On Friday 15 January a powerful 6.2 magnitude earthquake rocked West Sulawesi island, killing at least 37 people, destroying a hospital and severely damaging other buildings. It is estimated that around 2.17 million people have been affected.
Yayasan CARE Peduli (YCP) is deploying emergency teams based in Palu Sulawesi, including local partners to Mamuju – one of the badly affected areas - over the weekend to assess the damage and most urgent needs. So far information coming in is that these are basic necessities such as food, blankets and mats, tents, medical services, tarpaulins and hygiene materials.
Bonaria Siahaan Yayasan CARE Peduli CEO:
“We are monitoring the situation, and we will be deploying our team to the site to conduct a needs assessment, and will focus on the needs of women, children and vulnerable groups. We are also concerned with people’s safety given the current situation with COVID-19, and therefore we would also put a priority in providing masks and hygiene kits as part of our immediate response.”
YCP is ready to provide immediate respond, providing hygiene kits and family kits, and face masks for approximately 300-500 people in the coming days.
We know from the 2018 tsunami that rocked Central Sulawesi that women and girls are some of the worst affected by natural disasters like earthquakes. Workloads and pressure from family often increase, they face protection and security risks as electricity and lighting at night is cut off, and gender-based violence can rise as tensions between partners increase.
CARE has spokespeople in Sulawesi (Palu) and Jakarta available on request.
About CARE Indonesia/Yayasan CARE Peduli
Beginning with CARE International’s establishment on 1945 and implementation of humanitarian program in Indonesia on 1967, Yayasan CARE Peduli (YCP) empowers million people with focus on women and girls, through many types of programs, including: water sanitation hygiene, women and girls’ empowerment and leadership, and disaster response and risk reduction management. As a national organization, YCP builds mutual partnerships with many organizations to develop and implement impactful community empowerment program. For more information, visit www.careindonesia.or.id .