Thirty-five
international staff have arrived in West Africa in the last
few weeks. They are here to support the Niger, Mauritania, Burkina
Faso and Mali Red Cross National Societies respond to the food
crisis faced by all these countries. Among them is the Logistics
Emergency Response Unit (ERU) from the British Red Cross.
The ERU team works behind the scenes but it is crucial to the
smooth running of the relief operation. Its role is to coordinate
the Red Cross response with support from the International Federation’s
logistics department. The six-person team consists of a team
leader, a systems expert, three logisticians and an information
officer.
“Our role is to establish the logistical infrastructure,”
explains Peter Pearce, Logistics ERU Team Leader. “No
matter how much we would like to start distributing food immediately,
this has to be in place if we are going to reach the people
most in need of aid effectively.”
“Our first objective was to set up an operational base,”
he adds. “We worked against the clock for the first few
days, bringing in trucks, stock and staff to support the operation.”
The Sahel relief operation headquarters is based in Niamey,
Niger, but the scale of the crisis has led to further centres
being established in the other three affected countries. The
International Federation is expanding its emergency operation
to help 530,000 vulnerable people in the Sahel region of West
Africa over the next six months.
“We quickly realised that we needed to diversify and set
up operational centres in Timbuktu, Mali,” says Peter.
“Soon there will be others in Burkina Faso and Mauritania.”
So far, the team has managed the receipt and transportation
of 52 tons of relief goods. These were sent directly to the
operational centres in Niger, where 24,500 children under five
and their families are receiving urgent nutritional support.
Ten relief flights have already arrived. “In the next
two weeks, eight more aircraft are arriving with German and
British Red Cross relief goods,” says Peter. “We
have to be flexible because aircraft can show up unexpectedly
or do not arrive as scheduled.”
At the airport in Niamey, five-ton Norwegian Red Cross trucks
are waiting to be loaded with relief supplies.
Peter was a key member of the team sent to Mali to assess the
logistical needs to run the relief operation there. This includes
the distribution of fodder and vaccinations to farmers and their
livestock, and food distributions for 11,200 people in the area
of Timbuktu.
This logistical support is vital to ensuring that the relief
operation runs smoothly. “If things go right, nobody notices,”
explains Isabelel Sechaud, Logistical Coordinator for the International
Federation. “But when they go wrong, it can have a huge
impact on the whole operation.”
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IFRC
preparing drivers and trucks for distribution of food
in Niger. Here the trucks lined up at airport in Niamey.(p13075-SALTBONES;
Olav A. /Norges Røde)
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IFRC
preparing drivers and trucks for distribution of food
in Niger. Niger. Here Transport Manager Morten Borch-Jenssen
is teaching lokal drivers about the truck, shortly after
arrival. (p13074- SALTBONES, Olav A. / Norwegian Red Cross)
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Peter
Pearce, ERU team leader meets President of Niger Red Cross,
Ali Baudiau (p13260)
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