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| Location: Becora Canossiana Sisters IDP Camp, Dili Timor-Leste. Credit: UNICEF Timor-Leste/2006/See - July 2006 |
Between 24 and 26 May violent clashes in the Timorese capital Dili led to widespread burning, looting and destruction of property and injury of people. More than 100,000 people fled their homes in the last days of May 2006.
About 60,000 took shelter in camps in Dili in the airport, schools, seminaries, and anywhere else where they felt safe. Another 60,000-70,000 fled outside of the capital, to the rural areas.
On 9 June 2006 the Emergency Relief Coordinator approved the CERF Rapid Response grants for emergency, life-saving activities in Timor-Leste totaling USD 4,047,931. The CERF Rapid Response grants provided advance funding for the emergency operations in the country.
Release of the CERF grants was followed by an Inter-Agency Flash Appeal.
UNICEF - Water and Sanitation
After the break down of law and order in late May, the city’s water and sanitation services stopped completely, along with most other government services.
CERF funding of US$ 733,700 helped provide some of the 70,000 refugees living in camps in Dili and thousands more displaced in the countryside with access to clean water, sanitation services and hygiene services. With CERF funding, UNICEF built latrines and bathrooms in IDP camps, repaired existing town-water supply points to improve the access to water, monitored water quality in camps and distributed jerry cans and water kits to families. CERF funds were also used for hygiene promotion in the camps. With CERF support, UNICEF was able also to clear the backlogged garbage and clean septic tanks in 90 per cent of IDP camps around the city.
“Safe water and a clean environment are essential conditions to prevent the outbreak of diseases and illnesses like diarrhoea, which could be fatal for young children. So the CERF really allowed us to respond quickly to meet the needs and save lives, especially of children amongst the thousands gathered in overcrowded conditions,” said Shui-Meng Ng, Representative of UNICEF in Timor-Leste.
WFP Emergency Food Assistance
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Timorese children play on UNHCR emergency supplies in a village near Hera, Timor Leste on 21 June 2006. Many have fled their villages fearing reprisals from nearby stationed soldiers [Photo: UNHCR/Ng] |
The civil unrest in April and May 2006 in Timor Leste has impacted local food availability, largely due to diminished purchasing power caused by the loss of incomes and assets. Simultaneously, internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing Dili have placed pressure on existing food sources available in the districts.
The CERF grant of USD 1,199,214 was the first pledge received against the Flash Appeal and enabled WFP to rapidly begin providing emergency food assistance by advancing food stocks from on-going WFP programmes with guarantee of reimbursement. Thanks to the initial CERF support, followed by other donor pledges, WFP has to date been able to direct over 650 tons of in-country stocks of assorted food commodities to assist over 117,000 IDPs in Dili and surrounding districts.
The CERF grant of USD 1.2 million to WFP against the June-September 2006 flash appeal allowed WFP to immediately meet some of the initial and urgent needs of those affected by the unrest in April and May 2006. Without the grant, it would not have been possible to provide prompt assistance.
A November 2006 Emergency Food Security Assessment identified a need for continued food assistance to IDPs with hosts families and other vulnerable populations in the districts, including pregnant and lactating women and children under five, especially during the current lean season. However, given the constant change in the security situation, the food pipeline has had to accommodate an ever increasing and fluctuating number of IDPs. In addition, the prolonged nature of the crisis has further depleted stocks initially allocated towards the WFP safety net programmes of Maternal and Child Health and School Feeding.
The CERF grant of USD 1.5 million of 19 December 2006 allows for WFP to immediately procure food commodities, thereby preventing the deterioration in the nutritional status of the most vulnerable amongst the population. The beneficiaries of the WFP food include approximately 150,000 vulnerable populations, including internally displaced people (IDP), 27,446 pregnant and lactating women and malnourished children under the age of five through emergency maternal and child health programmes in food insecure districts and 66,082 primary school-aged children through emergency school feeding programmes in vulnerable areas.
The WFP intervention will address the immediate needs as well as improve the vulnerable households' ability to survive, particularly through the lean season. Without such assistance, existing levels of malnutrition (already amongst the highest in Asia) and food insecurity will be exacerbated leading to a rapid decline in health and a possible period of sustained and widespread hunger. WFP will work in partnership with the Government, NGOs, civil society and other groups to deliver and distribute the commodities. Distribution will be conducted through community leaders, community committees, WFP and/or NGOs.
IOM - Support for Internally Displaced Populations in Timor-Leste
Since the beginning of the crisis, IOM has assisted the Government to provide urgently needed food
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(from left) Sisters 4-month-old Nelizia, 11-year-old Leonor and 8-year-old Carmen enjoy their new accomodations at a UNHCR IDP camp at the airport in Dili, Timor Leste on 16 June 2006
[Photo: UNHCR/Ng] |
and water to thousands of IDPs throughout Dili and the Districts. While IOM was able to meet most of the emergency needs within the first days of the crisis, sustained short-term support would not have been possible without the quick disbursement of CERF funds.
IOM has allocated its CERF funds to providing logistical support to the Ministry of Labour and Community Re-insertion (MTRC) in the distribution of more than 1000 MT of government rice to 66 IDP centers in Dili, and to the districts of Baucau, Liquisa, Ermera, and Bobonaro. IOM has also used CERF funds to support the delivery of water to IDP centers, thus contributing to an improvement of the sanitation at the sites.
IOM has been able to use its emergency funds to strengthen management structures within IDP centers. IOM has established a direct camp management presence in the Comoro Airport camp and is supporting local camp managers and the Site Liaison Support (SLS) network to meet the needs of the displaced population as they arise. This partnership has notably improved service delivery in the areas of food distribution, water and sanitation, health, shelter, education and child protection for camp populations.
The responsiveness of the CERF mechanism has enabled IOM to provide urgent assistance to over 70,000 people in need in Timor-Leste. The CERF mechanism has allowed a timely and appropriate humanitarian response and has played a major role in ensuring a major humanitarian crisis within Timor-Leste was avoided.
UNHCR – Shelter, Non-Food Items, and Protection
An immediate allocation of USD 1.3 million was funded through the CERF for UNHCR’s humanitarian
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UNHCR team leader for East Timor Johann Siffointe asks the number of occupants in a tent as he visits the UNHCR IDP camp at the airport in Dili, Timor Leste on 16 June 2006.
[Photo: UNHCR/Ng] |
response to the crisis in Dili, focusing on the provision of emergency shelter, non food items and protection for 30,000 internally displaced persons (IDP) in Dili and surrounding districts.
Through implementing partners, UNHCR has distributed some 2,300 tents, 3,500 plastic sheets, 25,000 blankets, 3,300 jerry cans, 2,400 kitchen sets and 200 stoves. These items have been distributed in 21 IDP sites inside Dili and six districts/sub-districts outside Dili.
UNHCR is collaborating with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to distribute 7,500 UNHCR blankets in districts where ICRC is operational. Approximately USD 1,000,000 has been spent or committed to these activities. In addition to two sea freights to Dili, UNHCR has airlifted, on 8 occasions, goods from Jordan or Indonesia, to either Darwin or Dili.
CERF in Timor-Leste 2007
[Last Update: 19 December 2006]
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