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Southeast Asia: Annual Appeal No. MAA51001 Final Report 2006-2007

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This report covers the period of 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2007 of a two-year planning and appeal process.

In brief

Programme summary: The regional office made consistent efforts throughout 2006-2007 to understand the needs of Southeast Asian national societies and provide tailor-made support at country level. It consolidated regional network capacities and partnership relations, both within and outside the Movement, to this end. Examples of this included: an independent regional review of national society work; regional health mapping; four 'retreats' (Philippines, Timor-Leste, Lao PDR and Cambodia) to hear directly from national societies on their priorities for change and how the regional secretariat can help; regular sector consultation meetings in each of the four Global Agenda goal areas; annual leadership/secretaries-general forums (the latest in September 2007, hosted by Cambodian Red Cross, in preparation for the November 2007 statutory meetings); and management meetings (heads of delegations, partner national society regional heads and unit heads meetings three times a year). This comprehensive and effective approach will continue in 2008 and 2009 with the support of both host and partner national societies.

Financial situation: Total 2006-2007 budget CHF 8.77 million (USD 7.84 million or EUR 5.3 million) out of which 69% is covered.

No. of people helped: The regional programme principally supports the 11 national societies of Southeast Asia, who in turn work with millions of people.

Our partners: The Federation regional team's primary partners are the 11 Southeast Asian national societies as well as relevant government ministries, such as health and disaster management bodies. Within the Movement, there has been strong and loyal support from our multilateral supporters, which include: the Swedish Red Cross/government, Norwegian Red Cross/government, Australian Red Cross/ government, Japanese Red Cross, Finnish Red Cross, New Zealand Red Cross, German Red Cross, Netherlands Red Cross, Austrian Red Cross, the Hong Kong branch of China Red Cross, Italian Red Cross, Capacity Building Fund (CBF), and Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF). Outside of the Movement, UN OCHA (through the Inter Agency Standing Committee), UNESCAP, WHO and several UN agencies are important partners in addition to NGOs such as CARE and Oxfam.

Current context

The Southeast Asian secretariat team concentrated on country-level support to national societies through country delegations. This approach secured significant gains, including the strengthening of:

- Volunteer programming in the Philippines,

- Disaster response planning in Cambodia,

- Disaster management in Lao PDR,

- Health and water and sanitation programmes in Lao PDR,

- Planning processes in Thailand,

- National preparedness planning through the national society in Timor-Leste,

- National society avian influenza preparedness planning in several countries including Lao PDR, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, and Viet Nam,

- Psychosocial support in Indonesia, Philippines, Viet Nam, and Thailand.

Underpinning this approach was the effective mapping, coordination and deployment of national society resources. One example of this was the success of Southeast Asian national society personnel trained in regional disaster response teams (RDRT).

Five partner national societies - American, Danish, French, German, and Finnish - attended biweekly information/coordination meetings as well as heads of delegations management meetings. Formal integration agreements are in place for these partners. These agreements in 2008 and 2009 will expand towards stronger coordination and operational alliances. The tsunami water and sanitation coordinator for Indonesia, Maldives and Sri Lanka, the international disaster response law (IDRL) programme and the Global Road Safety Partnership were also hosted in the Bangkok office.

The Southeast Asian regional team faced significant demands on its time from various meetings involving the UN (OCHA mainly on UN Reform, UNDP, and ESCAP), governments and regional organizations, Geneva-sponsored forums (such as Global Alliance on HIV/AIDS), and regional national society discussions.

Challenges remain, particularly in terms of: clarifying working relations and authority levels within the new zonal structure; keeping partner national societies contributing to the coordination and core budget in light of the new structures; adjusting Federation systems, rules and working precedence to the new reality of this region, including the rapid growth of some national societies in capacity. The regional team is aware of this but will build on momentum and the endorsement of national societies active in Southeast Asia to achieve more in 2008-2009.

Contact information

For further information:

In Bangkok: Federation Southeast Asia regional office: Alan Bradbury (acting head of regional Phone: +66.2 661 8201; fax: +66.2 661 9322, email: alan.bradbury@ifrc.org

In Kuala Lumpur: Federation Asia Pacific Zone office: Jagan Chapagain (deputy head of zone Phone: +60 3 92075700, fax: +60 3 2161 0670; email: jagan.chapagain@ifrc.org