FRANÇOIS LANDIECH/OCHA RO/NIGER/2005 Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) The CAP is much more than an appeal for money. It is an inclusive and coordinated programme cycle of: • Strategic planning leading to a Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP); • Resource mobilisation (leading to a Consolidated Appeal or a Flash Appeal); • Coordinated programme implementation; • Joint monitoring and evaluation; • Revision, if necessary; and • Reporting on results. The CHAP is a strategic plan for humanitarian response in a given country or region and includes the following elements: • A common analysis of the context in which humanitarian action takes place; • An assessment of needs; • Best, worst, and most likely scenarios; • Stakeholder analysis, i.e. who does what and where; • A clear statement of longer-term objectives and goals; • Prioritised response plans; and • A framework for monitoring the strategy and revising it if necessary. The CHAP is the foundation for developing a Consolidated Appeal or, when crises break or natural disasters strike, a Flash Appeal. Under the leadership of the Humanitarian Coordinator, the CHAP is developed at the field level by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Country Team. This team mirrors the IASC structure at headquarters and includes UN agencies and standing invitees, i.e. the International Organization for Migration, the Red Cross Movement, and NGOs that belong to ICVA, Interaction, or SCHR. Non-IASC members, such as national NGOs, can be included, and other key stakeholders in humanitarian action, in particular host Governments and donors, should be consulted. The Humanitarian Coordinator is responsible for the annual preparation of the consolidated Appeal document. The document is launched globally each November to enhance advocacy and resource mobilisation. An update, known as the Mid-Year Review, is to be presented to donors in July 2006. Donors provide resources to appealing agencies directly in response to project proposals. The Financial Tracking Service (FTS), managed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is a database of donor contributions and can be found on www.reliefweb.int/fts In sum, the CAP works to provide people in need the best available protection and assistance, on time. ORGANISATIONS PARTICIPATING IN CONSOLIDATED APPEALS DURING 2006: AARREC CESVI GSLG OCHA UNAIDS AASAA CHFI HDO OCPH UNDP ABS CINS HI ODAG UNDSS Abt Associates CIRID HISAN - WEPA OHCHR UNESCO ACF/ACH/AAH CISV Horn Relief PARACOM UNFPA ACTED CL INTERSOS PARC UN-HABITAT ADRA CONCERN IOM PHG UNHCR Africare COOPI IRC PMRS UNICEF AGROSPHERE CORD IRD PRCS UNIFEM AHA CPAR IRIN PSI UNMAS ANERA CRS JVSF PU UNODC ARCI CUAMM MALAO RFEP UNRWA ARM CW MCI SADO UPHB AVSI DCA MDA SC-UK VETAID CADI DRC MDM SECADEV VIA CAM EMSF MENTOR SFCG VT CARE ERM MERLIN SNNC WFP CARITAS EQUIP NA SOCADIDO WHO CCF FAO NNA Solidarités WVI CCIJD GAA (DWH) NRC SP WR CEMIR Int’l GH OA STF ZOARC CENAP TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY................................................................................................................ 1 Table I: Requirements, Commitments, Contributions and Pledges per Appealing Organisation and per Sector 3 Table II: List of New & Revised Projects – By Sector ........................................................................................... 4 2. THE COMMON HUMANITARIAN ACTION PLAN........................................................................ 5 2.1 THE CONTEXT AND ITS HUMANITARIAN CONSEQUENCES ............................................................ 5 Agriculture....................................................................................................................................... 5 Food security .................................................................................................................................. 6 Nutrition .......................................................................................................................................... 8 Health.............................................................................................................................................. 9 2.2 SCENARIOS............................................................................................................................ 10 2.3 STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE........................................................... 11 2.4 RESPONSE PLANS .................................................................................................................. 11 ANNEX I. ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS.................................................................................................. 15 PROJECT SUMMARY SHEETS ARE IN A SEPARATE VOLUME ENTITLED “PROJECTS” ii i iv WEST AFRICA - REVISION 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The food security and nutritional crisis that affected a number of Sahelian countries in 2004-2005 highlighted once again the high level of vulnerability of the region’s populations, which stems from a combination of adverse events and structural factors, and impact the risk of infectious disease outbreaks as well as the population's psycho-social well-being, especially that of children and women. This vulnerability stems from a combination of economic and structural factors. Initiatives to address this situation in the long term are ongoing, but in view of the fragile outlook for the food security situation in certain areas of Sahelian countries during the 2006 lean season it will also be necessary to respond to short- and medium-term needs in an effective and well-coordinated manner. In spite of good results of the 2005/2006 harvests, the situation in certain areas of the Sahel is of great concern. Joint assessment missions in early December revealed that as early as March 2006, or June 2006 at the latest, households will be at risk of having a major food access problem again.1 The mission underlines that the favourable results of the 2005/2006 harvests should not obscure the very heavy carry-over of food and asset deficit from last year. With very limited food production, high livestock mortalities, and record high prices for millet and other cereals, 2004 had long-term consequences on household assets and savings, on levels of indebtedness, and on the health and nutritional status of the population. The record high prices for cereals in 2005 induced a major negative income effect on already impoverished households, and will constitute a very heavy burden in terms of debt repayment in 2005/06. In Niger, a sack of millet borrowed in the late spring of 2005, for instance, required at least 2.5 to 3 sacks of millet as repayment by October of the same year. Considering the deep and widespread indebtedness accumulated in 2004, the reduction of the food stocks available to households at the beginning of the 2005/06 marketing year will be considerable. An important aspect of the 2005 crisis was the very critical nutritional situation of young children. The crisis has been referred to as “an unprecedented nutrition crisis in children”. From September to November 2005 the United Nations Chidren’s Fund (UNICEF) conducted a series of rapid nutrition assessments in Burkina Faso, Mali and Mauritania as well as in-depth reviews of national surveys in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. The assessments and reviews show that in these countries there is a severe nutrition crisis in children that crosses borders; malnutrition is implicated in 52% of child deaths. In other words, half the child mortality burden in these countries is due to malnutrition in children (280,000 child deaths are attributable to malnutrition each year). According to UNICEF, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad all registered acute malnutrition rates for 6-59 months old above the 15% critical emergency threshold defined by the World Health Organization (WHO); Mali and Mauritania have acute malnutrition rates above 10% defined by WHO as a threshold for a ‘serious situation.’ The aggregated prevalence of acute malnutrition for all five countries is 15.2%. The above-cited facts demonstrate that the highly publicised nutrition crisis in Niger is only one representative sample of a region-wide nutrition crisis in children that requires an urgent and effective regional response. During the Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP) that led to the formulation of a Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP) for West Africa for 2006 it was agreed that since the level of food and nutrition assistance needed in the Sahel during 2006 could not be estimated prior to assessments in October and November 2005, an action plan and projects related to the food and nutritional needs in these countries should only be finalised upon completion of analysis after the harvest. In mid-January the revision process began and in February and March the four Country Teams in Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger as well as Regional Offices of the World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF and WHO have reviewed the situation in consultation with concerned Governments and are hereby appealing for funds to cover humanitarian activities in the Sahel during the remainder of 2006. 1 From October 21 to November 4, the Government of Niger, FAO, and WFP (regional and country offices), CILSS/AGRHYMET, FEWSNet, and an observer from the US State Department’s bureau for humanitarian affairs carried out a preliminary assessment of food supply and food security. This was followed by a high-level visit to Diffa, Zinder, Maradi, Tahoua and Dosso Regions,