Emergency response and preparedness in 2006
There were no major emergencies in 2006 compared to the Pakistan Earthquake of 2005 or the Tsunami of 2004. However, Concern responded to an emergency or continued to implement the emergency and rehabilitation projects already commenced in 24 countries, 13 in Africa, 10 in Asia and 1 in the Caribbean.
Concern is committed to meeting the humanitarian imperative to save lives and reduce
suffering in the event of a disaster, and recognises the importance of being able to respond quickly, effectively and creatively to people unable to meet their basic needs, especially in sudden onset emergencies.
During 2006, over 61 million people were affected by conflict, drought, floods, earthquakes, tsunami and insect infestation in the countries where Concern works. Concern responded in a variety of ways and assisted over 1.7 million people either directly or with partners. Drought and floods were the most common emergency to which Concern responded during 2006.
- Throughout the year the deteriorating security situation in Darfur had huge implications for the 2 million people living in camps. Concern provided assistance to approximately 155,000 people in West Darfur. This response included providing shelter, education, nutrition and distribution of non food items.
- In Bangladesh, 8,470 shrimp farms and 65,230 acres were flooded affecting the lives of 1 million people. Concern provided assistance to 40,000 people with distribution of food rations and essential non food items. Flooding in Orissa in India caused destruction of crops and farmlands, loss of livestock and severe damage to roads and communications infrastructure. Concern provided shelter material to 4,000 families.
- In Ethiopia approximately 2.6 million people were affected by drought, while 400,000 people were affected by severe flooding. Concern's response included assisting almost 30,000 people in the Somali and Afar regions with nutrition and distribution of food, water purification tablets and non food items.
- Almost half the population in Malawi, 5 million people, were at risk due to chronic food shortages in 2006. An emergency situation was declared in three districts affecting 835,000 people. In an innovative attempt to address such situations Concern piloted, researched and documented a programme on Food and Cash Transfers, (FACT). 29,700 people were supported with cash and food for the four month hunger gap period. Towards the end of the year the programme was further developed using cash only to stimulate the local markets. 55,000 people participated in this later programme which saw further innovation with the introduction of smart card technology and mobile banks.
- In Nepal Concern provided access to an improved water supply to 1,426 households
and assisted 5,190 people with latrine construction and hygiene education activities.
Concern also implemented a ‘food for work’ programme with the World Food Programme (WFP) to repair and rehabilitate rural infrastructure. - Concern’s response to the Asian tsunami in 2004 focused on three countries;
Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka. By the end of 2006, Concern had completed most of its work. This included building 5,490 temporary houses in Sri Lanka with Concern's partners and replacing almost 10,000 legal documents. In Indonesia Concern completed construction of 1,094 permanent timber houses in 13 villages on the west coast of Simeulue. In India Concern's work focused on livelihoods rehabilitation, mostly working with fishing and agricultural communities as they were the worst affected by the tsunami. As well as repairing fishing boats and replacing nets, Concern worked with agriculture and salt-pan workers, with a specific focus on the inclusion of the most marginalised communities, the Dalits.
- In Pakistan Concern provided building materials such as iron sheets, timber and tools to families who lost their homes following the earthquake in 2005. Concern worked with partner agencies to provide clean drinking water, latrines and sanitation services to 23,000 families in camps in Northwest Frontier Province and Azad Jammu Kashmir.
During 2006 Concern continued to develop our Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) approach. Recognising the link between poverty and the impact of disasters, and that disasters exacerbate inequity, affecting the poorest to a greater degree in that they have fewer resources to aid their recovery from the impact of crises, Concern takes the view that to have a genuine impact on global poverty, Concern must address emergencies in its work through the establishment of interventions that encompass preparedness, disaster mitigation, response, advocacy, and, in the longer term, recovery.
To this end, in those countries susceptible to recurrent disaster, Concern believes that Disaster Risk Reduction interventions should be integrated into development activities so as to strengthen communities’ capacity to reduce the scale, frequency or impact of future disasters, and toenhance the capacity of these communities to respond to and recover from them.
