Grant Operations in 2001
Emergency Assistance
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In January 2001, the Fund extended a humanitarian grant to help
Afghan refugees in Pakistan.
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Afghan Refugees
Purpose: To provide relief supplies for Afghan refugees in Pakistan
Amount: $200,000
Approved: January 17, 2001
Implementing agency: UNHCR
Grant administrator: OPEC Fund
This grant went towards the provision of relief supplies for Afghan refugees in Pakistan, who had fled their strife-torn homeland and were in urgent need of shelter, food and clothing. Many refugee facilities comprised makeshift, open-air camps, where living conditions in the harsh winter weather had become intolerable, with children being the worst affected. UNHCR relocated a large number of Afghans to camps located in the North-West Frontier Province and Baluchistan, Peshawar and Quetta, but lacked the resources to provide adequate care. The Fund's grant was channeled through the UNHCR and used to purchase basic relief supplies such as food, medicine, water containers and sanitation facilities.
Algeria
Purpose: To provide relief supplies for flood and mudslide victims
Amount: $400,000
Approved: November 12, 2001
Implementing agency: IFRCS
Grant administrator: OPEC Fund
This grant went towards the purchase of relief supplies for victims of the floods and mudslides that struck several areas of northern and western Algeria in early November. Heavy rains and damaging winds created a disaster situation in the country, resulting in large loss of life and destruction to vital infrastructure. The most urgent requirements were for the 6,000 families left homeless by the disaster. The Fund's contribution to the aid effort was channeled through the IFRCS and used to procure urgently-needed supplies such as blankets, winter tents, medical kits, water purifiers, water pumps, kitchen utensils, clothes, heaters and portable chain saws.
Caribbean Region
(Honduras and Cuba)
Purpose: To help procure relief supplies for hurricane victims
Amount: $200,000
Approved: November 12, 2001
Implementing agency: UNOCHA
Grant administrator: OPEC Fund
This grant was approved to help procure relief supplies for victims of Hurricane Michelle, which struck the Caribbean region on November 4. In Honduras, Michelle dumped nearly two feet of rain causing some of the worst flooding since Hurricane Mitch struck in 1998. In addition to fatalities, over 7,000 people were evacuated and more than 1,200 homes destroyed. In Cuba, the hurricane sliced through the country, forcing at least 700,000 people from their homes. Damage to vital infrastructure, including roads, electricity supplies and communications networks, was severe. The Fund grant was channeled through UNOCHA, divided equally between Cuba and Honduras, and used to procure emergency relief items, food and medical supplies.
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El Salvador
Purpose: To help procure relief supplies for earthquake victims
Amount: $200,000
Approved: January 17, 2001
Implementing agency: IFRCS
Grant administrator: OPEC Fund
This grant was used to help procure relief supplies for victims of the massive earthquake that struck El Salvador on January 6, leaving thousands dead or missing and injuring more than 2,500. Considered one of the worst quakes in the area's history, thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed, as was vital infrastructure. El Salvador declared a state of emergency and appealed to the international community for assistance in providing emergency requirements such as tents, water containers, medical and surgical supplies and mobile hospital units. Search and rescue operations were also in urgent need of lighting and debris removal equipment, electric generators and extra personnel. The OPEC Fund's contribution was used to purchase some of these urgently needed relief supplies and channeled through the IFRCS.
India
Purpose: To help procure relief supplies for earthquake victims
Amount: $200,000
Approved: January 30, 2001
Implementing agency: IFRCS
Grant administrator: OPEC Fund
This grant helped procure relief supplies for victims of the massive earthquake which struck northwest India on January 26, 2001. Measuring 7.9 on the Richter Scale, the quake flattened two towns (Bhuj and Anjar) in India's western Gujarat state. Thousands of houses and vital infrastructure were destroyed, causing essentials such as food, water and shelter to fall into short supply. Total damage was estimated at $5.5 billion. The Fund's contribution was channeled through the IFRCS and helped provide blankets, water purification equipment and other emergency relief supplies.
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Within days of the devastating earthquake in India’s Gujurat
State, the Fund approved an emergency assistance grant to help the
survivors.
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Mongolia
Purpose: To help purchase relief items for victims of severe blizzards
Amount: $100,000
Approved: March 27, 2001
Implementing agency: IFRCS
Grant administrator: OPEC Fund
This grant helped purchase urgently-needed relief items for nomadic farming families struck by a Dzud (severe blizzard) which had come on the heels of one of the country's worst droughts in over 60 years. At the time, Mongolia was still trying to recover from a similar catastrophe that had occurred during the winter of 1999-2000. Affecting almost half a million herders, the onslaught in 2001 caused the loss of over 850,000 head of livestock, a devastating blow for a population that relies on animal husbandry for its livelihood. The Fund's grant was channeled through the IFRCS and used to purchase relief items such as food, first aid kits, radios and spare batteries.
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When severe blizzards in Mongolia killed livestock and left herders
in dire straits, a Fund grant helped the Red Cross deliver survival
rations for man and beast.
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Palestine
Purpose: To provide medical treatment for injured Palestinians
Amount: $200,000
Approved: January 3, 2001
Implementing agency: Austrian Committee for the Holy Land
Grant administrator: OPEC Fund
This grant helped finance an initiative to provide highly specialized medical treatment in Austrian hospitals to Palestinians severely injured by occupying Israeli forces in their homeland. The operation was conceived to address the intense pressure on Palestinian hospitals to cope with the escalating levels of emergency care. In the course of 2001, 54 critically wounded patients, among them many women and children, were successfully treated in Austria and returned to Palestine. The OPEC Fund grant was used to help cover the transportation costs of patients, each with one accompanying family member, hospitalization, accommodation and living allowance per person for two months, as well as post-hospital treatment.
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Seriously injured Palestinians received medical treatment in Austrian
hospitals thanks to a special emergency grant from the OPEC Fund.
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