BENIN DISASTER ALERT UPDATE 3 - THE EMERGENCY THAT WASN'T

UNCLAS COTONOU 000330 STATE FOR AF/E JKNIGHT, AF/W ACOOK, VHARPER LONDON FOR PLORD PARIS FOR BKANEDA DAKAR FOR USAID DCHA/OFDA LPOWERS, MSHIRLEY, AFR/WA NFREEMAN, DALZOUMA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID PGOV BN SUBJECT: BENIN DISASTER ALERT UPDATE 3 - THE EMERGENCY THAT WASN'T Ref: (A) COTONOU 00288, (B) COTONOU 00298 ¶1. Summary: Following the Government of Benin's (GOB) declaration of a State of Emergency on July 6, 2009, the United Nations mandated an Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA) team to visit Benin to evaluate the flooding situation and recommend appropriate humanitarian assistance. The OCHA experts arrived in Benin on July 12 and worked closely with representatives from the GOB, non-governmental organizations (NGOs),and UN agencies during the week of July 13-17. Teams visited areas said to be critically affected by the flooding. Also, technical committees evaluated pharmaceutical, water and sanitation needs of affected communities. On July 17, all the visiting groups and technical committees met at UNDP to present their findings and make recommendations. They concluded that "there is no global emergency," the conditions required for the GOB to declare a State of Emergency were not met, and that the flooding was more of a direct consequence of Benin's chronic development challenges. End Summary ¶2. The OCHA Team came to Benin to evaluate flooding which resulted from seasonal rains and recommend an assistance plan to respond to Benin's declaration of a State of Emergency. The OCHA team, accompanied by representatives from Benin's Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Water, international NGOs, and UNICEF and FAO representatives, split into two groups and visited regions said to be most affected by floods. The first group visited Abomey, Cove, Ouinhi in Zou and Glazoue in Collines. In general, the first group noticed the following situations: a) flooding in corn fields, b) flooding of rice paddies, c) damaged access roads, and e) a few people without shelter because of damage to only 10 houses. The chief medical doctors in each commune reported no cases of diarrhea or fatalities, but an increased number of cases of malaria (as every year during the rainy season). The second group visited several communes in Mono and observed the same situation. ¶3. Based on the damages and risks the visiting teams observed, technical committees identified pharmaceutical drugs as a priority need. Specifically, artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is needed to treat increased numbers of malaria cases, paracetamol, quinine, oral rehydration salt and zinc, Cotrimoxazole, Doxicycline, and additional cholera kits for the Mono region. Water and sanitation needs include draining flood waters and distributing chlorine for water treatment. These needs mirror those initially identified by the GOB, which estimated the cost of meeting them at $300,000. In light of the committee's findings and recommendations, the cost should be less than this. ¶4. It is worthwhile to note that although the GOB continues to request additional USG assistance in procuring mosquito nets, the teams did not identify this as a need. Immediately following the GOB's emergency declaration, Post concurred with the Minister of Health's decision to use the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI)-funded bed nets to meet the immediate needs of people in flooded areas. Post strongly recommended to give bed nets, in priority, to the most vulnerable populations (children under the age of five and pregnant women). The Ministry of Health plans on using 80,000 of the 280,000 bed nets that health facilities received in April 2009 under PMI. ¶5. Post also recommended that the GOB use up its available stock of ACT drugs received from PMI and the World Bank's Booster Program before identifying other potential sources. ¶6. On behalf of donors, UNDP will report OCHA's evaluation findings to the GOB and will coordinate assistance to most critical areas in collaboration with the GOB. However, donors and GOB officials alike have already concluded that Benin's flooding this year did not warrant the declaration of a State of Emergency. The Director of Civil Protection at the Ministry of Interior declared during the meeting: "We were fooled. Prefects did not activate the Disaster Response Plan because there is no emergency." An NGO representative said "this is not an emergency; we are just facing developmental dysfunction." This sentiment was widely shared among those present and suggests that Benin's yearly flooding needs to be addressed as a middle and long-term development issue. BOUSTANI