Emergency Food Assistance to Populations Affected by Earthquakes in Ecuador

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 Manabí have been hit the hardest. Although the magnitude of this disaster continues to unfold, WFP 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, Manabí, Guayas, Los Ríos and Santa Elena and requested WFP 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, WFP, together with its partners, will support 260,000 vulnerable and food-insecure people in affected areas over an initial period of three months. WFP 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 WFP 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, WFP 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, WFP will conduct an emergency food security assessment in coordination with the Government and partners. Based on the findings of this assessment, WFP 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 WFP 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.