The world’s largest humanitarian organisation- International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies- has opened a direct financial channel for cash donations for those affected in recent deadly floods in Iran. This is the third banking solution so far since the US sanctions blocked banking ties with Iran.
“The Iranian Red Crescent and IFRC will support 150,000 of the most vulnerable people affected by this disaster,” reads a statement by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
Screenshot of the IFRC appeal for Iran floods
The humanitarian organisation is seeking to raise 5.1 million Swiss franc ($5.1m) in a bid to “provide emergency shelter, livelihoods and basic needs, and services in Protection, Gender and Inclusion (PGI)” for 150,000 people that have been affected by the natural disaster. It’s joint operation with the Iranian Red Crescent Society is expected to last nine month, according to the document.
Another screenshot from the IFRC appeal for Iran floods
The IFRC says it allocated nearly $500,000 from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) on 29 March 2019. The budget was to “enable 3,000 most vulnerable flood-affected households (15’000 people) to meet their basic needs through unconditional cash grants,” the appeal fact sheet says.
As a result of unprecedented rainfall that started on 16 March, a widespread flooding began with flash floods and landslides in the northern Golestan Province, subsequently spreading further north and east, causing extensive damage to people, livelihoods and infrastructure. At least 23 out of 31 provinces across Iran are affected.
While the exact impact is still to be assessed, it is already apparent that the floods have caused extensive damages and suffering in villages, urban and rural areas.
Further heavy rain is expected over the coming days which will likely worsen the situation. By now, 70 people have been killed and at least 790 others injured. The most affected areas are Golestan, Lorestan, Khouzestan, and Fars provinces in the north, west and southwestern regions of Iran.
Earlier, the European Commission (EC) announced an initial amount of €1.2 million in response to the devastating floods that have recently affected northern and southwestern parts of Iran.
The European Unión’s executive branch said the money will be given to the International Federation of Red Cross and the Red Crescent. “The new funding will support humanitarian partners, including the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in delivering relief assistance, which will allow the most-affected to cover their urgent needs”, the commission said.
The United Nations
UN Resident Coordinator in Iran Ugochi Daniels announced on Monday that the international body has also set up a financial channel for international cash donations for flood assistance in Iran.
“"The United Nations has established a banking channel so cash assistance would makes its way into Iran," she said, noting that the move was taken by the highest levels of the UN leadership.
German Red Cross
The organisation opened its own payment channel early April to raise donations for Iran flood assistance.
The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) said on Sunday that it hadn’t received any foreign cash donations due to secondary US sanctions that have targeted banking ties with Iran, although humanitarian aid has been reportedly exempted from such restrictive measures.
“No foreign cash aids have been made to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, as there are basically no financial channels for such purpose,” said the Iranian Red Crescent in a statement.
“Even though, certain countries and organisations have announced their readiness to offer cash contributions, given the inhumane US sanctions against Iran, there is no channel for cash aids to be sent to IRCS as of this date,” it added.
It’s not yet known how much money has been raised through any of these three channels. Several countries, such as Turkey, Russia, Kuwait, Germany and Switzerland have sent it some in-kind assistance to the Iranian Red Crescent to be used in flood-hit areas.