‘Save the Children’ led consortium helps 15, 795 Phailin hit families

OST Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Jan 23:

Save the Children, which is leading a consortium along with Handicap International, Help Age India and World Vision India has provided humanitarian assistance to 15,795 poor and marginalized households in 108 villages across five districts of Odisha and one district of Andhra Pradesh during the last three months. The consortium’s operation has been supported by UKAID (formerly DFID) in delivering the critical relief through emergency shelter support and non-food items to address the critical needs of the affected families.

The focus was on strengthening the social protection mechanism – protection of children, disabled, elderly, women – and reaching out to the most excluded families with temporary shelter, safe treatment and storage of portable drinking water, safe sanitary and hygiene promotion, solar lamp etc. regardless of caste, creed and race. “The consortium’s approach has enhanced the quality of response, standardized the support kit, strengthened accountability and enhanced the respect for lives of the affected,” said Supriya Pattanaik, Odisha State Representative, UKAID here on Wednesday.

The response exercise was led by Save the Children, with other consortium partners and their respective NGO partners in the field at Ganjam, Balasore, Kendrapara, Puri and Khurda districts of Odisha and Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh and served the affected people including SC, ST, OBC, children, persons with disability, elderly people and women headed families.

“The Rapid Response Framework funding instrument which was activated by UKAID and supported the consortium operations has indeed been a highly appreciable funding mechanism which enabled procurements and delivering timely and qualitative humanitarian relief. The whole effort was to reach people in critical need, and provide them a dignified package of assistance immediately after the devastating cyclone and floods” stated Ray Kancharla, National Manager, DRR and Humanitarian Response, Save the Children.

The household utility kit comprised of containers, tava, saucepan, kadai, plates, glasses, serving spoons, tea spoons, plastic bucket, mug, jug, solar lamp and tarpaulin which was provided along with hygiene kit, containing shampoo, tooth paste, tooth brush, towel, comb kit, washing powder, candle packs, insecticide treated mosquito net, jerry can, soap and Aquatab for safe drinking water. Specific assessment was conducted for persons with disabilities and appropriate aids and appliances were provided to identified. Awareness raising on hygiene promotion and water management was also carried out in the target villages, which helped people to understand and improved household hygiene as well as prevent diseases such as diarrhoea.

Among others, A. Suchitra and Kalika Mohapatra, Handicap International, Arup Chakraborty and Rashmi Mohanty, HelpAge India, Kunal Shah, World Vision India, Sasanka Kumar Padhi, Anjaiah Pandiri, Chittopriyo Sadhu and Santaram Nanda, Save the Children spoke on the occasion.