Period covered by this Ops Update: 1 November 2007 to 20 January 2008;
Appeal target: CHF 9,462,000 (USD 7,692,683 or EUR 5,710,320) for 12 months to assist 400,000 beneficiaries;
Appeal coverage: 23.7%;
Appeal history:
- Launched on 30 July 2007 for CHF 9,462,000 (USD 7,692,683 or EUR 5,710,320) for 12 months to assist 400,000 beneficiaries
- Disaster Relief Emergency Funds (DREF): CHF 240,000 (USD 199,465 or ( EUR 146,468) was initially allocated from the Federation's DREF to support the national society to respond
Summary: Red Cross relief efforts after devastating floods hit China this summer are progressing on schedule. Reconstruction of housing is underway in Hubei and Henan provinces for 330 families who completely lost their homes with 150 and 180 houses to be built in each province, respectively. A report from Henan province said that some houses were nearly completed. Chongqing Municipal was a third candidate for the reconstruction of 70 houses. However, this assistance was canceled after the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) and the Federation visited the sites and made an assessment based on needs of the population and priorities of the RCSC based on current funding.
Rice and quilt distribution has taken place in the key areas and funding support has met the needs for the distribution of quilts while more support is still needed in order to meet the goals to support 2,000 families in the reconstruction of their homes. The selection of four communities for community-based disaster preparedness (CBDP) is currently underway.
The situation
Floods caused by torrential rains from June to September in 2007 have displaced hundreds of thousands of families. It was estimated that more than 1,000 people lost their lives or were reported missing, while hundreds of thousands of houses totally collapsed in five provinces where the Federation is supporting relief efforts: Henan, Hubei, Anhui and Sichuan provinces and Chongqing Municipal.
The Federation allocated CHF 240,000 from the disaster relief emergency fund (DREF) to assist the RCSC on 16 July and distributed relief goods, such as rice, quilts, water purification tablets and disinfectants immediately.
The additional relief goods from the appeal have been distributed, including construction materials for houses. The beneficiaries of the construction materials are busy building their new houses in order to be finished by the Chinese New Year which is at the beginning of February 2008.
Culturally, it is significant for Chinese people to move into a new house for the New Year and the beneficiaries are appreciative of the rapid distribution of construction materials to enable this to happen for their families.
Contact information
For further information specifically related to this operation please contact:
- Red Cross Society of China: Mr. Wang Xiaohua, director of external relations department; email: rcsc@chineseredcross.org; phone: +86.10.6404.8366, fax +86.10.6402.9928.
- East Asia regional office: Mr. Carl Naucler, (head of regional representation), email; carl.naucler@ifrc.org; Mr. Qinghui Gu (regional disaster management coordinator), email; qinghui.gu@ifrc.org; phone +86 1391 0959 834, fax+86-10-6532-7166.
- Asia Pacific zone in Kuala Lumpur: Ms Amy Gaver, phone: + 60 3 2161 0892, fax: +60 3 2161 1210, mobile +60 12 220 1174, email: amy.gaver@ifrc.org