IOM is providing transport for the government, international and
local NGOs to distribute non-food relief items for some 290,000
people displaced by the eruption of Mount Merapi in Central Java.

The eruption, which began on 26 October, has already left 141
people dead and 453 injured near the volcano, which is located some
30km north of the city of Yogyakarta.

People living within a 20 km zone of the volcano have been
relocated to 90 government-run sites in Magelang, Sleman, Boyolali
and Klaten districts.

IOM, which is working in close cooperation with the government,
the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA)
and partner agencies, is focusing on logistics, delivery of non
food relief items and improving water and sanitation at the sites,
mainly targeting Sleman and Boyolali districts.

The Humanitarian Aid department of the European Commission
(ECHO) has provided IOM with funding to provide logistics and
transport for the government and up to 60 local and international
relief agencies bringing in aid over the next three months.

ECHO will also fund IOM to provide non-food relief items for up
to 4,000 displaced people, and sanitation, latrines and improved
hygiene awareness for another 3,000. In addition, it will help IOM
to provide information management and coordination for up to 70
local aid agencies participating in the disaster response.

The IOM office in Yogyakarta is currently working with the
Crisis and Information Centre of the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
Forum and in close coordination with the National Disaster
Management Agency (BNPB.) An IOM Geographic Information System
(GIS) specialist is working with the DRR Forum to help map the
damage caused by the eruption.

IOM is also launching a mass information campaign targeting
affected people through radio and TV. The campaign will inform
people about new developments in the crisis and how to access
relief.

IOM's emergency response capacity in Indonesia dates back to the
2004 tsunami in Aceh and subsequent earthquakes in Yogyakarta in
2006, West Sumatra in 2007 and West Java in 2009.

For more information, please contact:

Jihan Labetubun

IOM Jakarta

Tel: +62.8111907028

E-mail: "mailto:jlabetubun@iom.int">jlabetubun@iom.int