Emergency Response

Important note: The information on this page is out of date and is only available for archival purposes.

The current focus is on the reintegration of the remaining displaced families in both Gauteng and the Western Cape Provinces. UNICEF continues to compliment the UNHCR response – that is two-pronged a) the immediate needs of the families as they depart from the Shelters through a cash transfer; and b) the psychosocial and protection interventions to ensure a smooth reintegration process over the coming months.

Gauteng
All camps are closed.

Western Cape
Blue Waters B & C: Exact amount of people remaining in the officially de-registered sites of Blue Waters B & C is unknown.

A brief summary of UNICEF’s overall response to the Emergency

UNICEF worked closely with the South African government in the response to the humanitarian crisis through interventions in the areas of Health and Nutrition; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Basic Education and Child Protection. A brief overview of the interventions is as follows:

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

UNICEF was the Sector Leader in Water, Hygiene and Sanitation (WASH) during the emergency and the response included:

In collaboration with Oxfam UK an environmental health strategy was developed and implemented improving the sanitation and water facilities in all the sites in both Gauteng and Western Cape Provinces.
Developed WASH IEC materials and carried out Hygiene promotion activities through the training of at least 24 health promoters, with Gauteng and Western Cape Departments of Health that contributed to better hygiene practices in the camp mitigating against any waterborne diseases and keeping the inhabitants of the camps in relatively good health.
Continued technical support was provided to site managers on WASH issues such as hand washing, facilities for infants and protection issues for woman to ensure a smooth running of the camps.

Health and Nutrition

UNICEF was the Sector Leader in Nutrition and WHO in Health. The response included:

UNICEF and WHO with Gauteng Department of Health established a mechanism to ensure that the displaced people had access to health services.
Technical support was provided to ensure that children in the camps received vaccination and Vitamin A supplementation during the campaigns.
UNICEF worked with the Western Cape Department of Health through a partnership with La Leche League (LLL) to ensure continued peer counselling on infant and young child feeding throughout the crisis.
Procured clothing, blankets, nappies, food for young children and babies, sleeping mats, and adult hygiene kits for 8,000 women and children and these were distributed through partners such as Municipal Disaster Management Office, the SA Red Cross, and MSF-Belgium etc.

Child protection

The UNICEF Protection response (Sector Lead on Child protection sub-sector of the Protection cluster lead by UNHCR) included:

Joint assessments conducted on gender-based violence in the shelter sites with UNFPA.
Site managers, site residence and police were provided with guidance on how to manage violence issues with the camps through established protection protocols.
Established Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) in five shelter formal sites in Gauteng province and three CFS in Western Cape.
Identified psycho-social vulnerabilities and appropriate care and support provided.

Education

The Education (UNICEF – Sector Lead) response included:

1200 lap desks procured and distributed in the Western Cape and 600 in Gauteng.
Through the Educational Support Service Trust (ESST) and Refugee Children’s Project (RCP) support to re-integrate children in schools and ensure that they have opportunity to study in the camp were ensured.
Over 100 mothers were oriented to run play groups an play sessions in the camps.
UNICEF provided locally produced ECD kits containing basic play and stimulation materials as well as ideas for play and stimulation to support more than 2,250 children.
Provided assistance with school transport for approximately 241 in the Western Cape and 50 in Gauteng.

Coordination

The humanitarian community in South Africa supported the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) in providing humanitarian technical expertise and standards. Coordination meetings were held weekly and then bi-monthly in the last two months within and among the clusters, in collaboration with the NDMC.

Towards the end of the emergency response UNICEF moved to the recovery phase which in this case consisted of education and protection interventions to promote the reintegration process for those families who are not eligible for repatriation or asylum as part of UNHCR’s programme. The interventions specifically include the following:

Community-based reintegration activities and psycho-social support

During the emergency UNICEF had a Health & Nutrition response, a limited sanitation response, and a larger Education and Protection Response. Supply items in bulk did make up a component of the response but this has since ended. UNICEF is implementing the final reintegration phase of the response via a two-pronged approach:

An Exit Cash Transfer Scheme
Community-based Reintegration Activities & Psycho-social Support.

The reintegration activities are largely implemented through the Education and Protection programmes. Currently, Gauteng camps are all officially closed (although a small number of people still stay in a closed site in Akasia) whilst Western Cape camps are de-registered but still host approximately 770 people in Blue Waters – Camp B & C.

Exit Cash Transfer Scheme

UNHCR implemented a cash transfer programme through JRS (Jesuit Refugee Centre) in Gauteng and is currently working through CTRC (Cape Town Refugee Centre) in the Western Cape specifically for Non-South Africans who are either registered asylum seekers or claiming asylum/repatriation. In an agreement on the division of labour with UNHCR it was agreed that UNICEF would cater for Non-South Africans who have been displaced and who wish to reintegrate into South African communities with an Exit Cash Transfer Scheme. Many of the internally displaced come from Mozambique and Malawi with some additional numbers of households from Congo. In general, the numbers of households that participated in the UNICEF scheme have been significantly smaller than those of the UNHCR programmes.

In Gauteng, a total of 868 displaced households with 398 children participated in the UNICEF Exit Cash Transfer Scheme and were consequently able to safely reintegrate back into the respected communities.

In the Western Cape, a total of 139 displaced households with a minimum of 45 children have participated in this scheme thus far and an additional 19 families will still participate in the scheme in the coming week.

Child Protection

UNICEF focused its response on two levels – protection needs during the period of displacement, and protection needs during the process of reintegration. In both cases the practical emphasis has been on psycho-social Care and Support. To support the reintegration process UNICEF formed a partnership with the Centre for Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) in Gauteng which is working with its own partners in turn, to build capacity to facilitate the successful integration of people affected by the xenophobic attacks. Specifically, the partnership will aim to do the following:

Psycho-social Reintegration Programme
Community Development Worker Training and Support
Co-ordination and Counselling for Complex Trauma

In Addition, UNICEF formed a partnership with Trauma Centre in the Western Cape which is focusing on caring for the mental health of the internally displaced people, ‘psycho-education’ and awareness on contributing factors to mental wellbeing. Specifically the partnership will aim to do the following:

Group therapy with children and families.
Referrals to clinics and hospitals for more severe trauma.
Basic skills in psycho-social support training
Monitoring the local media and advocacy on xenophobia.
Awareness events on Human Rights and Xenophobia.

Education

As the camps have now been disbanded the focus continues to be on reintegration and the provision of psychosocial support. UNICEF through the Refugee Children’s Project (RCP) is working closely with the schools, children, parents and the communities at large on issues of tolerance, conflict resolution, diversity, and psychosocial support particularly at school level. During the period of 1 November – 31 December (and possibly beyond) RCP is focusing on service delivery, working with the schools, and working into the communities.

During the period of 1 – 30 November, UNICEF through the Educational Support Services Trust (ESST) monitored children at schools to which they have returned as well as monitoring children in transit.

Emergency Response

Xenophobic Violence Outbreak