Cyclone Sidr (Category IV) hit Bangladesh on the evening of 15 November. The cyclone struck offshore islands at 1830 hours and made landfall across the southern coast from Cox's Bazaar in the east toward the Satkhira districts in the west at 2030 hours local time, with wind speeds of up to 240 kilometres per hour. More than 4 million people in 30 southern districts were affected by the cyclonic storms. On the basis of early assessment data, priority needs include food, clean water supply, diarrhoea treatment and shelter assistance.

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CERF allocates US$ 5 million to for continued humanitarian aid for those affected by cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh

Cyclone Sidr hit the south and southwest Bangladesh coast on 15 November 2007, arriving as a Category-4 Super cyclone with peak winds of 250 kilometres per hour, affecting approximately 30 districts. According to the Government of Bangladesh, some 3,300 people were reported dead and many more remain missing.

Most households in cyclone-affected areas do not have food supplies and destruction of crops is now expected to lead to increases in food prices. CERF funds will be used the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide emergency food for up to 2.2 million people in the worst-affected districts.

The CERF project is intended to meet a gap in the responses for previously identified needs. According to the UN Rapid Initial Assessment 2.2 million people are in need of immediate life saving food assistance thru to mid-February 2008. The food cluster has responded to some of these needs, however insufficient resources prevented an adequate response. Following a positive experience with the CERF in September in response to the flooding, the Government of Bangladesh now welcomes the humanitarian community’s use of the CERF in response to cyclone Sidr. 

WFP continues to distribute High Energy Biscuits (HEB) to communities that were cut-off in the immediate aftermath of the disaster [Photo: WFP]

The CERF component of the project focuses on the provision of relief assistance to prevent deteriorati on in the nutritional status of the affected population. Taking into account the food security and nutritional needs of the cyclone-affected population, the programmed WFP relief food basket includes a monthly family ration of rice, pulses, of vegetable oil, micronutrient-fortified wheat and soya blend and fortified high energy biscuits. This will provide approximately 1,400 kilocalories per person per day, more than half the internationally recommended minimum, and complement food and other assistance provided by the Government of Bangladesh and other UN agencies.

 

 

[Last Update: 21 December 2007]

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CERF allocates US$ 14.7 million to Bangladesh to provide critical humanitarian relief in the wake of cyclone Sidr

On 15 November, cyclone Sidr made landfall in the South and Southwest of Bangladesh, devastating at least 30 out of 64 districts in the region and affecting over 5 million individuals. The Government has confirmed 2,492 casualties (as of 21 November), with a further 1,724 people missing and 28,188 injured. The cyclone with winds of up to 240 kilometres per hour destroyed over 458,804 homes, damaged another 665,529 and razed an estimated 1.4 million acres of crops. Prior to Sidr’s arrival, the Government relocated as many as 3.2 million citizens from 15 districts. 620,000 were taken to 2,000 cyclone shelters, while the remaining 2.6 million moved to the highlands. As a response to this natural disaster, the CERF has allocated US$14.7 million to Bangladesh.

Thousands of people lost their lives when Cyclone Sidr ravaged. [Photo: IRIN]

As houses, food stocks, crops and homestead gardens have been destroyed and livestock killed, the affected communities are without any source of food. The CERF allocation will support Agencies in implementing life-saving activities. The UN’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is providing fortified high energy biscuits to some 14,700 children between the ages of 6 and 35 months and 11,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women. Many water points and household latrines have been damaged or destroyed, tubewells have been flooded with saline water and surface water sources have been ruined in the 17 most affected upazilas (sub-districts) in southern Bangladesh. UNICEF is seeking to provide 500,000 people with emergency water supply services and support their hygiene practices by distributing jerry cans, water purification tablets and soap. Another UNICEF project is targeting 100,000 vulnerable families among the evacuees the government took to safer locations. Primarily households headed by a woman are receiving a family kit containing non-food items such as pots, plates, spoons and mugs, as well as clothes, soap, a plastic sheet to be used as a rooftop and a blanket. Finally, UNICEF is supporting safe and child-friendly spaces within the communities of 6 of the most affected districts, while its implementing partners are conducting recreational and psychosocial sessions for children.

To rapidly restore agricultural and fishing activities in three of the worst affected districts, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is providing 560 metric tonnes of assorted vegetable and field crop seeds to 118,000 rural households (or 590,000 people). In addition, it is distributing over 3,000 fishing nets. The World Food Programme (WFP) is providing food rations to assist 1.7 million people, supplying 30 kg of cereals per month to each family. 

[Last Update: 21 November 2007]

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CERF allocates US$ 6 million to support the humanitarian response to floods

4 September 2007: Bangladesh is prone to floods and cyclones as the country lies on the world’s largest delta. This year’s monsoon rains have caused flooding in 39 of the country’s 64 districts. About 10 million are affected; 400,000 of whom are displaced while hundreds have died. As a result of the floods, many people are currently facing extreme hardship.

Initially, both the Government and the UN system thought that the relief response of the first two weeks of August would be adequate to cover the basic life-saving needs of the flood affected population. However, several factors combine to change this assessment. Moderate to heavy rainfall continued to fall, causing flood waters to recede more slowly than expected in many areas, which in turn have caused new inundations to occur as the water flowed further downstream. This has prolonged the time during which emergency relief is needed.

A flood-affected street in Kalachadpur, Dhaka. Each year, large portions of the city are flooded during the annual monsoon rains [Photo: IRIN/Swanson]

UN flood relief assistance is being coordinated through the national Disaster and Emergency Response (DER) group consisting of government, national and international NGOs and all UN agencies.
The floods threaten all necessary conditions for good health and nutrition in affected districts. Food stocks, crops and homestead gardens have been destroyed, livestock killed, and communities isolated from market centers. Infants, young children and pregnant and lactating women are most vulnerable to malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies in the wake of the floods because of their relatively higher nutritional requirements. Given the relevance of live-stock raising as livelihood source in the rural areas of Bangladesh, the post-flood resurgence of FMD is seriously affecting the livelihood of rural communities. This has serious impacts on rural nutrition and on the market value of the cattle, which is one of the few assets that households can sell to ensure their survival.

The CERF grant of US$6 million will support WFP, UNICEF, UNFPA, FAO, WHO and UNDP to effectively respond to the humanitarian consequences of the floods in Bangladesh.

World Food Programme (WFP) will distribute emergency food aid to more than 300,000 households (one-third of the total extreme poor households in need of assistance). Each household will receive a 30 kg monthly ration for three months.

In ‘normal’ years, acute malnutrition in children tends to peak to 15% in June to August. Forty percent of women have chronic energy deficiency, and 50% of pregnant women and 33% of non-pregnant women have anemia. Without appropriate action, these rates of malnutrition, which are already unacceptably high, will rise even higher, placing thousands of children and women at increased risk of illness and death due to malnutrition.

In this context, The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and UN Population Fund (UNFPA) will provide supplementary feeding and micronutrient supplementation to children and pregnant and lactating women to prevent further deterioration of their nutritional status: 50,000 children aged 6-35 months and 25,000 pregnant and lactating women will receive high energy biscuits; 20 million children aged 12-59 months will receive vitamin A capsule, and 15 million children aged 24-59 months will receive Albendazole tablet. The World Health Organization (WHO) will provide the technical and logistical response to the health sector in order to reduce the outbreak of water, food and vector borne communicable diseases. Nearly 10 million flood affected people will have access to quality essential and health services

As the floodwater has receded, the millions who took shelter in temporary relief camps and those whose houses were either partially or fully damaged (almost 1 million) now require emergency assistance. In addition to shelter they require non-food assistance like clothes, small household utensils to cope with their severe living conditions. Among affected population, the most vulnerable people are single mothers and female-headed households. If immediate assistance is not provided, these families will continue living in unhygienic conditions and remain vulnerable to disease, climatic exposure and potential abuse through a lack of security. CERF funding will enable the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to consolidate and expand upon the emergency relief assistance provided through the combination of government and DFID support programmes within specific areas. This is particularly important now that many vulnerable families are leaving relief camps and returning to areas where their houses once stood.  Latest estimates are that over 960,000 homes have either been destroyed or severely damaged.  UNDP, through its network of pre-qualified NGOs, is seeking to provide assistance to the 28,500 most vulnerable families with non-food items, including emergency shelter assistance: 10,500 vulnerable families will receive specified essential non-food items to enable them to withstand climatic conditions during the remainder of the monsoon season and in the immediate period thereafter; and 18,000 vulnerable families will receive emergency shelter assistance.

Livestock raising is a major and primary source of livelihood in the rural areas of Bangladesh. Cattle are a valuable and essential asset for the local population in carrying out agricultural activities, as it is used for tillage and transport. It often constitutes the only asset that can be liquidated to finance households’ survival in the post flood period. Moreover, nutrition of the most vulnerable groups crucially depends on milk production. The immediate outcome of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) project will be livestock protected from FMD, thus maintaining the productive assets of affected farmers for tilling of fields for crop production. The project will also reduce the threat to the health and food security status of affected vulnerable households (particularly women and children) by ensuring the needed supply of good quality dairy products (milk and beef).

[Last Update: 7 September 2007]

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CERF allocates US$ 1 million to refugees in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is hosting some 26,000 refugees from neighbouring Myanmar, accommodated in two camps in the Cox Bazaar District. These refugees constitute the residual caseload of some 250,000 refugees from the Northern Rakhine State of Myanmar who entered Bangladesh in 1991-2.

Over the course of more than a decade, The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has, together with the World Food Programme (WFP) and a number of international and national NGOs provided protection and assistance to over 250,000 refugees. UNHCR has assisted the repatriation of 236,526 persons - some 95% of the original influx.

While persuing durable solutions the refugees are entirely dependent on international assistance. The Government of Bangladesh has agreed to improve the standards of living of the refugees, notably with provision of adequate shelter, access to enhanced education and skills training and improved services to all refugees in the camps including some 5,000 refugees currently unregistered.

Myanmar refugees in Bangladesh live in appalling conditions, like this makeshift camp in Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar District [Photo: UNHCR/Akash]

Joint Assessment Missions by actors involved in the refugee programme in the two camps highlighted the necessity of urgent interventions in the key sectors of health, food/nutrition, shelter and water/sanitation facilities. A recent nutritional survey conducted in November 2005 found that the Global Acute Malnutrition was 16.8% amongst children of 6-59 months living in the camps. This is a drastic deterioration from the previous assessment in 2003, which reported a Global Malnutrition prevalence of 12.5%.

With the CERF grant, UNHCR will replace dilapidated refugee shelters that have detrimental effects on health and security of the refugees, especially in view of natural disasters to which Bangladesh is prone. Clothing items, blankets and other essential non-food items will be distributed to all refugees prior to the cold season. In the health sector, out-patient clinics will be operating in the camps with a sufficient supply of medical equipment and drugs.

UNHCR will, together with the health staff in the camp and refugee volunteers, run vaccination campaigns for measles, vitamin A for children under five and de-worming, as a part of the national vaccination campaigns. Supplementary and therapeutic feeding will be available to pregnant and lactating women and children under five.

Protection activities will be conducted through UNHCR’s presence in the camps to ensure on-going protection monitoring.

One third of all funds from the Central Emergency Response Fund is earmarked for use in underfunded emergencies, in order to help redress imbalances in global aid distribution, as a result of which millions of people in so-called neglected or forgotten crises remain in need.

[Last Update: 28 March 2007]

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 CERF in Bangladesh 2008

IRIN News Article: BANGLADESH - Death toll rises, relief operation geared up (18 November 2007)

Press Release: UN and leading humanitarian organisations launch appeal not to forget millions of flood survivors in South Asia (30 September 2007)