Period covered by this Ops Update: 22 November 2012, to 15 January 2013.
Appeal target (current): With this Operations Update, the appeal is revised to CHF 4,813,267 (3,961,600 EUR or 5,145,240 USD). Appeal coverage: 97% or CHF 4,702,062; Further contributions to cover the gap in funding are encouraged
Appeal history:
• On 27 October 2012, a Preliminary Emergency Appeal was issued seeking 5,453,221 Swiss francs to support the Cuban Red Cross (CRC) to assist 15,000 families (75,000 beneficiaries) for nine months.
• 550,000 Swiss francs were allocated from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ (IFRC) Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support this operation. On 5 November 2012, an Emergency Appeal in the amount of Swiss francs 12,223,402 was issued as a result of the extent of needs reflected in assessments.
• As of 15 February, the Emergency Appeal was handed over from the Pan-American Disaster Response Unit to the Country Office for Cuba and Santo Domingo to ensure better integration of long-term objectives.
Summary: In response to the damage caused by the effects of Hurricane Sandy on October 2012, the Cuban Red Cross, in close coordination with local authorities, has reached 10,967 families (28,157 persons) with non-food items such as kitchen sets, hygiene kits, mosquito nets, jerry cans, buckets, tarpaulins, and tool kits. In addition, volunteers at the community level visited 10,537 families to provide information on water treatment as household level as well as on the adequate manipulation of food, forestalling any major outbreaks of water related diseases. Finally, during the period covered by the report the National Society distributed a total of 6,000 tarpaulins and 2,500 shelter tool kits to allow families to complete basic and temporarily repairs to their damage homes. On the incoming months, the Cuban Red Cross will concentrate its efforts in the repair of damage roofs with the use of hurricane straps to reduce risks on the next hurricane season.
With the current operations update, the emergency appeal budget has been revised to CHF 4,813,267 to accommodate for lower distribution costs related to efficient beneficiary targeting. However, the total number of families to be reached by the Cuban Red Cross has not been significantly modified with the exception of the number of families to be assisted with the repairs of their damaged roofs, which have decreased to account for changes in the roof repair kit that has been redesigned to better target the repairs needs in the oriental provinces. Nevertheless, the National Society is receiving bilateral assistance from the Norwegian Red Cross and Spanish Red Cross who designed their emergency projects in line with the objectives of the previous plan of action, therefore reaching some 3,500 families more with their shelter objectives. Overall, the National Society plans to reach a total of 6,500 families bilaterally and multilaterally.
The IFRC expresses its sincere gratitude to the following Partner National Societies (PNSs) and governments for their support for this appeal: the American Red Cross, the Brazil Permanent Mission in Geneva, the British Red Cross (and British government), the Canadian Red Cross (and Canadian government), the Danish Red Cross, the Japanese Red Cross Society, the Irish Red Cross (and Irish Government), the Netherlands Red Cross (and Netherlands government), the New Zealand Red Cross (and New Zealand government), the Norwegian Red Cross (and the Norwegian government), the Swedish Red Cross (and Swedish government), the Taiwan Red Cross. The IFRC also gratefully acknowledges the Voluntary Emergency Relief Fund of the World Health Organization (WHO) for its contribution to this operation.