Vanuatu Monaro Volcano: UNICEF Pacific Humanitarian Situation Report (06 - 16 October 2017)

Highlights

• The Cabinet of the Government of Vanuatu (commonly known as the Council of Ministers) extended by two weeks the State of Emergency for the Monaro volcanic eruption. The Cabinet also instructed the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) to prepare a repatriation plan by 19 October for Ambae Island residents.

• Close to 8,000 residents of Ambae Island (including about 3,600 children) evacuated to Santo Island, including more than 5,000 who are being hosted in 51 evacuation centres (ECs) and more than 3,000 who are living with host families in and around Luganville. On Pentecost Island, more than 1,600 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were registered in 20 ECs and almost 700 IDPs were registered in 15 ECs on Maewo Island.

• 97% of registered IDPs in ECs on Santo Island have received water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and dignity kits. Water taps have been installed in 84% of the locations targeted by the WASH cluster, although only 27% of the target set for toilets have so far been constructed.

• UNICEF is assisting the clusters on WASH, Education, Health and Nutrition and Gender and Protection in developing their respective assessment reports and providing inputs into the repatriation plan for Ambae Island.

Situation overview & humanitarian needs

The Cabinet of the Government of Vanuatu (GoV) has extended for two weeks the State of Emergency arising from the eruption of the Monaro Volcano on Ambae Island. The extension is to allow for the assessment of the situation on Ambae Island as well as to plan the orderly repatriation of evacuees to their communities. The Cabinet has set 19 October as the deadline for the NDMO to submit a repatriation plan and believes that the return process will be completed quickly. The Government’s Meteorology and Geo-Hazards Department has downgraded the Alert Level of the Monaro Volcano from 4 to 3 (in a scale of 5). Monaro Volcano was demonstrating stable volcanic activity with no evidence of escalation as of the end of the reporting period. The danger zone has been reduced to a three kilometre radius of the active vent.

Residents of Ambae Island were evacuated to three neighbouring islands: Santo to the west and Pentecost and Maewo to the east.

Pentecost and Maewo Islands are in Penama Province; Santo Island is in Sanma Province. About 300 residents also fled to the capital city, Port Vila, in the south.

More than 8,000 Ambae Island residents, or 71 per cent of the evacuated population, are in Luganville on Santo island, which is the second largest city in Vanuatu. More than 5,000 (63 per cent) of Ambae Island residents are living in 51 ECs and around 3,100 are living with host families. Of those living in ECs, 51 per cent (around 2,600) are children under the age of 18. On Pentecost Island, more than 1,600 IDPs had been registered in 20 ECs while 680 were registered in 15 ECs on Maewo Island. The IDPs and ECs in these two islands are dispersed along very large areas and are being hosted by communities.

The ECs are located in public parks, stadiums, churches, community halls and schools. At least eight schools on Santo Island are being used as ECs, impacting schooling for Luganville students. The conditions in the ECs have improved, particularly in the larger camps where family tents have been set up and water points and latrines have been installed. Overcrowding and lack of facilities are among the challenges reported in the smaller ECs, particularly on Santo Island. There is a need for portable chemical toilets in five primary schools and two secondary schools on Santo Island and pit latrines in one school on Pentecost Island, and another on Maewo Island, both of which absorbed a substantial number of students from Ambae Island.

At least 83 per cent (779 out of 937) of secondary students in boarding schools on Ambae Island were transferred to schools on Santo, Pentecost, Maewo and Efate islands. The number of unaccounted students remains high and the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has acknowledged difficulties in collecting data on displaced students and teachers. Of children previously enrolled in education on Ambae Island some 59 per cent (1,335 children) of the 2,269 total primary school students and 75 per cent (361 children) of the 481 total early childhood education learners are not currently enrolled in education. Additionally, all the 47 students previously enrolled in rural secondary level technical educational facilities on Ambae Island are not currently enrolled in education.

Students from Maewo and Pentecost Islands, who had been attending boarding school on Ambae Island at the time of the evacuation, were relocated to Santo Island rather than returning to their home islands. Reports have been received of several students, particularly those in boarding schools, becoming separated from their families. In one such report, a student was transferred to a boarding school on Santo Island but his family was evacuated to Pentecost Island. On Pentecost Island, some anglophone students from Ambae Island were not able to attend school because they were evacuated to francophone communities. In the light of the Cabinet’s decision, the MOET has also issued the following directives:

1. Secondary students in boarding schools shall remain in their host schools until the end of academic year on 17 November and all Year 8 students shall take their end-of-year exams;

2. Primary and early childhood care and education (ECCE) students will move together with their parents and teachers during repatriation;

3. Upon repatriation, all schools on Ambae Island shall continue for two additional weeks beyond the closing of the academic year on 17 November 2017;

4. Host schools will be provided school grants based on the number of students they have absorbed.

As a result of their evacuation some Ambae Island residents have experienced a great deal of uncertainty and stress. A preliminary assessment by the Gender and Protection Cluster indicated that some evacuees were feeling sad, hopeless and anxious about their homes and their displacement.
However, other evacuees are reported to be demonstrating great resilience.