Our emergency funds and relief items
“Red Cross came with relief packages, and this truly was a relief to us. We did not even have toilet paper or bathing soap. We did not have blankets, or clothes as they were all wet. I am so happy that the Red Cross came and helped our village.” Elizabeth Kalotiti from Magaliuliu village, about 45 minutes away from Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila
As well as deploying our people to where they’re needed most, there is often an immediate need for resources too. The fastest way to send support is with cash assistance – cash donations meet immediate needs and help rebuild lives. It’s a fast, efficient, and dignified way to provide humanitarian assistance to those who so desperately need it. It enables people to purchase items specific to their individual needs, supports local economies, and helps in a person’s recovery from traumatic events as they take an active role in decision making. Your support of Australian Red Cross enables our teams to mobilise an emergency appeal, which can be live for donations in as little as 24 hours. This ensures that emergency funds can be raised, and deployed in the immediate aftermath of a crisis or disaster. For example, in just 48 hours after an appeal was launched for the Türkiye and Syria Earthquakes, $1 million had been raised from the Australian public to support the on the ground response.
Emergency relief items In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, when people are displaced and belongings lost, there can also be an urgent need for items to ensure the safety and well-being of people impacted. Here in Australia, we are responsible for deploying emergency relief items to our Society partners across the Pacific. There are two other Red Cross warehouses across the world – in Kuala Lumpur to support Asia, and in Dubai for quick supply routes to all other countries. Our emergency supplies are held in a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) warehouse in Brisbane. In this shared facility, there are enough humanitarian supplies to support at least 11,500 families or 57,500 people. It’s the largest stockpile in the southern hemisphere, with the capacity to respond to three simultaneous crises.
The types of items we are ready to deploy includes Shelter Tool Kits, Kitchen Sets and Hygiene Kits. These supplies are all to Sphere standards – which ensures a consistency in content and quality regardless of where, or who, the aid is coming from. This warehouse is also conveniently situated next to the airport, so if a call for items comes in from our partners in the Pacific, we can have the much needed items packed and on a plane as quickly as possible. Your investment in Australian Red Cross enables us to mobilise at a moment’s notice – supporting our team on the ground to facilitate and oversee the shipment of items. Reaching the local communities across the Pacific to help them recover from disaster.
Australian Red Cross aid items at the DFAT warehouse in Brisbane. Image: Australian Red Cross
Preparing emergency relief items for shipment from the DFAT warehouse. Image: Australian Red Cross
Vanuatu Red Cross volunteers inspecting the contents of the Shelter Kit.
A member of the local community in Bladinaire, Port Vila, receiving emergency relief assistance. Image: Philippe Carillo / IFRC
Unloading relief items, such as shelter kits, tarpaulins, hygiene kits, mosquito nets and solar lanterns. Image: Philippe Carillo / IFRC
$525 could provide five families with food parcels to make culturally appropriate meals for a month.
$6,750 could help protect 25 families with essential relief kits including a mosquito net, a kitchen set, two buckets, two jerry cans, two tarpaulins,
$8,170 could provide
$31,500 could help provide hygiene kits with toothpaste and sanitary items to 7,500 people who have evacuated a disaster to help maintain their health and dignity.
reusable sanitary pads to 500 people for one year. Menstrual hygiene is often an overlooked need in humanitarian settings, but menstruating people need sanitary pads every single month.
a shelter tool kit, two lanterns and a hygiene kit.
14
15
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator