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Democratic Republic of the Congo: Floods in Gemena - Operation n° MDRCD019, Emergency Plan of Action: Final report

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ДР Конго
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IFRC
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A. Situation Analysis

Description of the disaster

With the beginning of the rainy season in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during the first half of October 2016, torrential and continuous rain had been falling on the entire national territory causing flooding across the country in mid-November 2016, particularly in the city of Gemena, the capital of South Ubangi province (located at 3 hours flight from the city of Kinshasa with a surface area of 11,488 km ²).
The torrential rains, accompanied by the strong winds which continued to fall on the town of Gemena, caused flooding in the districts and other localities on the banks of the Mombonga, Sukia and Labo rivers.
Some of the affected localities include Damia, Bosakabo, Mbay, Boto, Akula and Bokondo, where there was significant material damage (destruction of houses, loss of necessities, deterioration of roads, etc.). The impact of the rain caused flash flooding, leaving many people homeless.
This situation was worsened during the following days in these same localities as suspected cases of cholera were reported. Volunteers from the Gemena Provincial Red Cross Committee assisted in the rapid assessment of the situation, the evacuation / rescue of victims and provided first aid to the seven injured people.
The assessment revealed that out of a total population of nearly 350,000 people, 2,628 people or 526 families were affected. Of these 526 families, 278 (1,390) were identified as the most vulnerable as they had partially or totally lost their homes and basic necessities. Among the most vulnerable, 105 homeless families who had lost their homes were identified; indeed, 53 houses had been completely destroyed and 52 others partially. These flood-affected families temporarily found refuge with neighbours and parents who accepted to host them. These host families shared resources and food rations with affected families, thereby stretching their modest resources. In addition, the assessment team recorded four that sources of drinking water (out of seven) had been contaminated by dirty rainwater, as well as 200 latrines either completely destroyed or flooded by the rains. The above, added to the pronounced promiscuity of these families was a major factor in triggering the cholera epidemics, which already affected the region (source: Direction for Disease Control, DRC Government). Indeed, there was a high risk of a public health disease outbreak due to the proliferation of vector and water-borne diseases.
In addition, there were concerns about the prevailing access to drinking water, sanitation, and other resources required for personal hygiene. In addition, due to contamination of the local water sources, women and girls, primarily, had to trek for one kilometre to the nearest water source. In light of the above, the Disaster Relief Emergency Funds (DREF) allocated CHF 183,682 to enable the DRC RC assist 1,390 people or 278 families in the areas of WatSan, hygiene promotion, emergency shelter construction, distribution of NFIs, and capacity building of the local RC volunteers amongst others, for a period of three (3) months.
Given the logistical constraints, such as the scarcity of flights from Kinshasa to Gemena, the DREF implementation team including a RDRT Shelter, an IFRC Logistician and a Head of Operations, were only able to reach Gemena during the second half of the month of January 2017, leading to a timeframe extension of an additional month. As such, the operation ended on 23 March 2017 after a four months long implementation period.
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 Society of Democratic Republic of Congo would like to extend many thanks to all partners for their generous contributions.

Summary of the response

Overview of Host National Society

The DRC RC is a neutral humanitarian organization, auxiliary to public authorities, with a network of approximately 160,000 volunteers (one of the largest volunteer networks in the world). It has Provincial Disaster Response Teams (11 PDRTs), a national disaster response team (NDRT) with 30 members, of which 10 are members of the Regional Disaster Response Team (RDRT).
The Red Cross of the Democratic Republic of Congo has a long experience in the management of natural disasters (volcanic eruptions, landslides, floods, population movements, etc.) and armed conflicts. In the area of health in 2016, the DRC experienced three epidemics, namely Ebola, yellow fever and cholera. Indeed, the latter has remained endemic in some parts of the DRC.
As soon as disaster strikes, the RC committee in the affected area deploys volunteers to the field for a rapid assessment, to provide relief through first aid to the injured and evacuate victims.
As part of the response operation, the DRC RC targeted six areas of intervention including emergency shelter and non-food items (NFI) distribution (NFI), Watsan (water, sanitation and hygiene promotion) through the purification and improvement of water sources, health and care through first aid to injured victims and capacity building of the local Red Cross branch. Some 90 volunteers were mobilized for the implementation of planned activities in these different areas of intervention.
All these activities were carried out in favour of all the 278 most vulnerable households on the eight (8) sites targeted by this operation in the city of Gemena: Salongo I, Salongo II, Gemena I, Gemena II, Sukiya, Sekpili, Mombonga.

Overview of Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in country

At the time of the floods, Movement coordination meetings were organized in Kinshasa with the participation of the IFRC, the ICRC and the Partner National Societies in the country, notably the Belgian, French, Swedish, Spanish and Canadian Red Cross Societies.
In addition to participating in the above-mentioned coordination meetings, the Belgian Red Cross contributed to the success of this operation through its generous contribution in replenishing the DREF thanks to funds from its government, amounting to CHF 55,105.
The IFRC provided support to the DRC RC in posting the DMIS that led to the allocation of funds for this DREF operation as well as the necessary technical expertise for the smooth implementation of the operation.
This was done by facilitating the deployment of the RDRT shelter of the ground and availing its in-country delegate staff, who greatly contributed to the success of this operation, especially in the provision of logistics services.
Overview of non-RCRC actors in country The Provincial Government of South Ubangi provided a financial assistance of one million Congolese francs (1,000,000) and twenty-five (25) pieces of tarpaulins to all the victims.
As part of the coordination and partnership and given the extent of the damage, the humanitarian actors present in the city were mobilized by the Provincial Minister for Gender, Family, Children, Social Affairs and Humanitarian Actions and the following actions were undertaken:

· Rapid assessment of the situation: Identification and registration of victims on the various sites (neighbourhoods) by technicians of the Provincial Ministry of Gender, Family, Child, Social Affairs and Humanitarian Actions as well as DRC Red Cross volunteers.

· Organization of the Humanitarian Watch Coordination meeting on 16 November 2016, bringing together all humanitarian actors present in the area, notably NGOs such as VISION MONDIALE and ONGD LES AIGLONS, the DRC Red Cross, the Civil Society Coordination, the Belgian development agency CTB, the Social affairs and Humanitarian action units, etc., around the Provincial Minister of Gender, Family, Children, Social Affairs and Humanitarian Actions. During this meeting, an inventory of the evolution of the situation was shared with a view to the search for solutions to help the victims.

· Preparation of a summary report of the situation at the provincial headquarters of the Red Cross by an ad hoc committee, on the recommendation of the humanitarian watch committee meeting. This done with the aim of constituting an advocacy document in favour of the victims to the Congolese Government and its various partners.