BRIEFING KIT

Regional Humanitarian Funding UpdateCaucasus and Central AsiaIssue 04 | Second Quarter 2012 (April – June 2012)Overview of disasters P.1Humanitarian funding into the region P.2 In April – June 2012, theregion received $15 million inhumanitarian funding. Figures on Uzbekistan’s andTajikistan’s outgoing aid releasedby governments Unusually high number ofdisasters hit the regionThe Regional HumanitarianFunding Update is an overviewof funding levels andtrends in the countries of theCaucasus and Central Asia,mainly based on data reportedto the Financial TrackingService (FTS), collected andanalysed by the UN Officefor the Coordination of HumanitarianAffairs (OCHA) –Regional Office for Caucasusand Central Asia (ROCCA).FTS is a global, real-time databasethat records all reportedinternational humanitarianaid. All FTS data areprovided by donors or recipientorganizations. For moreinformation, please visithttp://fts.unocha.orgFigures in this report representbest available estimatesat the time of publication.$15 millionReceived in April-June(US$)Khujai Khuloz, Tavildara, Tajikistan/ M. KandikovAfter a long winter, a series of disastersKyrgyzstan and Tajikistan hit by above-average number of disastersThe long-awaited end to the region’s harshest winter in recent years did not bring muchrelief to affected communities. Before people could recover from abundant snow, avalanches,cold temperatures, and livestock deaths, flash floods, mudflows, landslides,rockfalls and earthquakes bombarded theregion. Particularly hit were Kyrgyzstanand Tajikistan. Although figures vary, it isestimated that at least 200 small- to medium-scaledisasters have struck Kyrgyzstansince April, often affecting the same families.On April 23 – 29, flash floods sweptthrough 43 villages in Osh, Batken andJalabad in southern Kyrgyzstan, disruptingthe lives of thousands of people. Humanitarianpartners supported the Governmentin providing immediate relief in food andagriculture, water, sanitation and hygiene,shelter, health and education. As of 30June, economic damage in 2012 stood at$14 million, which is 3.7 times higher thanthe same period in 2011.Humanitarian funding out of the region P.3New CERF website launched P.4Credit: North REACT, DRCUKyrgyzstan (6 April 2012) – Kids stand in front of a tentdistributed by the Ministry of Emergency Situations to familiesaffected by flash floodsIn Tajikistan, around 280 disasters have taken the lives of 25 people since beginning ofthe year. These disasters damaged or destroyed hundreds of houses and have cost thecountry a total of $9 million. As the hazardous flood season was coming to an end, apowerful 5.7-magnitude earthquake shook three districts in the Rasht Valley on 13 May.As of 30 June, the number of disasters in 2012 had increased 30 per cent over the sameperiod last year.Earthquakes, rains and mudflows affect Azerbaijan and GeorgiaThough Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan saw the worst effects, the rest of the region was notspared. On 7 May, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake left thousands of people homeless innorth-west Azerbaijan. Continuing tremors and a powerful aftershock on 18 May exacerbatedthe situation for many people, forcing even more to be evacuated from their shatteredhomes. In Georgia, heavy rains in May triggered flash floods and mudflowsthroughout the country, killing five people in Tbilisi and affecting over 3,000 more. In bothAzerbaijan and Georgia, the Governments, supported by the Red Cross/Red Crescentmovement, are coping well with the aftermath. For the disaster overview in the Caucasus,please see attached map.