Humanitarian Emergency Fund: annual report 2023-2024 - executive summary

Responses

Malawi Cyclone Freddy

March 2023

Graphic text below:

208,017 people reached directly

115,478 females reached directly

92,539 males reached directly

£400,000 Total funding

2 Members funded

Tropical Cyclone Freddy hit southern Malawi in mid-March of 2023, causing severe floods and mudslides in fifteen districts. The disaster caused more than 1,000 deaths and extensive damage to homes, schools, health centres, roads and bridges. More than 2.2 million people were affected, with more than 650,000 forced from their homes and 1.3 million needing urgent assistance. Farms were also badly damaged, increasing food shortages. The floods also brought increased risk of water borne infectious diseases such as cholera and malaria.

Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) received £200,000 for their response, focusing on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), shelter, food distribution and protection for women and girls. They provided 20 boreholes and distributed 1,150 water purifiers, dignity packs and non-food items to 2,000 households, supported 75 vulnerable households with building materials, and distributed food kits to 13,500 people. They also supported five mobile health units.

Save the Children received £200,000 to provide cash transfers to buy food as well as providing nutrition to help pregnant women and young children. They provided cash transfers to 1,495 families, primarily spent on food but also to pay for education. Children were screened for acute malnutrition with corn soya blend offered to those most in need. Women were also counselled on breastfeeding nutrition with hygiene supplies also included to prevent cholera outbreaks.

Sudan Crisis

May 2023

Sudan and South Sudan

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10,702 people reached directly

6,053 females reached directly

4,649 males reached directly

£250,000 Total funding

2 Members funded

On 15th April 2023, a civil war erupted in Khartoum, Sudan, between the Sudanese army and rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict has already led to more than 15,000 deaths and is one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. More than 8.7 million people, including 4.6 million children, have fled their homes, with 6.7 million displaced in Sudan and 1.8 million seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. Acute shortages of food and water have put 3.5 million children at risk of acute malnutrition.

British Red Cross received £125,000 to support internally displaced people with WASH, shelter, and medical support, reaching 3,100 people directly and over 14,000 indirectly. Oxfam also received £125,000 to support refugees who had crossed the border into South Sudan. Cash transfers helped 1,267 households (estimated 7,602 individual household members) buy food and medicine. HEF funds supplemented the wider response, with a focus on emergency first aid and basic needs offering quick, lifesaving support at a time of surging and continued need.

Libya Floods

September 2023 (response ongoing)^[4]

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£250,000 Total funding

2 Members funded

On 10th September 2023, Storm Daniel struck north-eastern Libya causing widespread flooding and extensive destruction in and around the city of Derna. Over 4,000 people died with more than 10,000 missing. At least 30,000 were made homeless, close to 900,000 needed urgent humanitarian support, including 300,000 children. 80% of markets were destroyed causing acute food shortages with greatly increased risk of disease due to the destruction of safe water supplies. Nine months later communities are still struggling to rebuild their lives, with ongoing shortages

of medicines, medical staff and availability of clean water. The storm has severely affected people’s mental health, especially children and widows. Refugees fleeing neighbouring Sudan are putting further pressure on public services and heightening social tensions.

British Red Cross was awarded £125,000 to support restoration of the main health centre in Derna. This funding, which is part of a broader International Federation of the Red Cross appeal, will provide medical supplies and equipment to the refurbished health centre. Approximately 10,000 people will benefit from improved access to health services following the four month refurbishment.

Islamic Relief was also awarded £125,000 to provide emergency food kits to 1,620 flood-affected families. However, due to in-country challenges, they have now pivoted their response to provide children with psychosocial and educational support.

Afghanistan Earthquakes

October 2023

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1,857 people reached directly^[5]

1,051 females reached directly

806 males reached directly

£250,000 Total funding

2 Members funded

In early October, Herat province in Northwest Afghanistan was hit by three earthquakes. More than 3,300 homes were destroyed, affecting over 43,000 people. These earthquakes significantly worsened the existing challenges caused by decades of conflict and poverty – nearly 24 million people need humanitarian assistance in 2024. A UN assessment highlighted an urgent need for water, sanitation, shelter, food, blankets, and winter clothing. Many survivors are still in temporary shelters months later.

The forced return of over 400,000 people from Pakistan in November 2023 also increased pressure on resources and services.

Christian Aid received £125,000 to support 310 affected households. They were given cash for food, blankets, clothing and healthcare.

Loss and Damage projects

December 2023

Countries: 4

Graphic text below:

49,683 people reached directly

25,156 females reached directly

24,527 males reached directly

£1,000,000 Total funding

4 Members funded

In Autumn 2023 the Scottish Government allocated an additional £1 million to the HEF Panel for pilot Loss and Damage projects.

This initiative is part of the Scottish Government’s ongoing commitment to climate justice, giving protection to communities least responsible for climate change but disproportionately affected by it. This is the first time that Loss and Damage funding has been distributed via the HEF mechanism.

Four HEF agencies (Christian Aid, SCIAF, Oxfam, and Tearfund) were awarded £250,000 each to launch projects in Ethiopia, Zambia, Kenya, and Pakistan respectively.

In Ethiopia, Christian Aid took a multidisciplinary approach by distributing cash, supporting community groups with grants, providing livestock and training, and restoring water systems. 470 families were each given £140 of unconditional cash for two months, with priority given to women, people with disabilities, and the elderly who were most affected by the drought. The cash has improved living conditions for those receiving it, with the majority spending it on food, shelter and medicines. Christian Aid also provided £16,000 of smaller grants to 15 community groups to support their local businesses as part of a survivor-led response.

In Zambia, SCIAF provided cash transfers and emergency food as well as seeds and agriculture training to 1,700 people directly to help over the longer-term. Over 10,000 people were helped indirectly, with community needs considered at every stage of project design and implementation.

Oxfam’s Kenya project supported those affected by both economic and non-economic losses and damage, which included conflict over increasingly scarce resources caused by drought and flash floods. Oxfam helped more than 22,000 people indirectly in the affected communities, providing new water points and other repairs. Oxfam also funded 15 community led projects to provide better shelter and sanitation and help livelihoods, reaching more than 1,600 people. A key part of the project involved a ‘peace caravan’ involving more than 400 people joining together to march in support of peace.

In Pakistan, Tearfund supported twenty rural villages particularly affected by the worst floods in the country’s history. Tearfund and its local partner asked the community to prioritise their needs and in response, they provided over 14,000 people indirectly and directly with water and irrigation systems, as well as livestock, poultry and fertilisers for 6,016 people. This not only bolstered livelihoods but resilience to future shocks. Women were prioritised for support, a key feminist principle for humanitarian programming. Tearfund found that 99% of the people they supported said that their livelihoods and dignity had been restored.

Overall, this approach appears to be an effective mechanism for allocating funding for loss and damage for climate affected communities with more than 87,000 people directly and indirectly given greater resilience in facing future climate risks.

Malawi food crisis

January 2024

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35,959 people reached directly

21,029 females reached directly

14,930 males reached directly

£500,000 Total funding

2 Members funded

At the turn of the year, further extreme weather after Cyclone Freddy added to the severe economic pressures across Malawi. A deeper food crisis was caused by El Nino driven flooding affecting maize production. With inflation reaching 35% in January 2024 an estimated 4.4 million Malawians, more than 20% of the population, faced acute food shortages.

The Scottish Government allocated £500,000 to two HEF agencies to support the worst affected areas.

Christian Aid helped in in Mwanza District, giving unconditional cash transfers which helped more than 15,619 people – again prioritising vulnerable households headed by women, children, or people with a disability.

Similarly, SCIAF gave cash transfers to people, predominantly to buy food but also clothes and medicine. SCIAF coordinated their work with the Malawi Government’s “Lean Season Food Response” initiative so they could focus on areas not already targeted for support. More than 20,340 people benefitted from this support.

South Sudan displacement

February 2024

Countries: 2

Graphic text below:

6,933 people reached directly

4,933 females reached directly

2,000 males reached directly

£250,000 Total funding

2 Members funded

South Sudan faces huge economic problems from the long-term effects of Covid-19, the continuing conflict in Ukraine, as well as major climate-related droughts and floods. 2.2 million people are internally displaced, 2.3 million are refugees in neighbouring countries, around 9 million people need humanitarian support. These particularly vulnerable communities, especially women and children, urgently need food, cash, clean water and hygiene resources.

Christian Aid received £125,000 to provide emergency cash to communities in the northern Bahr-El-Ghazal State, South Sudan. $25 was given to 4,000 people with priority given to women, single-headed households, persons with disabilities, the chronically ill, elderly and orphans. 400 individuals with specific urgent needs, were given an extra $25 to buy essential items safely and with dignity.

Oxfam’s £125,000 project was in Gambella, over the border in Ethiopia helping to improve water, sanitation, and hygiene in seven refugee camps. They installed gender-sensitive and disability-friendly washing facilities, distributed hygiene kits with soap and menstrual products to 2,933 women and girls. They also repaired taps and other water systems and used chemicals to treat water and make it safer.

Community leaders helped the response by jointly conducting operational and maintenance inspections alongside Oxfam. In total, Oxfam were able to help more than 385,000 people indirectly with improved access to clean water in the catchment area of the project.

2017 – 2024 in numbers^[6]

Since the beginning of HEF operations in 2017 the £1 million annual fund (and additional funding) has directly reached at least 711,542 people^[7] and indirectly reached significantly more.

24 countries (Stream 1 (DEC), 2, and additional funds)

31 activations (Stream 1 (DEC), 2, and additional funds)

Funds allocated to DEC appeals: £4.4m

Funds allocated to HEF specific projects: £7.5m

Funds allocated through additional projects: £5.6m

Total funds: £17.5m

# total people reached: 711,542

Statement from the HEF Chair – Frances Guy

"The range of crises and locations set out in this annual report demonstrates the value of the HEF and its ability to respond to vulnerable populations in need. The decision of the Scottish Government to use the HEF to deliver Loss and Damage projects was a welcome and useful opportunity for members of the panel and officials to share the knowledge gained to help improve climate crisis responses in future. It is an honour and privilege to chair the HEF panel which draws on the expertise and time of its members and is an inspiring example of collaborative working across different organisations."