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Date: 19 May 2004
The Federation's mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable
people by mobilising the power of humanity. It is the world's
largest humanitarian organisation and its millions of
volunteers are active in over 181 countries.
In Brief
THIS EMERGENCY APPEAL SEEKS CHF 1.68 MILLION (USD 1.25 MILLION
OR EUR 1.06 MILLION) IN CASH, KIND, OR SERVICES TO ASSIST
1,850 FAMILIES AFFECTED BY THE DISASTER FOR 12 MONTHS. (CLICK
HERE FOR BUDGET)
THIS APPEAL IS BASED ON INFORMATION GATHERED SINCE THE LAUNCH
OF THE PRELIMINARY APPEAL ON 26 APRIL. AS THE SITUATION HAS
EVOLVED THE DPRK RED CROSS AND THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION
HAVE DEVELOPED A CLEARER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SPECIFIC NEEDS
IN RYONGCHON.
All International Federation assistance seeks to adhere to the
Code of Conduct and is committed to the Humanitarian Charter
and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response in delivering
assistance to the most vulnerable. For support to or for
further information concerning Federation programmes or
operations in this or other countries, or for a full
descript★ion of the national society profile, please access the
Federation's website at http://www.ifrc.org
For further information specifically related to this operation
please contact:
In DPRK: International Federation Pyongyang; P.G. Jenssen ,HoD
DPRK Delegation; (Tel)850-2-381-4350;email:ifrckp02@ifrc.org
International Federation EARD in Beijing; Niels Juel, Regional
Disaster Management Delegate; (Tel) 86-10-6532-7162; (Mobile
Tel) 86-1360-105-0424;email:ifrccn02@ifrc.org.
In Geneva: Asia-Pacific Regional Department, Satoshi Sugai,
Federation Regional Officer, email:satoshi.sugai@ifrc.org;
(Tel)41-22-730-4273; fax 41.22.733.03.95
For longer-term programmes, please refer to the Federation's
Annual Appeal.
The situation
22 April's massive train explosion that occurred at Ryongchon
railway station in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's
(DPRK) North Pyongan Province was a test of the DPRK Red Cross
Society's developing disaster management programme. The
powerful blast devastated the immediately surrounding area
leaving at least 161 people dead and injuring some 2,000.
Ryongchon's population is approximately 27,000 people , of
which thousands were left homeless as 1,850 homes were
destroyed or rendered uninhabitable, and a further 6,360
sustained partial damage. The explosion disrupted the county's
electricity supplies and damaged the water systems. Among the
large number of public buildings damaged were schools, the
county hospital, and the polyclinic located close to the train
station.
Over the past three weeks substantial efforts have been made
to clean up the area. Repairs were made to the train tracks,
and trains have resumed their normal routes. A large number of
construction workers from the surrounding provinces have
arrived in Ryongchon setting up camp in the outskirts of the
disaster stricken area. The rubble is being cleared, houses
and buildings damaged beyond repair are being pulled down and,
the huge crater created by the explosion has been covered.
Building material is being brought into the affected area by
train, and the loading and unloading of the material is taking
place where the crater created by the explosion was.
According to the DPRK government's Flood Damage Rehabilitation
Committee (FDRC) most families in Ryongchon have taken in home
less families, so that most of the families who lost their
homes in the explosion are living with relatives, friends and
neighbours or in public buildings. A number of new concrete
houses are under construction on the outskirts of town for the
many familie s who were made homeless in the blast. 450
families, however, remain in the temporary shelters that were
provided immediately after the blast by the DPRK Red Cross and
the Federation. The FDRC are encouraging families living
further from the city centre to take in the remaining
families, and expect this process to be completed over the
coming weeks.
Access to safe drinking water remains a concern. The water
purification tablets distributed in the days following the
explosion are sufficient to cover a period of one month, but
available water supplies are at risk due to the number of
people remaining in temporary shelters, the large number of
construction workers arriving in Ryongchon and, the damage
sustained by the city's water system. The International
Federation is in the process of deploying a small water
station consisting of two bladder tanks and a submersible pump
which is expected to provide clean wate r for a minimum of
2,000 people. The water station will operate according to the
Sphere standard providing a minimum of 15 litres of water per
person per day.
The hospital in Sinuiju which admitted most of the severely
injured people following the explosion, reported that the
number of patients continues to fluctuate as some patients
recovered while others needed to be readmitted to the
hospital. The WHO is coordinating the support to the hospitals
and clinics in the area. At this point the Federation does not
foresee further distributions of medical kits in the short
term. The urgent distribution of medical kits to the
institutions in and around the disaster stricken area did
create additional constrain ts on the already ongoing medical
support programme. Donors are therefore encouraged to continue
supporting ongoing programmes that are contributing to the
overall level of preparedness and the capacity to respond to
both emergency and everyday medical needs.
The response of the DPRK Red Cross and the International
Federation received a considerable amount of media attention,
this experience will be incorporated into the upcoming
communications workshop in early June which is being supported
by the Danish Red Cross and will be facilitated by the Head of
the Danish Red Cross' communications department and the
Federation's regional information delegate.
Humanitarian Needs
The high number of people injured or left dead due to the
explosion created a great need for support to cope with the
crisis. Losses sustained as a result of a disaster of this
size will continue to adversely affect the people in the area
where the explosion occurred for many months and in some cases
years to come. The thousands of people whose homes and
personal belongings were destroyed require immediate, medium
term and long term assistance.
Provision of Household Items
The 1,850 families who lost most or all of their belongings ,
require support with a large range of daily household items
such as clothing, fuel for cooking, hygiene kits and other
daily necessities.
Support to Water and Health Care Systems
The area that was affected by the blast was connected to the
city water supply serving approximately half the urban area,
comprising some 3,000 families (12,000 - 15,000 people ). This
water system was rendered useless in the immediate vicinity of
the blast. Prior to the blast the existing water supply system
was already in a state of deterioration and disrepair which
was only further exacerbated by the explosion. As a result
therefore the needs for the rehabilitation extend not only to
the area in close proximity to the blast, but to an area that
covers most of the urban area or 22,000 beneficiaries out the
total of 27,000.
Reconstruction and Rehabilitation of Buildings
The government has requested support with the reconstruction
and rehabilitation of: individual houses, schools, hospitals
and other public buildings.
The Proposed DPRK Red Cross/Federation Operation
Background: Red Cross/Red Crescent Response as of 14 May
The Ryongchon branch of the DPRK Red Cross immediately
responded to the explosion by establishing five temporary
first-aid posts close to the disaster site, and mobilizing 398
Red Cross volunteers.
A relief operation was mounted by the DPRK Red Cross and the
Federation within 24 hours of the disaster. Following an
initial assessment conducted by the Nationa l Society on 23
April, at the request of the DPRK government's Flood Damage
Rehabilitation Committee (FDRC), trucks carrying 2,000 kitchen
sets, 10,000 blankets, 2,000 water containers, 2,000
tarpaulins, 720,000 water purification tablets and 1,000 first
aid kits left the Regional and Central Disaster Preparedness
warehouses for the affected area.
Federation delegates brought two trucks and five other
vehicles loaded with first-aid and medical supplies to the
affected area. Three days prior to the blast, the DPRK Red
Cross and the International Federation had delivered medical
supplies to hospitals and clinics in the area which, with the
new consignment, meant immediate needs in Ryongchon could be
covered. The delivery was part of an ongoing four-province Red
Cross medical programme which ensures annual assistance to six
million people.
The initial distribution were somehow difficult given that
some of the people affected were only temporary residents in
Ryongchon and a number of them received assistance despite not
being officially registered. The following distributions were
organised in close co-operation with the unit heads. The
residential area affected by the explosion was divided into a
number of units all referring to a higher unit level. The unit
heads know all the residents in the unit and could quickly
identify the benefic iaries. In the cases where the unit Head
was hospitalised or otherwise not available the head of the
higher unit level provided the DPRK Red Cross branch with
beneficiary lists.
Health facilities in the area were challenged due to the large
number of people wounded in the accident. Apart from the
medical supplies that had been provided by the DPRK Red Cross
and the WHO, there was a continuing need for further supplies.
Over the past few weeks the county hospital in Ryongchon and
the provincial hospital in Sinuiju, as well as the six smaller
hospitals and clinics in the counties received relief and
medical relief items from the DPRK Red Cross' central
warehouse in Pyongyang.
The DPRK Red Cross and the Federation has altogether released
the following items from their disaster preparedness
warehouses in Pyongyang and Sinuiju.
Items Unit Quantity Remarks
Kitchen sets Set 2,500 From Sinuiju & Pyongyang disaster
preparedness centres.
Blankets Pcs 14,000
Water containers Pcs 5,040
Tarpaulins Pcs 2,000
Water Purification Tablet Tablets 720,000
First Aid Kit Kit 687 From Pyongyang DP centre.
First Aid Package refill kits Kit 30
Supplementary medicines Kit 14 To Ryongchon
Supplementary medicines Kit 31 To Sinuiju
In addition to the activities in DPRK, donor support and media
interest since the launch of the preliminary appeal has been
positive. The International Federation and the DPRK Red Cross
have distributed relief and medical items received from the
Republic of Korea Red Cross, the WFP and the WHO. In addition
the quick response from donors such as ECHO, USAID and AusAID
have allowed the DPRK Red Cross and the Federation to provide
critically needed assistance in a timely manner.
Planned activities
The Federation has been supporting the DPRK Red Cross since
the mid 1990s and therefore has the capacity to sustain longer
term interventions in addition to providing immediate
emergency relief. The objective of this appeal is to address
both the short term and long term needs of 1,850 families who
lost their homes as a result of 22 April's explosion in
Ryongchon county.
Phase I: Distribution of relief items from Red Cross disaster
preparedness centres
Disaster preparedness warehouses in Sinuiju and Pyongyang will
be restocked with blankets, first-aid kits, tarpaulins,
kitchen sets (plates, cups, chopsticks etc.) and collapsible
water containers. Based on observations and beneficiary
interviews conducted by representatives of the DPRK Red Cross
and the Federation adjustments will be made to the type of
blankets, first-aid kits and tarpaulins purchased to replace
the ones distributed. Namely, blankets will be replaced by
thicker quality quilts and the tarpaulins will have reinforced
meta★l holes to make them easier to tie. The Federation health
delegates and the DPRK Red Cross have taken this opportunity
to revise the contents of the first aid kits, dividing them
into two different kinds one meant for the individual Red
Cross volunteers and one aimed at supporting medical
institutions during larger sized disasters where the number of
personal injuries are high, like in the explosion that
devastated Ryongchon.
Phase II (four months): Support for 1,850 homeless families
The DPRK Red Cross and the Federation are focusing on the
needs of 1,850 families who lost their homes and everything
they owned due to the explosion. Apart from the Federation a
number of donors like WFP, ROK Red Cross, World Vision and
German Agro Action have supported these families with Hygiene
kits, summer clothes, blankets and Food. There is, however, a
substantial and alarming gap in regard to ensuring support to
these families against cold weather which commences in
September. The DPRK Red Cross and the Federation therefore
intend to distribute winter jackets, pants and shoes as well
as thick quilts to the 1,850 homeless families who due to the
sudden and completely unexpected explosion did not have time
to gather any of their belongings. Coal, which is relied on in
DPRK for cooking is a precious commodity and the families lost
their entire supply during the blast, thus each family will
receive 300 kg of coal for cooking.
Phase III (12 months): Reconstruction of polyclinic and
restoration of the water supply
The third Phase of this operation will be composed of two main
interventions , one focusing on reconstructing a Polyclinic
and one focusing on restoring the water supply in Ryongchon.
The DPRK Red Cross supported by the Federation have been in
coordination with the FDRC and the OCHA chaired Interagency Co-
ordination Group and agreed to assume responsib ility for
reconstructing a polyclinic which was totally devastated in
the explosion, and to take a leading role in assisting the
County People's Committee in restoring Ryongchon's water
supply. The DPRK authorities are in a process of developing a
master-plan for the reconstruction of the devastated area. The
first draft is expected to be ready within the coming weeks
while the final version might take considerably longer to
complete.
Polyclinic
Ryongchon's polyclinic which was situated close to the train
station was completely destroyed due to the explosion and
needs to be rebuilt. The DPRK Red Cross and the Federation
will rebuild the facility. The facility which may be up to two
stories will house space for the local Red Cross branch.
The DPRK Red Cross and the Federation are working closely with
the WHO, who has assumed responsibility for coordinating the
international agencies' assistance in relation to the
reconstruction and equipping of medical facilities in the
disaster stricken area and for liaising with the FDRC and the
Ministry of Public Health. The WHO and the Swiss based
humanitarian organization, the Adventist Development and
Relief Agency (ADRA) will support the reconstruction of
Ryongchon county hospital. The DPRK Red Cross, the Federation,
ADRA, WHO, Ministry of Public Health and the FDRC are
coordinating activities to ensure that the design and
equipment provided to the polyclinic is consistent with the
overall reconstruction plan and that the functions of the
polyclinic in relation to the hospital are clearly defined to
avoid duplication and better serve the public's needs.
The DPRK Red Cross and the Federation are currently in
discussions with ADRA and WHO to determine how the three
organisations can co-operate with the MoPH in ensuring that
the polyclinic and the county hospital will be designed and
constructed according to international standards. It is
envisaged that specialists from ADRA, who have been involved
with reconstructing both hospitals and other institutions over
the last six years in DPRK, will have a consultancy role to
ensure that the institutions are constructed according to high
quality standards. ICRC, who is currently conducting a
reconstruction project in the Orthopedic workshop in Songrim,
have also offered their technical expertise to support this
project.
The DPRK Red Cross and the Federation have a special interest
in establishing facilities for physiotherapy in the
polyclinic, in order to provide improved rehabilitation
services to patients injured in the disaster.
Water supply
The DPRK Red Cross and the Federation will continue to assume
the lead role in water and sanitation activities. The national
society and the Federation which have developed water and
sanitation activities throughout the country will take the
lead role in the restoration of Ryongchon's water supply
system.
Ryongchon County is located in a predominantly flat area, the
population of which is 128,393. Of this total population
69,122 are farmers. The total urban population of Ryongchon
township is 27,000 of which 22,000 were formerly connected to
the piped reticulated water supply system while those on the
periphery of the urban area utilize shallow wells and hand
pumps. Prior to the train explosion three pump houses and two
water storage tanks were partially operational. One storage
tank was located east of the main road and one located to the
west. The new water supply system is intended to provide a
total of 5,500 cubic meters per day (250 litres per person per
day) of clean and safe drinking water to 5,700 families
(22,000 people ) within the township of Ryongchon.
The DPRK Red Cross and the Federation will work in cooperation
with FDRC, UNICEF, Concern and CESVI to support the
rehabilitation of the city's water supply by constructing a
water tower with a capacity of 600 cubic meters that will
provide water to the affected area through a gravity fed
system. The system will be built in keeping with the FDRC's
developing master plan for reconstruction which has not yet
been finalized.
The DPRK Red Cross and the Federation who already have a
significant number of ongoing water and sanitation activities
as part of the society's health programme will ensure that the
overall design of the system is consistent with the quality of
the other ongoing DPRK Red Cross/Federation supported
activities.
Although the importance of restoring the water supply as
quickly as possible is recognized, it is also important to
understand that this system is intended for the long term
support to the city and will require the appropriate amount of
time to ensure that it is both designed and constructed in a
manner that meets international standards. In the meantime the
temporary system being set up by the Federation, using the
bladder tanks will meet the needs of the families until the
permanent structure is completed.
Coordination
Coordination between the DPRK Red Cross, the International
Federation, the FDRC and international agencies and NGOs
operating in Ryongchon has been central in developing the
strategy for this appeal. The Federation's Head of country
delegation, health, disaster management, water and sanitation
and logistics delegates as well as the East Asia Regional
Disaster Management delegate and representatives from the DPRK
Red Cross are active participants in inter-agency meetings and
maintain regular contact with the government. Construction and
water and sanitation activities have been pla nned to meet the
needs set forth by the FDRC in their master rehabilitation and
reconstruction plan.
The UN agencies have revised the CAP for 2004 to incorporate
the needs created by the train explosion in Ryongchon. The
revised CAP is expected to be issued in May. Following the
explosion, special emergency meetings dedicated to the
response in Ryongchon comprised of representatives from the
ongoing inter-agency meetings were established and meeting
participants were assigned lead roles according to sector.
Issues regarding Ryongchon will now be incorporated into the
regularly held inter-agency meetings and participants will
resume their regular role. The Federation, however, will
continue with its role in regard to water and sanitation and
non-food relief items.
Capacity of the National Society
The capacity built over the past two year's through the
Society's disaster management programme, allowed the DPRK Red
Cross with support form the Federation to respond quickly to
22 April's disaster. A report issued by the British Red Cross
in 2002, acknowledged that the national society is respected
for providing assistance directly to the victims of natural
disasters in a timely manner to alleviate suffering and
expedite recovery. The DPRK Red Cross is well prepared to
respond to disasters, and has six DP/DR warehouses located in
Pyongyang, Sinuiju, Wonsan, Kaesong, Huichon, and Chongjin
cities, and one central medical warehouse in Pyongyang as well
as county medical warehouses in 50 counties.
At the time the disaster struck the DPRK Red Cross warehouses
contained sufficient pre-positioned stocks to meet the
immediate needs for non-food relief items of 15,000 families.
Stock from the warehouses in Sinuiju and Pyongyang was readily
accessible for distribution and long term efforts placed on
developing the society's disaster management department as
well as the society's volunteers paid off as those left
homeless by the explosion, which devastated their county, were
able to quickly receive urgently needed relief items. With
support from the Federation's country delegation relief items
were immediately mobilized from the warehouses and were ready
for distribution beginning 24 April.
Additionally, the logistics capacity of the DPRK Red Cross and
the International Federation is receiving positive recognition
from other international organisations working in Ryongchon
and has been instrumental to successfully meeting the needs of
the beneficiaries by ensuring the efficient transport of the
items.
Ryongchon county has a population of 123,200 of whom
approximately 27,000 live in the city itself. It is in one of
the four provinces where the DPRK Red Cross and the Federation
currently provide humanitarian health and care support. This
includes the distribution of basic medical drugs and equipment
to health institutions and promoting access of vulnerable
groups to basic health care services. The DPRK Red Cross and
the Federation train and develop the skills of health care
providers and Red Cross volunteers at the community le vel on
issues such as: disease prevention, first aid and care for
common health problems , such as acute respiratory infections,
water borne diseases, as well as maternal and child health.
Additionally, the national society is supporting the
rehabilitation of water and sanitation systems in the
province.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The project is managed and coordinated by the DM delegate and
the DPRK RC DM department. With the appeal covering the three
core areas of the Red Cross interventions in DPRK, Health,
Wat/san and Disaster Management delegates and DRK RC staff
from all three departments will be involved with the
implementation of the emergency appeal. The distribution and
warehousing of relief items and replacement stock will be
monitored by the Federation's logistics and disaster
management delegates based in DPRK as well as representatives
from the DPRK Red Cross' disaster management department.
The International Federation has three water and sanitation
delegates based in DPRK working on the regular programs. To
ensure that these programs are not being interrupted by the
rehabilitation of the water supply system in Ryongchon
additional six delegate month will be allocated for the
implementation of this part of the emergency appeal. These
delegates will work closely with trained counterparts from the
DPRK Red Cross and in co-operation with the International
Federation's water and sanitation unit in Geneva. The
Federation delegation in DPRK will furthermore be supported
with a reporting delegate based at the regional delegation in
Beijing. The Reporting delegate will frequently visit DPRK and
assist with reporting and monitoring.
A representative of the British Red Cross will be in DPRK in
May to review the DPRK Red Cross' ongoing disaster management
activitie s funded by BRC. The DM program have regularly been
evaluated and improved over the years and at the end of the
Emergency Operation the Regional DM delegate will be
responsible for organising a learning review focusing partly
on the implementation of the relief operation and partly on
the relevance of the ongoing DM program for this operation.
Abbas Gullet
Director
National Society and Field Support Division
Markku Niskala
Secretary General
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