Super typhoon Rai, locally named Odette, brought torrential rains, violent winds, floods, storm surges and mudslides to Central and Southern Philippines in the afternoon of December 16, 2021. The 15th typhoon to hit the country and considered as one of the world’s strongest storms last year, STY Rai left a wide path of destruction and debris in high-risk areas in at least seven regions including MIMAROPA, Western, Central and Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, SOCCKSKARGEN, and CARAGA, affecting over 9.9 million people in 531 municipalities.

STY Rai left 1.57 million damaged houses, 500,000 more than of Haiyan, across 11 of the Philippines’ 17 regions. Of these, 423,492 are totally destroyed and the most affected provinces are Cebu, Bohol (Region VII) and Surigao del Norte (Region XIII), accounting for 61% of destroyed homes. More than a month after Rai’s onslaught, around 180,000-200,000 people remain displaced, either staying in evacuation centers or with family and relatives or other temporary housing.

ACT Philippines Forum members, National Council of Churches in the Philippines and World Renew will be responding in the severely affected regions of the country with an appeal budget of USD1,607,162.

PHL221 Typhoon Rai

Heavy rains hit different regions of Brazil, causing great damage. In the states of Sao Paulo (SP) and Rio de Janeiro (RJ), the most affected regions were: Metropolitan Region of the city of São Paulo and Alto Tiete region and the municipality of Petropolis – RJ. Between January 29 and 30, in SP, the amount of rain that hit the region was equivalent to the volume forecast for the entire month of January. In the city of Petropolis, RJ, on February 15, in just 3 hours, it rained a greater amount of rain than expected for the entire month of February. Such events have caused flooding, landslides, deaths, and other consequences.

In the city of Petropolis – RJ, the number of deaths reached 198 of these 119 are women and 79 men. Of this total, 37 are minors. 875 people are housed in 13 shelters according to official figures so far, however, there is still little information on the total number of families that were displaced. There is a greater fragility of aid in rural areas of Petropolis.

In the state of São Paulo, there are 5,770 homeless and displaced families and 37 affected municipalities. There are already 34 confirmed deaths as a result of flooding, flash floods and landslides. The highest number of deaths (18) is concentrated in the municipality of Franco da Rocha. This region still has dam infrastructure risk, which increases the severity of the scenario.
Brazil is still in the rainy season with the possibility of new heavy rains and the risk of new floods and landslides.

KOINONIA Presença Ecumênica e Serviço will provide assistance to the affected people through provision of food, cash assistance, and hygiene kits.

RRF 04 2022 Brazil Floods FINAL_adjusted

The Global Rapid Response Fund (GRRF) is an annual funding appeal administered by the ACT Alliance secretariat. The fund prioritises ACT local and national members in line with our localisation commitments and in recognition of the distinct advantage these members have in providing timely, high quality, locally led emergency response interventions. Funds for the RRF are provided by ACT Alliance members and non-members.

The revised ACT Humanitarian Policy came into effect on 01 January 2022. The policy reinforces our commitment to the localisation agenda. The tangible changes in the Global Rapid Response Fund, introduced under the revised Humanitarian Policy, reflect the primary role that local and national members play in humanitarian response within our Alliance. ACT Alliance through its national members has been at the forefront of supporting local responses, often in contexts that may not always attract the attention of the media and donors. In such contexts, the impact of disasters at community level can be profound, and it is in such instances where the relevance and effectiveness of local and national actors and faith-based organisations, as well as the reach of ACT Alliance, is clearly demonstrated.

The budget for this year’s GRRF is USD3,257,835, with last year’s balance carried over of USD1,484,913. The total request for funding for GRRF22 is USD1,772,922. The increased budget reflects the increased scope of the GRRF to include medium-scale crises, and the fact that funding will be accessed by more local members as the Appeal mechanism will be limited to large scale emergencies.

GRRF22 Appeal

Sudan has a long-standing tradition of hosting refugees. The crisis in Sudan has gradually evolved into a complex humanitarian situation characterised by localized armed clashes, intercommunal violence, displacement, max influx of refugees: Humanitarian partners estimate that about 14.3 million people – 30 per cent of the population – will need humanitarian assistance in 2022. This is a 0.8-million-person increase compared to 2021.

Armed confrontations between federal and regional Ethiopian forces (Tigray region), started in November 2020 has led tens of thousands Ethiopian refugees to flee their home seek refuge in Sudan, through the states of Kassala, Gedaref, and Blue Nile. As of end of October 2021, about 58,000 refugees from Ethiopia sought shelter, protection, and assistance in Gedaref and Kassala States.

Sudan continues to experience climatic shocks and hazards. In 2021, floods have so far affected 12 out of 18 states across the country, 55,700 people, destructed and damaged around 12,000 houses and an unconfirmed number of public infrastructures and farmland. The socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and political instability disrupted livelihoods of vulnerable households and aggravated food insecurity, malnutrition and protection risks.

ACT Alliance in joint collaboration with Caritas Internationalis, with respectively the Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and CAFOD acting as lead agencies, will be responding to support the Ethiopian Refugees  and host communities in East Sudan, aiming to reach a total of reaching 16,500 individuals (49% female and 51 male) with a total budget of € 1,086765, targeting WASH, Energy and Environment sectors and Protection/ GBV support services.

SDN221 ACT-Caritas Appeal

On 14 August 2021, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Haiti at 8:30 am and Tropical Depression Grace passed over Haiti on Monday 16 August, resulting in flooding and landslides. The earthquake had resulted in at least 2 207 deaths, injured more than 12 268 in the country, while 320 people remained missing as of 21 August according to the Government of Haiti. Rapid assessments indicated that the earthquake damaged or destroyed 36 health facilities, 77 006 houses damaged, and 52 953 houses destroyed. The assessments in the most heavily affected areas in Grand-Anse, Sud and Nippes departments continue with at least 600 000 in need of assistance.

Haiti has long been afflicted by multiple humanitarian challenges including recurring natural disasters, grinding poverty, armed gang violence, chronic and acute food insecurity, and the Covid-19 pandemic. These challenges provided a foothold for the 2021 earthquake which is the primary emergency for now. The crippling multidimensional social and humanitarian consequences will be felt for years. About five years after the tropical storm Matthew that hit southwestern and northwestern Haiti in 2016, the number of Haitians facing severe acute food insecurity has increased from 2.6 million in 2019 to 3.1 million people in 2020 in rural areas. Of those people, 1.2 million were facing emergency levels of hunger. In June 2021, an IPC analysis carried out by the National Coordination of Food Security (CNSA) projected that 4.6 million people need humanitarian assistance.

ACT Haiti Forum is responding to the disaster through requesting members: Service Chrétien d´Haïti, Christian Aid, Church World Service, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, Lutheran World Federation/Norwegian Church Aid, World Renew with a budget of USD 3,615,859.

HTI211 Haiti Earthquake Appeal_Revised_20220725

On October 2, 2021, there was a fire of great proportions, starting at 3:00 a.m., lasting several hours, on the island of Guanaja, municipality of the department of Islas de la Bahia, insular area of Honduras, with an approximate population of 5,739. According to preliminary data from the Permanent Commission on Contingencies (COPECO), the damages registered are 2,500 people directly affected, 90 homes totally destroyed, 136 homes with severe damage and 3 injured are reported so far, these damages will increase when doing the last count; the economic damages have not yet been quantified; however, the suffering of many people can be appreciated; on the other hand, having been exposed to the gases caused by the fire can have repercussions on their health, in addition to other ailments.

Comission de Accion Social Menonita (Mennonite Social Action Commission) (CASM) has accessed the Rapid Response Fund for their response.

RRF 12 2021 Honduras fire