put together an annual plan with indicators, which is reviewed quarterly and updated accordingly. The OCT is also working to track operations by maintaining a log of events, and taking decisions during the first few weeks, which will help identify and analyze lessons learnt, as well as improve decision making in future operations. • The APDMU, PADRU, and OCT worked within the new operating model for disaster management, and integrated this change of thinking in its support for disaster operations and review of report documents such as emergency appeals, operation objectives in the plan of action, operational updates, the Disaster Management Information System (DMIS) etc. Together with the Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting units in the zones, the APDMU, PADRU, and OCT worked to ensure that all reports and response plan of actions included the latest thinking and trends in different technical sectors, consideration of humanitarian values, inclusion of early recovery objectives, and recognition of the work of the National Society in response, along with ensuring that quality standards like the Code of Conduct for the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in disaster relief, and Sphere standards were considered in the operation design. • The APDMU and PADRU worked to ensure that regional capacity and human resource capacities within the zone in particular, were well utilized. In their work with regional delegations on disaster monitoring, enhancing preparedness for disaster response, and contingency planning, the APDMU and PADRU contributed to efforts to ensure timely Federation disaster response, and the achievement of the aims of the Global Agenda. The APDMU and PADRU’s support in regional training courses and workshops, with emphasis on coherent programming on global standards, provided a link to all the regions in their respective zones, and has had significantly positive effects on human resource development in the global Federation system.

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Looking ahead

• The second half of the year has traditionally been more active in terms of disaster events and response operations. Forecast teams predict a well above-average Atlantic basin hurricane season, with a prediction of 15 named storms (average is 9.6) and eight hurricanes (average is 5.9), half of which are predicted as intense (Category 3-4-5) hurricanes (average is 2.3). These predictions have been factored in the pre-hurricane season contingency planning workshop that took place in Panama during the first week of June. The monsoon season also takes place in the second half of the year in Asia. Therefore, OCT original plans in areas other than disaster response were revised to take this changed environment into account, given the limited progress achieved during the first half of the year. • PADRU’s plan is to incorporate, as well as to promote further development of new relevant activities which include early recovery, cash voucher distributions, humanitarian reform, cluster approach, shelter coordination, and public health and emergencies. • The APDMU is looking towards utilizing the technical expertise of its now completely staffed unit to be able to provide comprehensive cross-regional and global coordination in disasters that require international support. The APDMU is prepared to coordinate assistance throughout the disaster management system in response, preparedness for response and early recovery. In the second half of 2008, the zone disaster management coordinator (ZDMC) position was filled. The APDMU will work closely with the ZDMC, whose responsibilities include disaster programming in such areas as disaster risk reduction. The success of the DMU will mean a streamlined disaster management system that provides the best support for all levels, resulting in greater success in achieving the Global Agenda and Millennium Goals. w we work How we work The International Federation’s Global Agenda Goals: activities are aligned with its Global • Reduce the numbers of deaths, injuries and impact from Agenda, which sets out four broad disasters. goals to meet the Federation's • Reduce the number of deaths, illnesses and impact from mission to "improve the lives of diseases and public health emergencies. vulnerable people by mobilizing the • Increase local community, civil society and Red Cross Red power of humanity". Crescent capacity to address the most urgent situations of vulnerability. • Reduce intolerance, discrimination and social exclusion and promote respect for diversity and human dignity. Contact information For further information specifically related to this report, please contact:

• Flemming Nielsen, Head, Operations Coordination Team, Geneva; e-mail: [email protected]; phone +41.22.730 4233; and fax +41.22.733 0395.

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