Â鶹³ÉÈË°æ

This operation has been modified as per budget revision 4 (see below).

An earthquake hit Ecuador on 16 April 2016 causing significant destruction. Initial government/United Nations reports indicate that the areas of Esmeraldas and Manab¨ª have been hit the hardest. Although the magnitude of this disaster continues to unfold, Â鶹³ÉÈË°æ currently estimates that 260,000 will require immediate food assistance.

On 17 April, the Government declared a state of emergency in the provinces of Esmeraldas, Santo Domingo, Manab¨ª, Guayas, Los R¨ªos and Santa Elena and requested Â鶹³ÉÈË°æ assistance. Immediate priorities in affected areas include search and rescue, medical services and supplies, clean water and sanitation, food, nutrition, emergency shelter, logistics and telecommunications.

Through this emergency operation, Â鶹³ÉÈË°æ, together with its partners, will support 260,000 vulnerable and food-insecure people in affected areas over an initial period of three months. Â鶹³ÉÈË°æ will undertake general distributions of food assistance targeting earth-quake affected vulnerable people who are unable to access food.

The overall objective of this operation is to ¡°Save lives and protect livelihoods in emergencies¡± in line with Strategic Objective 1 of the Â鶹³ÉÈË°æ Strategic Plan (2014-2017). More specifically, the proposed activities aim to i) Meet urgent food and nutrition needs of vulnerable people and communities and reduce undernutrition to below emergency levels; and ii) Protect lives and livelihoods while enabling safe access to food and nutrition for women and men.

As part of its global cluster lead responsibilities, Â鶹³ÉÈË°æ is also deploying staff and equipment to support the international humanitarian community in logistics.

A United Nations Disaster and Assessment Coordination team has been deployed to undertake a rapid needs assessment to inform a multi-sectoral response. Subsequently, Â鶹³ÉÈË°æ will conduct an emergency food security assessment in coordination with the Government and partners. Based on the findings of this assessment, Â鶹³ÉÈË°æ will review the planning assumptions for this operation and make adjustments to the targeting and response strategy accordingly. A budget revision to this emergency operation will be processed within 30 days to adjust Â鶹³ÉÈË°æ planned beneficiary figures.

While this EMOP presents an overall operational plan for three months, the US$ 11.4 million budget requirements only represent the first month of the operation. The estimated requirements for the three months based on the current planning assumptions would equate to approximately US$ 34 million.

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The purpose of BR 4 to the Corporate Emergency Operation (CR-EMOP) 200665 is to extend the operation in time by two months until 20 december 2016 to respond to the continued food needs of earthquake-affected populations.