Operations Coordination Appeal No. MAA00029 21/04/2009 This report covers the period 01/01/2008 to Cyclone Nargis was one of the biggest disasters in some 31/12/2008. years. The operations coordination team supported the Myanmar 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, Pakistan-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 disaster response, 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 organizations, 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. 2 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 OXFAM 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