The Center together with UNICEF and the Red Crescent provided humanitarian aid to the affected population of Aktobe region

In connection with the flood situation in several regions of Kazakhstan, the Center sent a request to the Operational Headquarters of the Ministry for Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan on the need for humanitarian assistance to the affected population in the form of hygiene and sanitary kits for families with children, purchased under the UNICEF/USAID project “Increasing the capacity of the emergency, health, education, social protection and internal affairs sectors on the Core Commitments for Children in Emergencies”.

The Ministry for Emergency Situations confirmed the need for humanitarian aid to the affected population and requested that it be sent to the Aktobe region.

Based on the request of the Ministry for Emergency Situations of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Center together with the Coordinator of the Climate Change and Disaster Response Program of UNICEF in Kazakhstan Ms. A. Stativkina and the Director of the Disaster Response Department of the Red Crescent Society of Kazakhstan Mr. N. Panzabekov made urgent decisions on the content of the cargo and transportation issues. Thus, the humanitarian cargo included 200 hygiene kits for families with children, 260 sets of bedding, as well as shoes, clothes, and hand tools.

To organize the interaction with management bodies and coordinate humanitarian cargo distribution the senior expert of the Center Mr. B. Ospanov was seconded to Aktobe City.

Together with the Aktobe regional branch of the Red Crescent Society of Kazakhstan, interaction was established with the Akimat and Emergency Management Department of the Aktobe region, data was obtained on the number of temporary shelters in Aktobe, which included information on families with children and persons with disabilities, and the place for unloading the humanitarian cargo was determined.

On 8 April 2024, the humanitarian cargo arrived in Aktobe, with the support of the Emergency Management Department and the volunteer network of Kazakhstan Red Crescent, 200 sanitary and hygiene kits were distributed among affected families with children in 6 temporary shelters (1 kit designed for 1 family consisting of 5 people, including children, a total of 1000 people, including 600 children).

In total, 15 temporary shelters for the affected population were deployed in Aktobe city, where 1,286 people, including 638 children, were accommodated. Thus, 78% of the temporarily accommodated population and almost 94% of children received humanitarian aid. 

In general, the approach of forming ready-made kits on the family principle for a certain number of people was highly appreciated by Ms. L. Urazbayeva, Deputy Head of the Mayor’s Office of Aktobe region, as it does not require additional time and resources to sort the cargo, which significantly increases the efficiency of the aid delivery to the final recipient.  

As feedback during the period of kits distribution, observations were made and increased demand for baby diapers, feminine hygiene products, as well as candy was recorded, which will help to optimize the composition of the kits in the future.

At the moment, the Center together with UNICEF is working on the procurement of additional 400 sanitary and hygiene kits and their subsequent storage in potentially vulnerable regions of Kazakhstan for the prompt provision of humanitarian assistance to the affected population.

This approach of pre-positioning humanitarian aid allowed the humanitarian operation to be carried out in 5 days.