Skip to main content

Cape Verde/Sahel: Volcano (Fogo) - Emergency Plan of Action Final Report, DREF n° MDRCV002

Countries
Cabo Verde
Sources
IFRC
Publication date

A. Situation analysis

Description of the disaster

On 23 November 2014, volcano eruptions occurred on Fogo Island in Cape Verde, causing widespread destruction. According to the Civil Protection Service, lava flows destroyed over 230 buildings, including homes and public infrastructures. It was also reported that 444.7 hectares of land were affected, including 120 hectares agricultural fields and livestock killed. In the Bangaeira and Portela communities, 100 percent of the buildings were destroyed and villages buried under the larva. Though the volcano did not result in any loss of lives, 1,076 people were displaced and a further 1,500 identified as needing evacuation if lava flows, reached the Cutelo Alto and Fonsaco areas. All of the people who lived in the crater of the volcano were evacuated by the National Civil Protection Service (NCP) ,Military and sought refuge either in 3 camps (Achada Furna, Mosteiros and Montegrande) in schools or stayed in Monte Grande, São Felipe, Sao Miguel Island and Santa Catarina.

On 5 December 2014, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) released 45,392 Swiss franc from the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support Cape Verde Red Cross (CVRC) respond to the needs of the affected population, with emergency relief and shelter assistance over a period of 3 months. On 11 December 2014, Operations Update no.1 was issued, which released an additional allocation of 63,347 Swiss franc to meet the emerging needs in the Cutelo Alto and Fonsaco. On 13 February 2015, Operations Update no.2 was issued, which released a further additional allocation of 10,330 Swiss franc to cover costs that were underestimated at the onset of the DREF operation and the timeframe was extended by 1 month to enable the completion of emergency relief and shelter distributions which were delayed due to the late arrival of Non-Food Items (NFIs) in the country (refer “Logistics” section for a comprehensive explanation of these issues). On 20 March 2015, the timeframe was extended by an additional month to enable completion of an operational review / lessons learned exercise, which was identified as a priority given the challenges experienced during the implementation of the DREF operation, specifically in regards to logistics and supply chain. Following the completion of this exercise, it was identified that there were unforeseen expenditures incurred during the transportation of NFIs from the IFRC Sahel office in Dakar, Senegal, to Cape Verde, which resulted in an overspend on the agreed budget for the DREF operation (for approx. 5,000 Swiss franc). In addition, NFIs that were shipped as a contingency measure (in the event that there would be evacuation of 1,500 people should lava flows reached Cutelo Alto and Fonsaco) were not required as this situation did not materialise. On 6 May 2015, the timeframe of the DREF operation was again extended by additional 1 month in order to enable the reconciliation of unforeseen expenditures incurred during the transportation of NFIs from the IFRC Sahel office to Cape Verde and discussions held on the use of NFIs that were not used.

This DREF was replenished by DG ECHO and the Spanish Red Cross/Government AECID. The major donors and partners of the DREF include the Red Cross Societies and Governments of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the USA, as well as DG ECHO, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) the Medtronic and Zurich Foundations and other corporate and private donors. The IFRC, on behalf of the Red Cross of Cape Verde would like to extend many thanks to all partners for their generous contributions.

IFRC wishes to notify the partners, who replenished this DREF that the NFIs which were procured through the IFRC Sahel office as a contingency measure, but not distributed will be retained by the CVRC to be used in future DREF or Emergency Appeal operations as required. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been developed with the IFRC and CVRC to ensure that these items are managed according to the appropriate stock management procedures.