ReliefWeb

This report covers the period 01 January 2010 to 31 December 2010.

In brief

Programme purpose: The Americas zone office is guided by its work with the 35 Red Cross Societies of the Americas in line with Strategy 2020 and the Inter American Plan 2007–2011.

Programmes summary: 2010 marked the transition from Strategy 2010 to Strategy 2020 and the increased focus on country approaches which included the development of country support plans that reflect a tailored approach to improved service delivery to the membership. Fourteen Country Support Plans and one regional plan for the Caribbean were developed for 2011 in coordination with National Societies. Furthermore, two Plans of Actions were developed within the framework of the emergency response operations in Chile and Haiti. 2010 will be remembered as the most deadly year of the past 50 years in the Americas, particularly as of result of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. The consequences of this major disaster were significantly accentuated by the structural vulnerabilities in the country. It will be also known as a year marked by the consequences of disasters, where several hundred thousands of people were affected. Two major earthquakes, 3 three major flood operations and a total of 31 disaster response operations mark 2010 in the history of the National Societies and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in the Americas.

In addition, 2010 tested the readiness capacity of Red Cross National Societies, the secretariat and the overall IFRC response system. Moreover, in 2010 the Red Cross‟ capacity to implement development activities was tested at the same time that disaster response activities were being carried out.

Programme areas in 2010 focused on implementing the following components in line with available funding and human resource capacities.

It is important to highlight that the planned work for 2010 was severely impacted by two major disasters: the earthquakes in Haiti (12 January) and in Chile (27 February). The entire Americas zone team, including the Pan American Disaster Response Unit (PADRU), the Regional Logistics Unit (RLU) and the regional representations provided support beyond its normal capacities to assist the Haitian Red Cross and the Chilean Red Cross to respond to the immense needs of the population affected. The two response operations, in particular the Haiti Earthquake, have increased the volume of work dramatically in comparison to previous years. During 2009 in the Americas, there were 2,160 deaths and 111,793 people affected by disasters in the Americas The earthquake on 12 January 2010, caused 220,000 deaths alone, 300,000 injured and left 1.2 million people homeless in Haiti. The level of the two disasters has demanded scaling up capacities at the national, regional and zonal level to provide support to the National Societies. A Haiti support unit was created at the zone office to provide specific support to the operation in Haiti, and coordinate efforts.

Financial situation: The total 2010 budget is 3,625,955 Swiss francs, of which 4,264,778 Swiss francs (118 per cent) covered during the reporting period (including opening balance). Overall expenditure during the reporting period was 2,946,665 Swiss francs (81 per cent) of the budget.