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Burkina Faso: Floods Emergency Plan of Action Final Report MDRBF013

Countries
Burkina Faso
Sources
IFRC
Publication date
Origin
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A. Situation analysis

Description of the disaster

In Burkina Faso, heavy rainfall, which started in June and continued until 23 July 2016 led to widespread flooding across four of the 13 regions in the country. It has been estimated that up to 10,260 people were affected, with ten injures and four deaths reported. Initial response and support were provided by the government that was however, overwhelmed with the continued rains.

The latest areas to be affected on 18 - 23 July were in Ouagadougou, Kadiogo Province, in the centre region of Burkina Faso, with floods which affected 929 families (4,235 people) in six administrative districts. It was reported to be as severe as the floods that affected the capital in 2009, which was the worst in the city`s history. Flood waters washed away people's belongings, destroyed food stocks, savings, livestock and petty trade materials, while houses were completely or partially destroyed, latrines inundated and water sources contaminated. Most of the affected population sought shelter in schools, where the hygiene conditions were precarious, and conducive to the outbreak of cholera epidemics and other waterborne diseases. During the initial assessment of the humanitarian needs of the affected people, cases of diarrhoea among children were reported.

On 5 August 2016, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) released CHF 194,005 from the Disaster Relief & Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the Burkinabe Red Cross Society (BRCS) to respond to the needs of the flood affected population. The DREF operation was intended to provide 4,235 people (929 families) across a range of sectors (relief, shelter, as well as water, sanitation and hygiene promotion), over a period of three months.

One month before the operation ended a request to revise the DREF and extend the operational timeframe by one month was introduced. However, the request was not granted. It is worth explaining here that the extension would have enabled the assistance of additional communities also affected by the floods but not considered during the first needs assessment conducted at the onset of the operation. Indeed, a second field needs assessment conducted in Kadiogo Province had revealed that the needs of additional families needed to be taken in charge. As for the budget its revision would have had allowed to take into account donations to the operation. Indeed, the Sahel Country Cluster had stock in Dakar which needed to be liquidated and was donated to the operation at no cost.

This DREF has been replenished by Belgian Red Cross and the Belgian Government. 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, Zurich and Coca Cola Foundations and other corporate and private donors. The IFRC, on behalf of the Burkinabe Red Cross Society would like to extend many thanks to all partners for their generous contributions.

Summary of response

Overview of Host National Society

The Burkinabe Red Cross Society as auxiliary to the public authorities, is one of the key partners of the Burkina Faso Government, along with the Conseil National de Secours d'Urgence et de Rehabilitation (CONASUR), in disaster management. The National Society has experience in responding to floods, including operations in 2009 (Ouagadougou), 2010 (Gnagna) and 2015 (Gourma, Houet, Ioba and Sanguines) across a range of sectors (relief, shelter, psychosocial support and water, sanitation and hygiene promotion). The BRCS is supported by a network of 40,000 volunteers, approximately 60% of whom are active. The Burkinabe Red Cross Society in collaboration with the Conseil National de Secours d'Urgence et de Rehabilitation (CONASUR) conducted assessments as soon as the flooding occurred. Following the assessments, the National Society undertook a package of activities to provide relief to the affected population. A total of 70 volunteers, 3 team leaders and 2 supervisors were involved in the response activities. Indeed, 35 volunteers, one team leader and one supervisor were trained with PHAST approach. The trained volunteers conducted activities for personal and domestic hygiene, environmental hygiene and excreta disposal, household water treatment, through household visits, focus group discussions and mass sensitization. In total, 1,035 households were reached. The 35 remaining volunteers and two team leaders and one supervisor were trained to support families in emergency shelter construction. However, the distribution of shelter tool kits planned could not be done due to the lack of assigned site to allocate them. Some, 35 volunteers, selected from the two previous groups were briefed on relief and conducted NFI distributions. A total of 842 families received complete kits (Hygiene kit and settlement kit) while others 42 received only selected items because they had already received items from Oxfam. Therefore, a total of 884 families were assisted with NFIs. Additionally, 25 volunteers selected from the two groups were trained in post distribution data collection via Magpi