Situation Report # 8

Country:
Crisis: / Ecuador earthquake
Covering period: / From May 3rd to May 9th
Crisis Location: / Provincias of Esmeraldas, Manabí, Santo Domingo, Guayas, Los Ríos and Santa Elena (UNFPA work is focused on the first two)
Date issued: / 09/May/2016
Contact Name(s); / Francisco Cotera ()
  1. Situation overview including Security Issues
  • A 7.8 earthquake (Richter scale) hit Northern Ecuador on Saturday 16 April 2016. 6 aftershocks greater than 6 have been recorded since the main earthquake struck.

660
casualties / 15
missing / 4,605
Injured
51,376health procedures / 33,757
sheltered / 1,808
buildings destroyed / 1,856
buildings affected / 750,000
population affected*

Ecuadorian Secretariat for Risk Management (Situation Report 61 and previous, 7th May)

*Source: OCHA

  • A Flash Appeal of USD $72.7 million has been agreed. UNFPA appeal represents USD 350.000 in Health, USD 500.000 in Protection and USD 250.000 in Shelters. A final revision is taking place and it is due to be ready for Monday May16th, a month after the earthquake hit Ecuador. UNFPA CO has already sent revisions for their Health, Shelter and Protection projects.
  • CERF: USD 7 million funds have been approved for the next three months. UNFPA Health CERF was approved on May 2 (USD 147,860). Funds have already been applied and budget is ready to be used.Protection CERF was submitted jointly with UNWomen.
  1. Humanitarian needs
  • Different clusters have identified storage as a bottle neck for operations in the field. WFP will provide storage space for free in 3 different locations (Quito – 3200 m2, Pedernales – 320 m2 and Manta – 640 m2) to address this issue.
  • In qualitative research low risk perception against Zika in communities has been identified. It is necessary to strengthen self-care practices. During the field visit to Portoviejo UNFPA´s team was informed by MoH representatives of three confirmed new Zika cases among pregnant women.
  1. Government and UN and other stakeholders’ response

Protection/GBV

  • Under Protection cluster, the GBV sub-cluster has been created and UNFPA holds the leadership together with UNWomen.This sub-clusterfacilitates and coordinates the rapid implementation of the GBV component of the program in the humanitarian emergency in accordance with the IASC Guidelines.The intervention in humanitarian situations is multisectoral, involving multiple organizations and stakeholders, communities,displaced and affected people – promoting resilience -, NGOs and governments involved in the executionall of which are involved in prevention efforts and comprehensive response.

Health

  • RH kits arrived to Ecuador on Friday/Saturday April 29/30 (except cold chain). On Tuesday May 3 they left customs and were transported to warehouse enabled by the government in a local school. Cold chain arrived on Thursday May 5th and left customs on Friday May 6th. Complete kits have already being transported to Manabi and Esmeraldas, where distribution is beginning on Tuesday May 9th.Kits were checked and the distribution plan for the week was developed.
  • Unify actions and communication approaches regarding ZIKAamong agencies involved: PAHO/WHO, UNFPA and UNICEF.

Kits sorted out for distribution, Manabi

Coordination team for distribution of kits in Manabi, MoH and UNFPA

  1. UNFPA Country Office Role
  • The CO has daily and continued meetings with clusters and sub-clusters.
  • The FTP is being amended to (i) include program activities and (ii) spam of action from 3 to 6 months.
  • Around 50% of Emergency Fund allocated is already engaged in Atlas.

4.1.Staffing:

  • In response to the request from the CO for more surge capacity, LACROdeployeda Communication Specialist whoarrived onMay 9th.
  • LACRO will support communications activities when the office has any gap in surge capacity.
  • UNFPA coordinators (SRH and GBV) have workstations within the MoH offices in the city of Portoviejo were the health technical assistance from different agencies, including PAHO, are installed.

4.2.Communication/Advocacy:

  • Coordination has been made with OCHA and UNHCR (cluster leader) so that UNFPA’s work is collected in different reports that circulate amongst UN agencies, government, and civil society.
  • Situation Reports now being uploaded to Humanitarianresponse.info, as well as other relevant information.

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