Measuring Commitment to Best Practice
HRI 2008
PERU
With a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale, the earthquake that struck Peru on August 2007 devastated the Ica department. According to the Peruvian National Institute of Civil Defence (INDECI in Spanish), 519 people lost their lives and 1,291 were injured; more than 131,000 families were affected and 139,000 homes damaged. Access to remote areas was limited extremely due to the destruction of bridges and roads. The lack of water and low temperatures aggravated the situation for the population in the days following the catastrophe.
The humanitarian crisis
• Homes destroyed. According to the INDECI, the earthquake destroyed 80% of the homes in Pisco and 70% in Chincha.
• Reconstruction. In the stages immediately following the earthquake, an enormous effort was made to begin the clean-up of the affected areas. However, there was no appropriate monitoring or clear coordination among the national, regional and local levels. The reconstruction is paralysed and to date, many of the affected areas still have large amounts of rubble.
Source: INDECI
Maps
- Situation map (21 August, 2007).
- Situation map (24 August, 2007).
Source: Reliefweb.
Background information on Peru
• Population (2004): 27.28 million
• Human Development Index (2005): 87th out of 170 countries
• Gender-related Development Index (2005): 75th out of 177 countries
• GDP per capita (2005): $6,039
• Life expectancy at birth (2000-2005): 70.7 years
• Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births (2005): 27
• Undernourished population (2002-2004): 12%
• Population not using an improved water source (2004): 17%
• Adult literacy rate (1995-2005): 87,9%
• Official Development Assistance (2005): -
• Political system: Republic
Source: Human Development Report, 2007
The humanitarian response
• United Nations. The UN Flash Appeal requested 37,962,939 dollars. The donors’ contributions covered 56% of this amount.
• Main donors. The main contributions came from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which provided 45.2% of the aid; the European Commission (ECHO), with 16.2%; and Sweden with 8.4%.
Source: OCHA, Financial Tracking Service
More information
• OCHA's Reports - OCHA monitoring reports on the populations’ needs and the actions of the humanitarian community.
• Reports from the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Peru. Monitoring documents on humanitarian action in the affected area.
The Peru crisis in the HRI
DARA included the assessment of the earthquake in Peru due to the geographic area in which it took place, and also on account of the type of disaster. Also taken into consideration was the fact that it was a humanitarian crisis with a great deal of media coverage at the start, but which quickly lost the public’s interest.
Other crises assessed in the HRI 2008