Red Cross Red Crescent Launches Appeal for Liberia, Other Countries

News

By Mambu James Kpargoi, Jr., Monrovia
The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has launched a preliminary emergency appeal to put in place preparedness measures to assist people threatened by natural disasters in West and Central African countries including Liberia.

The “early warning, early action” appeal seeks just over 900,000 Swiss francs (850,000 US dollars/600,000 euro) to support Red Cross Red Crescent operations in Liberia and 15other West African countries.

The countries are Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo).

Following seasonal meteorological forecasts provided by the African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD), the IFRC will support National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in these countries to respond more effectively to small and medium scale emergencies linked to bad weather such as floods, landslides or drought.

The money raised will serve to increase regional emergency stocks, set up community-based early warning systems, review contingency planning and train volunteers in assessment and relief coordination.

The “early warning, early action” operation builds on the 2008 experience, when the IFRC launched its first ever appeal for flood preparedness based on predictions that suggested severe rainfall in West and Central Africa.

The funds were used to stock emergency relief items around the region, train volunteers to inform populations what to do in case of flooding, and place disaster response teams on stand-by for rapid deployment. Thanks to this approach, lives were saved and operational costs were reduced when the rains came.

Since June, heavy rains have caused severe flooding in Liberia, Benin, Central African Republic and Ghana, affecting around 150,000 people in West and Central Africa.

The IFRC released 570,000 Swiss francs from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund to support the Benin Red Cross operation to help more than 20,000 people. An appeal of 800,000 Swiss francs has also been launched to support the Red Cross of Central African Republic in its emergency response to help 6,000 vulnerable people.

“So far, floods and storms have happened as predicted in the seasonal forecast and in the weekly weather bulletins that the IFRC receives from ACMAD,” says Daniel Sayi, deputy head of the IFRC zone office in Dakar.

Editor @ August 18, 2009