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ACT Alliance Situation Report February 4, 2010
PWRDF is a member of the ACT Alliance, who issued this situation update on January 21, 2010.
Member Activities
- The Lutheran World Federation - LWF (January 26)
Petionville – St Therese - LWF is distributing 20,000 litres of water per day, around three litres per person. Health promoters of the LWF team are finally succeeding in getting people to clean areas around water distribution.
Petionville – Nerette - HEKS and EPER are providing hot meals but people have expressed a need for food items so they can cook their own food. It is important that food is bought locally. Four latrines are in place and eight more will be in place by January 27. Two trucks of water have been delivered (DINEPA). Water tanks will be in place by tomorrow. The local committee is working well. The primary group has now identified 154 families (medium of five members) to receive distributions. Water distributions are working well. The health and hygiene/community mobilization team has been present. Next days in Petionville - LWF is to put distribution systems in place. Planning and record keeping systems are underway. Distribution has been organized with preferential treatment for vulnerable people. Protection of the people has been organized by committees. The distribution of food, hygiene kits and baby kits is planned from January 28 onward. Distribution of water is controlled by the local committee and monitored by LWF staff.
Leogane - LWF has visited Leogane, covering the whole area from Gressier to Leogane. Coordination meetings from now on will be both in Leogane and Dinepa in Petionville. A meeting has been held with Mayor Santos Alexis. LWF will work in the rural parts of Leogane, in the communes of Gran Riviere, Petite Riviere and Dessources. Assistance will be short, medium and longer term, including: shelter, watsan, hygiene and non food items. Livelihoods are required as well as cash for work.
A meeting with ITECA took place, which is to be a local partner in Gressier. ITECA has worked with ICCO and other ACT members earlier in development.
Education cluster meeting (attended by staff from LWF/FCA). This was jointly chaired by UNICEF and the Ministry of Education. A 180 day plan is being developed and terms of reference finalized. The Flash Appeal is to be revised in 3-4 weeks and will be open to all. FCA/LWF are looking at ERF funding of 750,000USD limit. Proposals are due by January 28. 85% of schools are private. FCA-LWF will work with local partner, Episcopal Church.
Shelter - a new cluster is being considered to be led by International Organization for Migration (IOM). LWF is interested in continuing to be in on the strategy discussions and coordination at the overall level. Concern about importing tents is being expressed. They are costly and of no benefit to business in Haiti. It is not a long term solution, is messy in the rainy season and not comfortable. Plastic sheeting is a better option and local building materials (poles, salvaged materials from destroyed buildings). - Christian Aid - CA January 27
Partner GARR distribution went well today at Delmas 33.
Partner RNDDH plans to do cash distribution on Thursday at Petit Goave with 200 households. It will distribute a cash amount of 1000 gourdes which is the equivalent of the cost of a month’s food distribution per person. It will carry out the distribution in small groups of 200 households in order to maintain security when they do this.
Partners will be submitting more specific budgets tomorrow and narratives on Friday which should provide a lot more information.
Partner Aprosifa is continuing to hold health clinics and nutrition clinics. Please note however, this is with general CA funds and not currently part of the appeal, though this may change.
CA has received, and is considering, a proposal from a new partner as it looks to broaden the partner capacity to deal with this situation.
- Church of Sweden (January 26)
CoS will support the ACT Alliance through community-based psychosocial support (CBPS). The need for staff care, individual support and group sessions have already been confirmed by ACT members. The coordinated ACT response must also include family members of the ACT member staff, hence the group to be targeted by staff care is counted to be around 80-90 people.
The team of psychosocial staff for Community-Based Psychosocial Support, will be 1-2 international team members at a time in Port au Prince, seconded by CoS to LWF. CoS has three people on standby to cover a period of six months (1 February 2010 until end of July 2010). Initially one team member will stay for six weeks and the other for four weeks, departure (1 Feb) date to be confirmed. Dr. Joe Prewitt, recruited by PDA, is team leader for the team. He is available for three months (tasks and time period to be confirmed by PDA) and will report to the ACT Coordinator and ACT lead agency (LWF) Country Representative.
The team leader will lead and coach psychosocial staff of the ACT members and local staff, provide staff care on a regular basis, identify other staff care initiatives promoted by the UN-system/NGOs etc., identify and refer staff with special needs to specialized services. They will also assess the needs for continued external resources for staff care after the first initial three month assignments, lead and coach ACT members and their local partners, utilizing a participatory approach, in the development of CBPS activities as well as mainstreaming CBPS into other intervention sectors to secure that the ACT response complies with the IASC standards for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support. - Church World Service
CWS is implementing through its partners, to whom CWS has already provided cash. Partners have started food distribution and assistance to the disabled population they are targeting. A joint shipment, with LWR, of hygiene kits, baby kits, blankets and medicines has already arrived and will be distributed by CWS partners and also by CA partners. CWS staff and partners who will be involved in the program to serve people with disabilities (PWD's) are meeting with other organizations (CBM, Handicap International, etc.) to coordinate and plan together for baseline needs assessments related to PWD's.
CWS and DR partner, Proyecto Caminante, that works with at-risk children is sending an Emotional Recovery and Staff Care team from the week of February 7 to work with CWS’s children's program in Carrefour-Feilles. This is a bi-lateral program and will not be under the ACT appeal.
SSID in the DR, with support from CWS, continues to provide holistic logistical support to ACT members and Dominican and Haitian partners in the Santo-Domingo-Port-Au-Prince corridor, including the border city of Jimani. In the last few days, SSID received and responded to requests for logistical support at the border from WV-DR and USAID. SSID also provided CWS with a truck of donated food for distribution among CWS partners in Haiti. SSID continues to closely coordinate with the Dominican army and government, and Haiti´s Embassy in SD. DR´s Asociacion Dominicana de Rehabilitacion (ADR) (leading agency working with PWD in the country) requested and will receive logistical support from SSID to set up a clinic and rehabilitation center in Jimani and Von Paroissen which ADR will then staff.
SSID is also:
i) Receiving ACT members at the airport, providing accommodation, and transport to PaP;
ii) Providing administrative support if necessary. The office is available with WLAN, electricity, water and toilets at the SSID office.
SSID has two organized Emergency Operational Centers (EOCs). Those have adequate infrastructure to store a lot of goods. One is in Santo Domingo and one in Jimani, on the border with Haiti. The EOC in Jimani has a big area to park trucks and vehicles. - ACT Dominican Forum
In Santo Domingo, the members of the ACT Forum are working very closely and defining a common strategy in logistical issues. Mainly, two ACT members (NCA and CWS) are supporting SSID (with financial resources). These two organizations have rented two apartments in the front of the SSID Office for personnel. - ELCA (January 26)
Communicator / videographer Tim Frakes will be arriving 26 January at Santo Domingo with the hopes of connecting with the next convoy out to Port-au-Prince. Tim will join the ACT Alliance media team in its work recording the work being done by ACT Alliance, The Lutheran World Federation and ELCA Disaster Response.
