MEMORANDUM SUBMITTED BY THE UNITED NATIONS
OFFICE FOR THE CO-ORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS (OCHA)
FLOODS IN MOZAMBIQUE
Summary of Co-ordination Efforts at the United
Nations Headquarters in Geneva led by the Office for the Co-ordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
13 March 2000
As a result of OCHA's continuous monitoring
and reporting of disasters worldwide, OCHA's Africa Desk in the
Disaster Response Branch started issuing situation reports on
the torrential rains in Mozambique as of 26 January 2000. Since
that date, OCHA has issued 16 situation reports on this emergency,
drawing from field reports produced by the Government's National
Institute of Disaster Management (INGC) in collaboration with
OCHA representatives, the United Nations Resident Co-ordinator's
Office, UN agencies[1],
the Red Cross and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). OCHA's
reports also include information from headquarters offices of
aid agencies and provide regular updates on of donor contributions.
Following exceptionally heavy rains between
4-7 Feburary, OCHA organised the fielding of a five-member UN
Disaster Assessment and Co-ordination (UNDAC) Team to Mozambique.
The team, led by an OCHA staff member and composed of emergency
experts provided by WFP and the Governments of the United Kingdom,
Austria and Zambia, arrived in Maputo on 12 February, supported
by two disaster experts provided by the Government of the United
Kingdom.
Assigned OCHA Geneva staff have maintained daily
contact with the UNDAC Team. In particular, OCHA Geneva has performed
a number of vital tasks in support of the UNDAC Team and co-ordination
of UN disaster relief efforts, such as:
— following up on requests for mobilisation
of resources, in-kind humanitarian assistance and Military and
Civil Defense Assets;
— reflecting, in OCHA's situation reports,
the findings of the UNDAC Team's assessments and its progress
in co-ordination, in particular in assisting the Resident Co-ordinator/United
Nations Disaster Management Team and the Government of Mozambique
in setting up an operations coordination cell in the INGC, and
formulating a United Nations Inter-agency Appeal for Emergency
Relief and Initial Rehabilitation;
— disseminating the United Nations
Inter-Agency Appeal, launched jointly by the Government and the
United Nations in Maputo on 23 February, to donors and the media
from its Geneva and New York Headquarters;
— providing the donor community with
regular updates on financial and in-kind contributions for Mozambique.
During the week of 14 February, a first relief
flight was organised by OCHA from its warehouse in Pisa (Italy),
carrying relief supplies provided by the Italian and Norwegian
Governments, in response to theUS$ 3.7 million appeal made on
10 February by the Government of Mozambique.
During the period 26-27 February, Mozambique
became a victim of the inundation of key river systems as a result
of the rains caused by cyclone Eline over Zimbabwe, which led
to renewed overflowing of the country's river system. As the work
of the first UNDAC Team had concluded on 24 February, OCHA dispatched
a second UNDAC Team to Mozambique, which arrived in-situ on 29
February. The INGC Co-ordination Centre, which had been handed
over to the national authorities and the UN Disaster Management
Team in-country by the first UNDAC Team, was again strengthened
thanks to OCHA's speedy fielding of disaster relief co-ordination
experts. OCHA also organised a second flight from Pisa during
the week of 28 February.
The second UNDAC Team included three members
from the first team and was composed of nationals from the United
Kingdom—Department for International Development (Team Leader),
as well as Austria, Zambia, Norway and Finland. Three logistics
experts were sent from the United Kingdom to reinforce the mission.
On 29 February, a donor meeting was jointly
hosted in Geneva by the Permanent Representative of the Government
of Mozambique to the United Nations and OCHA, which updated participants
on the situation in Mozambique and the results of the first UNDAC
mission. Donors pledged more that US$13 million in assistance
to flood-affected victims in Mozambique, in addition to in-kind
contributions.
Upon the appointment announced on 29 February
of Mr Ross Mountain, Director of OCHA Geneva, as the Secretary-General's
Special Humanitarian Envoy of the Secretary-General, OCHA Geneva
immediately mobilised to support the fielding of the Special Envoy's
three-member delegation, which arrived in Maputo on 1 March.
As of 1 March, OCHA Geneva created an internal
Task Force under the leadership of the Director of OCHA Geneva,
a.i. and Chief of the disaster Response Branch, Mr Gerhard Putman-Cramer.
The Task Force has been meeting twice per day and ensured continuous
reporting on the situation in southern Africa—through daily
contacts with the UNDAC Team, the Special Envoy and his delegation,
as well as the aid and donor community at headquarters level—and
responding to the specific requests of the Special Envoy and of
the UN Secretariat through OCHA New York.
OCHA Geneva has also been managing media from
Geneva and ensured liaison with other Geneva-based United Nations
spokespersons to present a consolidated picture of the emergency
and relief efforts in Mozambique.
In accordance with a formal agreement between
OCHA and World Meteorological Organization (WMO), WMO provides
the necessary hydrometeorological information support to the ongoing
humanitarian operation. WMO communicates to OCHA at Headquarters
level and to the INGC Co-ordination Centre in Mozambique daily
reports originating from the South African Weather Bureau.
On 3 March, OCHA organised a co-ordination meeting
with all major donors, as well as UN agencies and the Red Cross,
to facilitate stock taking and immediate planning of the international
aid effort to Mozambique. The meeting was attended both from capitals
and Permanent Missions and provided critical information on assistance
activities in the major emergency sectors, ie logistics, water
and sanitation, health and food. During the meeting, information
was provided by agencies and donors on assistance worth more than
US$50 million. Participants acknowledged the critical role of
OCHA in co-ordinating efforts in this emergency and agreed that
its Military and Civil Defence Unit should serve as a focal point
for logistics requests in close collaboration with a logistics
co-ordination cell newly established in Maputo as part of the
INGC Co-ordination Centre.
The Joint OCHA-UNEP Environmental Unit based
with OCHA Geneva has been active since the first days of the emergency
in monitoring possible environmental hazards as a result of the
flooding. On 8 March, UNEP and UNCHS (HABITAT) sent a technical
team to participate in the effort of the United Nations in Mozambique
through assessment of damages to the environment and human settlements,
and identification of needs for international assistance. The
team is co-ordinating closely with the INGC Co-ordination Centre
and the UNDAC Team on the ground.
On 8 March, at the request of the Special Humanitarian
Envoy, OCHA dispatched an information management expert to support
the INGC Co-ordination Centre in managing the vast amount of information
now available on relief efforts for this emergency and facilitating
reporting.
On 13 March, on the occasion of the return of
the second UNDAC Team from Mozambique after hand-over to a third
UNDAC team, OCHA Geneva hosted a meeting of representatives of
the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), whose membership is
composed of United Nations humanitarian agencies, the Red Cross
Movement and three NGO consortia. The UNDAC Team Leader provided
a briefing on the progress of co-ordination and assistance delivery
in Mozambique.
The third UNDAC Team dispatched by OCHA arrived
in Mozambique on 10 March and is ensuring continuous support to
co-ordination of the international relief effort in Mozambique.
This four-member team is led by a Senior OCHA staff member and
is composed of disaster management experts from Sweden, Finland
and Denmark. The Head of Desk for Africa of OCHA's Disaster Response
Branch also arrived in Maputo at the end of the week. Among the
tasks of these representatives, in addition to continuing the
work initiated by the first two UNDAC teams, will be to assist
the Government and the United Nations in-country team in updating
the United Nations Inter-Agency appeal.
OCHA's situation reporting and systematic tracking
of donor contributions have been made widely available throughout
the emergency on Reliefweb, the humanitarian web page managed
by OCHA (www.reliefweb.int).
United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of
Humanitarian Affairs
13 March 2000
1 UN agencies based in-country, and who participated
in the UN Inter-Agency Appeal launched on 23 February, were: UNDP,
WFP, UNICEF, WHO, FAO,UNESCO, UNFPA. Back
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