Attachments
HIGHLIGHTS
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Preliminary report of initial damage assessment by the government in the 3 provinces in the Northern Division show that more than 1,900 houses were damaged or destroyed. These are homes to more than 10,000 people including 3,000 children.
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UNICEF has delivered all of its WASH kits and water containers pre- positioned in Fiji to the Northern Division. Distribution of Education supplies are put on hold until assessments of schools are completed. Some UNICEF supplies stored in the Australian government warehouse in Brisbane have been mobilized for delivery in Fiji.
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The Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the World Food Programme (WFP) and Fiji Airways are helping deliver UNICEF supplies from the Brisbane warehouse to Fiji.
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Five staff are on the ground to provide support to government and other partners in the needs assessment and in the coordination of the initial response.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
Preliminary reports from the initial damage assessment in 3 provinces in the Northern Division showed more than 1,900 houses were damaged, a third of them completely destroyed. More than 10,000 people, 3,000 of them children, were residing in these dwellings. Some 164 evacuation centers are still active and providing shelter to over 7,000 people. 159 of the evacuation centers are in the Northern Division and 5 are in the Eastern Division.
Except for the urban centers of Labasa and Savusavu, most of the island of Vanua Levu is still without electricity.
Some 58 cell sites of mobile phone operators have been damaged. Internet and phone services, however, are functional in Labasa and Savusavu, where power has been restored. A total of 13 road systems have been affected, 6 of them closed and 7 restricted. The Water Authority of Fiji reported that a dam in Vanua Levu has been damaged and is now reduced to 50 per cent capacity. Damage to water sources in the islands of Galoa, Yaqaqa and Tavea were also reported.
The entire country was put under a state of natural disaster for 30 days starting on 16 December 2020. The entire machinery of the Fiji Government is being mobilized, supported by other partners, to respond to the emergency. The Government has delivered some 10,000 food packs to the island of Vanua Levu. Food and non-food items (NFIs) are also on their way to Lau and Lomaiviti group of islands in the Eastern Division. New Zealand and Australia have delivered relief supplies to Fiji. The private sector also pitched in with one barge full of relief donations arriving in the Northern Division on 23 December.
Results of immediate needs assessments are being consolidated even as in-depth sectoral assessments have also been initiated. The Fiji Government has provided a list of priority relief items that they have requested from diplomatic missions and humanitarian organizations. The list includes WASH kits, water containers, water purification tablets and soap.