Drought Marshall Islands Environmental health expert UNDAC Swedish - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Jun 04, 2023 24 likes •249 views

Drought Marshall Islands Environmental health expert UNDAC Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) May 5 th June 6 th Republic of Marshall Islands ~ 54.500 people Nearly 1 million square miles (~ Europe) 180 square km landarea

SLIDE 1

Drought Marshall Islands

May 5th – June 6th

Environmental health expert

UNDAC Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB)

SLIDE 2

Republic of Marshall Islands

~ 54.500 people
Nearly 1 million square

miles (~ Europe)

180 square km landarea

SLIDE 3

29 atolls and 5 islands…

SLIDE 4

…with in total 1200 islands, islets and atolls

SLIDE 5

Drought…

Prolonged dry season with hardly no rain since

several months

RMI declared a state of emergency 19 april

2013 for Northern atolls

6.384 people live in the affected area

SLIDE 6

Response upon arrival UNDAC

National Disaster Committee, including chief

secretary

Emergency Operation Center, EOC
Assessments on affected islands, ex.
tanks and gutters available at households
type of tanks
remaining water in tanks (half or full?)
salinity in wells (safe or unsafe?)

SLIDE 7

UNDAC support

Structure for information management and

EOC center

Formation of cluster approach (health, WASH,

food and logistics)

3W (who, what, where)

SLIDE 8

EOC

SLIDE 9

Environment Health expert?

Water for drinking, hygiene and cooking?

Rain water catchments
Well water (thin resource of freshwater)
Reverse osmosis units
Other islands or coconuts?

SLIDE 10

Drought impact

Household water catchments are almost more
r less empty
Salinity level of water from wells has rise to

unsafe levels

Declining water production from reverse
smosis units present at the islands
Impacts on agriculture and food supply

SLIDE 11

Environment Health expert

Response plan for WASH cluster (and overlaps

with other clusters)

Overall support to WASH cluster (MWSC,

UNDAC, IFRC, NZ RC, USAID, IOM) as overview per islands, gathering info from actors, identify gaps etc.

Visit at Wotje and Wodmej for installing RO

unit and household visits

SLIDE 12

Response plan – WASH cluster

(immediate and midterm response)

2 g/p/d
Distribution of bottle water
Deployment of RO units (350 g/d, from USAID,

IFRC, NZ RC) and maintenance

Provision of WASH kits and hygiene promotion
Increase of water catchments and tanks
Improve rainwater catchments systems and

awareness of maintenance

SLIDE 13

Wotje atoll

Most populated atoll with 859-1078 people

(sometimes students)

SLIDE 14

Old RO unit out of order

SLIDE 15

Installation of new RO unit

SLIDE 16

Household visits Wodmej and Wotje

SLIDE 17

Water supply (d/h/c), hygiene, toilets?

SLIDE 18

Urgent need for drinking water

Tanks more or less

empty

Drinking water from

very salty wells (Wotje)

No fuel to fetch water

at Wotje (Wodmej)

Hygiene, cooking from

well

SLIDE 19

Health problems

(stomach and skin problems)

SLIDE 20

Water catchments needs to be improved

SLIDE 21

Water flushed toilet and latrin

many without soap

SLIDE 22

Lessons learned

Adapt to local context
Built capacity and

preparedness

Long term solutions,

climate change?

Built awareness to