HAITI - IOM Expands Relief Operations to Tropical Storm Victims, Appeals for Funds - With slowly improving weather conditions, IOM is expanding its relief operations to assist flood affected populations in Gonaives, the South and Southeast regions, which have been worst affected by tropical storms Hanna and Gustav.
In Gonaives, IOM resumed on Monday its distribution of hygiene kits, water containers and plastic sheeting to hundreds of individuals accommodated in temporary shelters, which are located on higher grounds. Shelters in the lower part of town were still inaccessible on Sunday as water levels rose again when coastal areas were hit by the tail end of Hurricane Ike, the fifth this season.
The aid, part of a larger shipment donated by the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), was distributed in coordination with the Direction de la Protection Civile (DPC), UN partners and NGOs on the ground.
"IOM has also deployed an emergency team in Gonaives to identify immediate needs for temporary shelter and evaluate the state of existing infrastructures, which have been battered by the storms," says Vincent Houver, IOM's Chief of Mission in Haiti. "Assessments are also on-going in Petit and Grand Goave, in the remote region of Les Cayes and in the town of St Marc."
In St Marc, IOM is currently purchasing personal hygiene items locally, as well as cooking utensils and plastic sheeting for immediate distribution to some 3,000 vulnerable individuals.
"There is an urgent need to replenish stocks as all the pre-positioned and recently received non food items will have been distributed in the coming days," says IOM's Vincent Houver. "Financial contributions are now urgently needed to secure on-going humanitarian activities and to provide affected communities with shelter assistance, including basic tool kits and construction materials to help them rebuild or reinforce their homes."
To date, IOM has received and distributed through its partners a first consignment of 50 tons of aid sent by the OFDA. In all, IOM has so far distributed non-food and shelter assistance to some 7,000 families in the wake of Gustav and Hanna, though stockpiles are running low, with a mere capacity to assist an additional 3,000 through distribution of kitchen kits. Relief efforts undertaken to date, while significant, are no match for the levels of displacement (upwards of 100,000) and vulnerability caused by the string of natural disasters.
IOM, on behalf of the emergency shelter and non-food items cluster it leads, is appealing for US$13.18 million through the forthcoming UN Flash Appeal; this includes the procurement, transportation and distribution of vital non-food-items, the provision of self-help repair packages and protection support for displaced and affected populations, and the immediate improvement of living conditions in temporary shelters.
For more information, please contact Monique Van Hoof at IOM Port au Prince. Tel: +509 3702 38 47. Email: mvanhoof@iom.int
TIMOR-LESTE - IOM Helps Government in Return, Reintegration of Displaced Families - Over the past four months IOM has helped the government to facilitate the return and reintegration of 5,930 families previously living in 22 displacement camps in and around the capital Dili as a result of civil unrest in April and May 2006.
IOM, which has supported government efforts to manage the camps over the past two years, provides transport and works with people before they leave the camps and after they have returned home to identify those who may need help in resolving potential conflicts.
IOM also monitors their return and reintegration from a community-based perspective through structured monthly village surveys to identify possible areas of tension that could, if left unaddressed, threaten the sustainability of returns.
In August 597 families left one of the country's largest and most visible camps - the site adjoining the country's only international airport - indicating a markedly improved perception of security and stability among both displaced families and receiving communities.
"The successful return and reintegration of these families presented a unique set of challenges. But it is also indicative of a larger trend suggesting that the government's efforts to address the immediate obstacles to return have been largely successful," says IOM Timor-Leste Chief of Mission Luiz Vieira.
IOM's return and reintegration activities in Timor-Leste are funded by the Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission (ECHO) and the Australian government's International Refugee Fund (IRF).
For more information please contact Brad Mellicker at IOM Dili,
Tel: +670 735 19 98, Email: bmellicker@iom.int
