Madagascar: Response to Drought RRF 10/2021.
Southern Madagascar is experiencing its worst drought in four decades with more than 1.14 million people food insecure (WFP, May 2021). Three consecutive droughts exacerbated by COVID-19 have left people in need of humanitarian assistance from January to May 2021 (Appel Éclair Madagascar-Grand-Sud Janvier-Mai 2021).
Of those, an estimated 14,000 people are already in catastrophic conditions, known as IPC Phase 5, which is expected to double by October 2021.
ACT national member SAF/FJKM will support 900 households with one cash distribution to last 2 months and also conduct sessions to enhance social protection towards women.
Madagascar_Emergency Response to Drought
DRC: Emergency Response to Volcanic Eruption in Goma RRF 09/2021.
In the afternoon of Saturday the 22nd of May 2021, the town of Goma and its surroundings in North Kivu Province, experienced a sudden eruption of Nyiragongo volcano. While 32 persons are feared dead, at least 400,000 persons are currently internally displaced in DRC while 7,000 persons have fled to Rwanda as refugees.
Access to basic health and education services in Goma is disrupted due to destroyed roads, electricity, and water supply networks. There is a likelihood of an outbreak of water-borne disease, many are still injured / suffering burns, while others are suffering from psychosocial stress.
Two national members from DRC ACT Forum, BOAD, and ELCCo are planning to respond through rapid response fund support to meet the basic needs of the most affected and vulnerable.
DRC_Emergency Response to Volcanic Eruption in Goma
Occupied Palestinian Territories: ACT Palestine Forum Emergency Response in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (Gaza escalation)- PSE211
As the conflict escalated between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, airstrikes on Gaza and rocket attacks on Israel continued for eleven consecutive days. Most of the victims were reported to be civilians. According to the Palestinian Ministry of health (as of 25 May), a total of 253 Palestinian people were killed in Gaza, including 66 children and 38 women and 17 elderly people; there were more than 1,900 Palestinians injured, including many children and women. Tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes and many were forced to find shelter in UNRWA schools. On the Israeli side, 12 people in Israel, including one soldier, have been killed and hundreds have been injured.
Despite the ceasefire reached on May 21 between Israel and Palestinian armed groups ending the hostilities, the escalation has exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, generated by nearly 14 years of blockade and internal political divisions.
The Appeal response members, Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR) and DCA/NCA Joint Country Program- Palestine will respond to the humanitarian crisis in the oPt targeting around 10,000 individual with an appeal to raise 1,358,309 USD to address multiple sectors, MHPSS/Protection, Health, Shelter, and Livelihoods.
PSE211 Appeal Final
Nepal: Joint Response of ACT Alliance Nepal to the Second wave of COVID-19 – NPL211
Nepal is currently in the grips of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The second wave began from mid-April 2021, and daily infection rates have steadily been growing to a daily average of almost 9,000 per day from 300+ per day a month ago. As of 18th May 2021, a total of 5,411 deaths, 472,354 confirmed cases and 114,529 active cases have been recorded. The positivity rate, which is highest globally, is hovering around 45% nationally, with a transmission rate of 1.8 %.
A key factor of this rapid spike has been the emergence of more infectious variant from India, where foot traffic between the two countries is high with 1800 kilometers of open border. Fifty percent of the young people from Western Nepal are seasonal workers in India who have returned to their villages as India’s Covid-19 cases surged. Districts along the border with India such as Banke and Nepalgunj among others have become hotspots for the outbreak, along with Kathmandu.
ACT Nepal Forum members DanChurchAid (DCA), ICCO/Cordaid, and Lutheran World Federation (LWF) are responding to fill the gap of unmet needs of the most vulnerable communities in Nepal with a budget of US$617,372, reaching out to 174,134 households in rural areas to raise awareness on Covid-19 infection prevention and the benefits of vaccination; support to public health institutions and households on prevention and treatment; and livelihood support to people who lost their jobs.
NPL211 Covid Crisis
Global Rapid Response Fund Appeal 2021 – GRRF21
The Rapid Response Fund (RRF) is a global fund of the ACT Alliance administered by the ACT secretariat. Funds for the RRF are provided by ACT Alliance members and non-members as part of an annual appeal. The fund is designed to prioritise ACT national members in line with our localisation commitments and in recognition of the distinct advantage these members have in being at the forefront of emergency response in their local contexts.
The RRF is a unique tool for empowering national members and local partners as frontline and first responders at the onset of an emergency. 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 ACT Alliance’s reach, is clearly demonstrated.
With the Governing Board’s approval of the new Humanitarian Policy (May 2021), roll-out preparations to operationalise the policy have commenced. The request for funding for GRRF21 is for USD 2,500,000, with the intention that the 2022 GRRF appeal will be issued in December of this year, as the revised Humanitarian Policy comes into effect in January 2022. Programme Quality, member capacity and emergency preparedness will be central to our reformed humanitarian mechanism. The Secretariat proposes to utilise five percent of RRF funds to resource the roll-out of the new Humanitarian Policy and its mechanisms which strengthen the RRF.
GRRF21 Appeal
India: Humanitarian Assistance to vulnerable and affected Communities of the COVID-19 Pandemic in India – IDN211
India’s coronavirus cases continue to rapidly increase despite several states imposing localised lockdowns, curfews, and curbs on movement. Within a month, since the second wave broke out in late March, Covid-19 cases have reached unprecedented levels, with over 400,000 cases per day.
The risk of getting infected with the mutated variant that spreads easily is very high while hospitals are already overwhelmed with overworked staff and low supply of equipment and medicines. In effect, people with mild and asymptomatic cases are often treated and quarantined at home. Attention is focused on urban areas where cases are increasing rapidly that rural areas have been neglected and mostly uninformed about protection and prevention. Migrant communities are still insecure about their jobs where most are still wanting to move back to their home villages.
ACT India Forum is responding to the crisis supporting 16,500 households and 10 hospitals with a budget of USD1,656,781. They will provide cash support and personal protection kits to households; oxygen supplies and paramedical training to hospitals; and raising awareness on gender issues, Covid-19 prevention and mitigation to the communities working with local faith leaders.
IND211 India Covid Crisis
South Sudan: Response to the Complex Humanitarian Crisis-SSD211
In South Sudan, at least 7.3 million people are threatened with hunger and urgently need help (UN,2020), as they have increased humanitarian needs.
People continue to suffer in various ways from needs brought about by protracted conflict, floods, desert locusts, and the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that has brought economic shocks. All these are likely to exacerbate the severity of acute food insecurity and have contributed to an extended and complex humanitarian crisis.
The complex humanitarian situation reveals that about one-third of the total population in South Sudan is estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2021 according to the findings reflected in the Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO,2021).
ACT South Sudan members, Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), Christian Aid (CA), The Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Finn Church Aid (FCA), and Presbyterian Relief & Development Agency (PRDA).
SSD211 South Sudan Response to Humanitarian Crisis
Nusa Tenggara Timur Flash Floods – RRF 08/2021
Tropical cyclone Seroja carried heavy rains and strong winds that triggered flash floods and landslides in Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) on Sunday, 4th April 2021. The Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) reported 138 people died, 61 missing, and up to 1,114 destroyed or damaged houses. Residents lost their homes due to being submerged by water, mud, and soil as well as public facilities and infrastructure damaged by the disaster, such as bridges, roads, and airports being submerged by water. Areas affected were East Flores, Malacca, Lembata, Ngada, Alor, East Sumba, Sabu Raijua, Rote Ndao, Timor Tengah Selatan, Ende, and Kupang City. Access and communication to affected areas have been difficult as roads and communication facilities were damaged.
The response with a budget of USD60,966, will be led by PELKESI, will give assistance to 3,500 affected people (700 households) providing health services, food, shelter materials, and household items. The forum is planning to respond in East Sumba District , Kupang City and Malaka District that were directly affected by the disaster. It also aims to build the capacities of two local churches for humanitarian response.
RRF 08 2021 Indonesia NTT Flash Floods
RRF 07 2021 Reduction of Gender based inequalities, Haiti
The Covid19 pandemic highlights and foster inequalities. Women’s pregnancies have increased in the department of Grand Anse. Reasons for this are: lockdown allows risks of sexual assault sometimes forcing victims to live with their aggressor, the closure of schools and reduction in livelihoods forcing women to engage in free unions or early marriages, lack of sexual and reproductive education, lack of access to contraceptives. A year after the Pandemic is evident the strong need to tackle issues related to women and reproductive health, access to Livelihood and Water and Sanitation, a traditional women-assigned task within the communities and strongly link with stopping the propagation of the virus. This proposal aims at tacking this context revealed in a specific area of the country (Haute Voldrogue, department of Grand Anse, Commune of Jeremie) traditionally neglected and with high levels of vulnerabilities. The activities will run for a period of 6 months, with constant monitoring aiming to update the context and work for adaptative and longer-term strategies, linked with the gender component.
07 RRF 2021 Haiti Gender and Covid19 FV
Ethiopia: Tigray Conflict Response – ETH201(First Revision)
A long-standing political disagreement between the Ethiopia Federal government and the northern regional state of Tigray’s regional government led to an outbreak of hostilities on 4th November 2020. This was characterized by military action resulting in general insecurity in the region, internal and external displacements, and a disruption of livelihoods.
The 2021 Humanitarian Needs Overview launched by the humanitarian community on 5 March estimates that approximately 4.5 million people are currently in need of humanitarian assistance in Tigray.
Changes in ETH201 revised appeal include the addition of Norwegian Church Aid as a requesting member, a focus from livelihood to life-saving interventions, the inclusion of GBV protection, and COVID-19 prevention. Based on information from recent need assessment, the appeal now focuses on central and East Tigray from southern Tigray.
Four ACT Ethiopia members, Ethiopia Orthodox Church Development Inter-Church Aid Commission (EOC-DICAC), Ethiopia Evangelical Mekane Yesus Church (EECMY-DASSC), Lutheran World Federation (LWF), and Norwegian Church Aid are responding to this crisis.
Ethiopia_Tigray-Conflict-response Revised Appeal ETH 201