Period covered by this Ops Update: June to December, 2013. This update represents a six-month summary of the operation (cumulative narrative and financial).
Appeal target (current): CHF 885,092 ( 870,092 + 15,000 ERU)
Appeal coverage:71%
Appeal history:
Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF): CHF 252,24 2 was initially allocated from the Federation DREF to support the National Society to respond to the needs of affected population in terms of emergency latrines, water treatment, training of volunteers and sensitization campaigns on hygiene promotion
Emergency Appeal was launched on 26 June for CHF 1,489,072
Operation Update 1 was published on July 31, 2013
Operation Update 2 was published on August 5, 2013
A Revised Emergency appeal was launched on 11 December and saw the reduction of the budget from CHF 1,489,092 to 885,092 and extended the timeframe by one additional month until end of January 2014.
This six month operation update reports on progress and announces a further 2 month timeframe extension to accommodate delays caused by customs constraints .
Summary:
The conflict in Darfur, Sudan resulted in displacement of population into the Sila region of Chad in March 2013. The situation has affected a significant number of people (refugees and returnees as well). According to the last registration carried out by the UNHCR, there were 21,251 refugees sheltered in the Abgadam camp in the Sila region.
The Red Cross of Chad deployed its volunteers from the early hours of the crisis to welcome and shelter the refugees in official sites proposed by the local authorities in Abgadam. The Red Cross of Chad collaborated with UNHCR and provided vehicles to transport returnees into more secure locations. Volunteers also supported UNHCR in the distribution of food and non-food items and in the pre-registration process.
The funds released from the DREF allocation enabled the provision of tarpaulins, buckets, sleeping mats, and soaps for 1,280 families and construction of 300 emergency latrines. To support the operation, 31 volunteers were trained to provide support and three Regional Disaster Response Team members were deployed.
The DREF operation was immediately followed by a six month emergency appeal to support 3,000 families through the distribution of tarpaulins, wood and construction tools, build community latrines in the camp and distribute non–items such as plastic mats, blankets, mosquito nets, kitchen sets and loincloths for refugees in the camp of Abgadam.
Despite early response from donors to support the affected victims, logistical challenges hampered the implementation of planned activities in the field. The operational area is located near the border with Sudan, which is isolated during the rainy season between the month of June and September. The only means to access the area was through a helicopter made available by the UNHCR.
Some of the NFIs procured at national level are currently stored in the buffer warehouse in the town of Abeche pending their dispatching in the field. But NFIs procured from Dubai such as tarpaulins and from neighbouring Cameroon s uch as mosquito nets, soaps, and water tanks have been blocked for almost two months by Chadian customs. In early December, the Chadian government issued a statement requesting from all aid agencies operating in the country to have a Tax Identification Number (Numero d’Identification fiscale in French) before clearing anything out from the customs. Despite having a state agreement with the Chadian government which exempts from all taxes, the IFRC country office was obliged to acquire the document. The obtainment of the document took more than one month and in mid January the IFRC country office was officially registered at the customs and could have the possibility to clear items out.
The National Society has a bilateral agreement with UNHCR for service provision of distribution of food and non-food items, shelter materials, water and sanitation activities and warehousing. During the reporting, a total RDRTs member and one ERU logistics roster member were deployed and supported volunteers in the field throu gh training and coaching. Based on field monitoring and evaluation reports, conditions of affected persons have improved but gaps remain in different field such as water provision, sanitation, shelter and non food items.
In mid December, the emergency appeal was revised to reflect a more realistic approach to focus on priority emergency activities based on available funds in the following areas (distribution of tarpaulins and tools) water (distribution of aqua tabs and hygiene promotion), sanitation (distribution of jerry cans and soaps), health (distribution of mosquito nets and health promotion). The revised emergency appeal aims to provide humanitarian assistance to 3,000 households located in the camp of Abgadam in the Sila region. Due to the logistics constraints with the remaining non-food items, this 6 months update does not present major changes in the activity progress since the update published in December.
In order to finish activities within the operational timeframe, this six months operation update extends the operational timeframe by two months. The operation will therefore be completed 31 March 2014. A final report will be made available by 30 June 2014.
