GLIDE n° DR-2012-000177-LKA
2 November 2012
This Emergency Appeal seeks CHF 1,070,504 in cash, kind, or services to support the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) to assist 20,000 drought affected families (some 125,000 people) for 18 months. The operation will be completed by 28 April 2014. A Final Report will be made available by 28 July 2014.
CHF 145,336 was allocated from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support this operation. Unearmarked funds to replenish DREF are encouraged.
Based on the situation, this Emergency Appeal responds to a request from SLRCS, and focuses on providing early recovery and longer-term food security assistance to the most drought affected families and complements the relief assistance provided by the Government of Sri Lanka.
Summary
According to the Government of Sri Lanka, drought is affecting an estimated 1.8 million people in Sri Lanka.
Since December 2011, for the second consecutive season, rainfall has been scanty. Many of the water reservoirs as a result have dried up and people living in the worst hit remote rural areas do not have access to safe drinking water. Their condition is becoming critical. Since July 2012, the Government of Sri Lanka and other actors, including SLRCS, have been trucking in water to affected communities. However, with delayed and irregular rains additional resources are now required to sustain the water supply and help the affected families prepare for the next planting season. The Ministry of Disaster Management of Sri Lanka has appealed to international and local organizations and agencies to contribute to the Government of Sri Lanka efforts to assist the drought affected people.
This appeal seeks CHF 1,070,504 to provide assistance to 20,000 families (some 125,000 people) identified by SLRCS as worst affected. Immediate needs in SLRCS’s assessment include safe drinking water and water storage for 125,000 people (when the rains arrive the needs will be re-assessed). Some 6,650 families will be provided with a cash grant to rebuild their livelihoods (restart farming or home gardening) or find alternative ways to sustain their families in the immediate to medium term. These are small farm holders living in rain fed and minor irrigation areas, whose coping capacities have been undermined by the prolonged drought condition. The operation will also support the rehabilitation of small irrigation tanks and construction of agro wells in remote rural areas. Community-based disaster risk reduction initiatives planned by SLRCS under this operation, aim to strengthen resilience of some 25,000 people in seven drought affected districts.