Credits The FY 2000 Annual Repor t of the U.S. Agency for Cover photo information: International Development/Bureau for Humanitarian (large photo) A building collapses from damage due Response/Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance to flooding in souther n V ietnam (photo cour tesy of was researched, written, and produced by Esmie IFRC). Alegrado, Olga Bilyk, Jamy Bond, Kasey Channell, Laura Coughlin, Brady Har tley, Faye Henderson, Jef f (top photo left) USAID/FFP emergency food com­ Ladenson, Alex Mahoney , W esley Mossburg, Matt modities are of f-loaded at a USAID/OFDA-funded Mueller, Joseph Ponte, Pia Rice, Amy Sink, Amy Tohill- feeding center in Sudan (photo by Mikaela Meredith, Stull, Katharine Winings, and Giselle Zimmer man of USAID/OFDA). MacFadden & Associates, Inc./Labat Anderson, Inc. in Washington, D.C. under contract number AOT -C- (top photo center) A helicopter delivers relief supplies 00-00-00224-00. for flood victims in souther n Vietnam (photo cour tesy of IFRC). Design by Robert King. (Top photo right) Children await supplemental feeding at a USAID/OFDA-funded project site in Somalia (photo by Mikaela Meredith, USAID/OFDA). USAID/OFDA Publications In addition to its annual repor t, USAID/OFDA pro­ Current repor ts are available on several Inter net duces several other publications that are available on gophers and World Wide Web sites, such as: the Internet and by request. One of the most useful is the Field Operations Guide (FOG), a pocket-sized USAID Home Page manual that contains methodology for conducting dis­ http://www.usaid.gov aster assessments, as well as infor mation on USAID/OFDA response procedures. USAID/OFDA UNOCHA ReliefWeb Home Page also produces current situation reports on selected dis­ http://www.reliefweb.int asters and crises around the world, which describe the humanitarian situation and the corresponding Volunteers in T echnical Assistance (VIT A) Disaster USG response. Information Center http://www.vita.org OFDA FY 2000 3 CONTENTS Credits and USAID/OFDA Publications..........3 Environmental Degradation and Disasters: Meeting the Challenge..................................10 Message from the Director ............................6 Prior-Year and Non-Declared Disasters ......16 How the U.S. Government Provides Humanitarian Aid............................................7 FY 2000 Declared Disasters ........................17 Africa Angola – Complex Emergency......................19 Burkina Faso – Returnees..............................21 Burundi – Complex Emergency ....................22 Central African Republic – Health Emergency ......................................24 Feature: Urban Flood Mitigation Project in Bamako, Mali ..............................24 Feature: Food for Thought ............................32 Comoros – Health Emergency ......................25 Ghana – Floods ..............................................34 Democratic Republic of the Congo – Kenya – Drought ............................................34 Complex Emergency ..................................26 Mauritania – Floods........................................35 Democratic Republic of the Congo – Morocco – Drought ........................................36 Floods ..........................................................28 Republic of Congo – Democratic Republic of the Congo – Complex Emergency ..................................36 Health Emergency ......................................28 Rwanda – Complex Emergency ....................37 Democratic Republic of the Congo – Accident........................................................29 Sierra Leone – Complex Emergency ............38 Djibouti – Drought ........................................29 Somalia – Complex Emergency ....................40 Eritrea – Complex Emergency Southern Africa – Floods ..............................43 and Drought ................................................29 Sudan – Complex Emergency ......................46 Ethiopia – Complex Emergency Uganda – Complex Emergency ....................48 and Drought ................................................31 and Asia the Pacific China – Earthquake ......................................51 India – Cyclone ............................................52 India – Drought ............................................52 India – Floods................................................53 Indonesia – Complex Emergency ................55 Indonesia – Earthquake ................................57 Southeast Asia – Floods ..............................59 Indonesia – Floods ........................................58 Vietnam – Floods ..........................................61 Mongolia – Winter Emergency ....................58 Vietnam – Floods ..........................................62 Philippines – Volcano ..................................59 Feature: Disaster Preparedness in Asia ........63 4 OFDA FY 2000 CONTENTS Europe and the Near East Afghanistan – Complex Emergency ............65 Afghanistan – Drought ..................................67 Albania – Refugees ........................................67 Georgia – Drought ........................................67 Greece – Fire ................................................68 Hungary – Accident ......................................68 Hungary – Floods ..........................................69 Pakistan – Drought ........................................69 Romania – Accident ......................................70 Romania – Floods ..........................................70 Tajikistan – Drought ......................................74 Serbia-Montenegro – Complex Emergency ..................................70 Turkey – Earthquake ....................................74 Feature: The Effort to Divert Ukraine – Accident ........................................75 a Potential Disaster: Lake Sarez ....................73 Uzbekistan – Drought ..................................75 Latin America and the Caribbean Bolivia – Drought ..........................................77 Caribbean – Hurricane ..................................78 Chile – Floods ................................................78 Ecuador – Volcano ........................................79 El Salvador – Health Emergency..................79 Honduras – Floods ........................................79 Mexico – Floods ............................................80 Feature: The Central American Mitigation Initiative ......................................80 Paraguay – Drought ......................................81 Venezuela – Floods ......................................82 Feature: USAID/OFDA’s Global Training Program ............................84 Appendix: Summary of USAID/OFDA Response in FY 2000 ....................................86 Commonly Used Acronyms ..........................93 OFDA FY 2000 5 OVERVIEW MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR Finding Like Minds in Hard Times he requirements for humanitarian assistance, unfortunately, are on the increase. The human­ Titarian community has an obligation to recog­ nize this and respond in as creative and proactive a manner as possible. One of the great rewards of working in the humanitarian arena is the mutual rein­ forcement that people of like minds provide to each other; assumptions are made that don't require explanation: "Yes, we will find some way of help­ ing...was that ever a question?" The humanitarian community has begun to think and operate in partnerships that reflect the realities of working in environments that are increasingly insecure. Reinforcement like this is intellectual, emotional, and moral, and goes a long way during hard times. The individual attitudes have a direct impact on the organizations they represent, which in tur n encour­ ages institutionalization of truly cooperative behavior. Beneficiaries of What we have increasingly seen, however , are USAID/OFDA- arrangements and understandings put in place that standards of humanitarian relief. The Sphere Project* funded drought greatly facilitate developing a shared agenda. At the is conspicuous among these ef forts. assistance programs same time, the unique identities of the individual in Paraguay (photo organizations involved have not been compromised. On a personal note, this will be my final message as by Alejandro James, The humanitarian community has begun to think and Director. It has been an extraordinar y experience in USAID/OFDA). operate in par tnerships that reflect the realities of the best of company. Thank you all. working in environments that are increasingly inse­ cure. Donors have acknowledged the value of such arrangements by recognizing their work in funding H. Roy Williams decisions. The development of cooperative arrange­ Director ments represents a positive step in this direction, as Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance reflected in the concer ted efforts set forth to raise the * The Sphere Project is an inter-agency collaborative ef fort to increase the ef fectiveness of humanitarian assistance through a Humanitarian Charter and minimum standards guide. 6 OFDA FY 2000 OVERVIEW HOW USAID/OFDA WORKS How the U.S. Government Provides Humanitarian Aid The Office of U.S. Foreign (USAID/PVC), and the Of fice of American Schools Disaster Assistance and Hospitals Abroad (USAID/ASHA). The Of fice of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) is the office within USAID responsible USAID/OFDA recently reorganized into three divi­ for providing non-food humanitarian assistance in sions, under the management of the Of fice of the response to inter national