ReliefWeb

A. Situation analysis

Description of the disaster

Starting in February, a significant decrease in precipitation led to a reduction of surface and ground water in the centre and north of Uruguay. Government figures indicate more than 11,000 people have been affected by this disaster.

On 28 February, the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP) declared the departments of Artigas, Durazno, Paysandú, Rivera, Río Negro, Salto and Tacuarembó in a 90-day state of emergency. As of 13 March 2018, 7 more departments were included (Cerro Largo, Colonia, Flores, Florida, Rocha, Soriano and Treinta y Tres), resulting in 14 of the country’s 19 departments under a state of emergency.

The government’s declaration of emergency addressed the needs of small-scale cattle farmers and milk producers by permitting cattle to access areas near the routes where water accumulates and loans to purchase animal feed from small and medium producers.

Once past the peak of the emergency, the Departmental Intendancy of Tacuarembó continued distributing water to the families and schools affected by the water deficit; some distributions were made at the request of the families.

The Uruguayan National Emergency System requested support from the Uruguayan Red Cross (URC). The URC conducted needs assessments and monitoring visits for the selection of the target population to be reached. During this process, the target communities demonstrated safe water management capacities. The good relationship established with some municipalities enabled the resolution of specific cases of families and / or schools that were without water.

Summary of the current response

Overview of Host National Society

The Uruguayan Red Cross began continuous monitoring of the situation at the beginning of the year when meteorological forecasts indicated a future precipitation deficit. The URC actively participated in the online regional meeting detailing the meteorological forecast, held on 12 January, and was involved in the water deficit modelling.

As part of the monitoring of this emergency, the URC has participated in regular coordination meetings with the National Emergency System (SINAE). This agency later requested support with on-site assessments to corroborate information gathered and identify gaps in the government’s response.

The URC has focused on the communities most affected by the water deficit with actions in water, sanitation and hygiene promotion and cash transfer programming. In the target locations, the URC:

• Conducted community awareness workshops on safe water management and hygiene promotion

• Distributed 10-litre and 20-litre water buckets (one each) to target households

• Distributed hand washing kits

• Implemented a cash transfer programme.

The National Society’s actions were coordinated with other actors involved in the response efforts. This enabled the development of institutional cooperation and intersectoral harmonization for the humanitarian aid provided to the affected population.

With the support of the IFRC’s Innovation Department, the Uruguayan Red Cross used the open data kit (ODK) tool for information management related to the registration and selection of beneficiaries.

To augment the humanitarian response capacity of the Uruguayan Red Cross, the National Society has a cooperation agreement with the Argentine Red Cross (ARC) for the deployment its response team members. Within the framework of this agreement, two national intervention team (NIT) members from the ARC were deployed for two weeks, each, to support the coordination and distribution of humanitarian aid.

The URC National Risk Management and Disaster Response director travelled to the departments of Río Negro, Paysandú and Tacuarembó to conduct the assessments and meet with Coordination Centres for Departmental Emergencies (CECOED) in Río Negro and Tacuarembó.

The national authorities have been in continuous contact with the URC, which in turn has maintained communication with the IFRC’s country cluster support team (CCST) for the Southern Cone and with the Americas Regional Office (ARO) Disaster and Crisis Department (DCD).