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Chad: Floods DREF Operation No. MDRTD003 Final Report

Countries
Chad
Sources
IFRC
Publication date
Origin
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GLIDE no. FL-2009-000186-TCD

The International Federation's Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) is a source of un-earmarked money created by the Federation in 1985 to ensure that immediate financial support is available for Red Cross Red Crescent response to emergencies. The DREF is a vital part of the International Federation's disaster response system and increases the ability of National Societies to respond to disasters.

Summary: CHF 246,522 (USD 231, 432 or EUR 162, 656) has been allocated from the Federation's Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) on 8 September, 2009 to support the National Society in delivering immediate assistance to some 1,136 families (or 5,680 beneficiaries). Unearmarked fund to repay the DREF are encouraged.

On 10 and 11 August 2009, heavy rains that lasted a couple of weeks poured down to Bongor, a town located 240 kilometres south from the capital city N'Djamena. These rains caused important flooding that led to the destruction of houses and had a severe impact of the population. Three people have been reported dead.

The Red Cross of Chad (RCC) with the support of the International Federation took prompt action and relief items were made available and distributed to 7,530 families. Volunteers from the RCC regional committee were trained in water and sanitation techniques to better respond to the unhealthy environment related to the floods. Sanitation facilities were built in the disaster area to reduce the vulnerability of the floods victims. As a result of these activities, the beneficiaries did not feel much the effects of the disaster.

The European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) has contributed EUR 130,000 and the Netherlands Red Cross/Government EUR 30,000 towards the replenishment of the DREF for the allocation made for this operation. The major donors and partners of the DREF include the Danish Red Cross, Irish Red Cross/Irish Government, Monaco Red Cross/Norwegian government, Swedish Red Cross/Swedish government, Italian government, United Kingdom Departmental for International Development (DFID), ECHO, OPEC Fund for International Development, and corporate and private donors. Details of all donors can be found on: http://www.ifrc.org/what/disasters/responding/drs/tools/dref/donors.asp

The situation

The torrential downpour and flooding in Bongor on 10 and 11 August has affected more than 7,120 persons and left 900 of them homeless. The floods caused the destruction of houses and sanitation facilities and had a severe impact of the population killing three of them. The situation is now back to normal since the rainy season is over and the environmental conditions have significantly improved. A total of 7,530 persons benefited from non-food items distribution carried out by the National Society through the support of the International Federation in-country representation. Beneficiaries have received emergency relief (shelter and relief items) and sanitation campaigns. The intervention of the National Society ensured that those floods victims had a basic minimum to protect their health and dignity.

Red Cross and Red Crescent action

The Red Cross of Chad relief operation in the area was successfully achieved according to the evaluation report from the field. Basic monitoring activities carried out in the beginning of January by RCC staff and humanitarian partners revealed that the relief and recovery phase of the appeal had contributed to significant improvement and had reduced the vulnerability of the targeted beneficiaries thereby meeting the objective within a reasonable timeframe. A beneficiaries' questionnaire had shown that mosquito nets contributed to reduce the risks of malaria among the affected victims.