CERF allocates nearly $5 million for emergency assistance to flood victims in Burkina Faso
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Children in Burkina Faso
[Photo: IRIN]
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12 October 2009: CERF has made an allocation of nearly $5 million in response to the torrential rains that fell in September on the capital city of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. 150,000 people are currently affected, including nearly 90,000 displaced. A high proportion of those affected are extremely poor, already surviving on one meal a day prior to the disaster, and now thrown into total destitution. Significant loss of livelihoods has occurred, particularly for street traders and small cultivators. It is estimated to date that approximately 25,000 houses and 250-300 hectares of cultivated land are destroyed in peri-urban areas of the city.
Clay-built houses and temporary dwellings have been completely destroyed. Temporary shelters are dangerously untenable, with overcrowding, little or no access to food, water, latrines, sanitation facilities and soap. The displaced are in an extremely difficult situation, without food stock and no economic access to market. Water, hygiene and sanitation are key concerns, given the damage to drainage systems and possible contamination of drinking water.
Public buildings and infrastructure have also been affected. The city’s main hospital has been partially shut down and patients evacuated, following damage to life-saving equipment, raising issues of access to emergency medical care. Damage to bridges and roads has also made accessing public services difficult.
The World Food Programme (WFP) will use nearly $1.5 million to provide full food rations to the displaced population living in temporary camps, scale-up urban safety net programs to assist those living in host families and provide logistics support for the distribution of non-food items. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will use $627,555 to purchase and distribute 450 tents.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will receive over $2 million to promote preventative measures against communicable diseases for 150,000 displaced persons and ensure that displaced persons, especially children and women, have access to basic curative care. UNICEF will also work to avoid a deterioration of the nutritional status of 25,000 children. In addition, UNICEF will acquire 100 tents to be used as temporary classrooms and supply copy books, books, pens and pencils for 15,000 children. Finally, UNICEF will ensure a more predictable, timely and effective hygiene response across 34 camps, including early warning systems and the provision of materials to repair damaged latrines and showers.
The World Health Organization (WHO) will use nearly $1.5 million to restore essential basic health care services; support critical referral services; and strengthen the surveillance and response to waterborne disease outbreaks. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will receive $216,615 to strengthen of reproductive health services, prevent sexual violence and provide menstrual and hygiene supplies.
[last updated: 27 October 2009]
CERF allocated over $1.6 million in response to measles outbreak in Burkina Faso
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A girl in Burkina Faso
[Photo: UNICEF]
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19 May 2009: A measles outbreak in Burkina Faso in 37 of the country’s 63 health districts has affected some 40,000 people and continues to spread. The situation has stressed the capacity of the Ministry of Health and has necessitated an emergency response from humanitarian agencies. Accordingly, CERF has provided more than $1.6 million in emergency funding to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO). As part of an overall control programme, and in collaboration with Ministry of Health and non-governmental organization (NGO) partners, UNICEF and WHO will immunize nearly 3.7 million people between the ages of six months to 24 years in order to stop the spread of the disease.
[last updated: 9 June 2009]