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Humanitarian Issues Media Monitoring 3/27/19
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Destructive Cyclone Idai rings 'alarm bell' on climate change: U.N. chief
Mar 26, 2019 | Reuters
By Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer
Cyclone Idai’s deadly hit has left some 1.85 million people in need of assistance in Mozambique in a catastrophe that United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday rang “yet another alarm bell” about climate change. -
Cyclone Idai Has Caused an “Inland Ocean” in Mozambique the Size of Luxembourg
Mar 26, 2019 | UN Dispatch
By Mark Leon Goldberg
An “inland ocean” the size of Luxembourg has devastated a massive swath of Mozambique. When Cyclone Idai hit the country last week, it brought heavy winds, massive rains in what has been called the worst storm ever to strike that region of Africa. -
Two years since world's largest outbreak of Acute Watery Diarrhea and Cholera, Yemen witnessing another sharp increase in reported cases with number of deaths continuing to increase
Mar 26, 2019 | UNICEF
“In Yemen, since the beginning of the year till 17th March, nearly 109,000 cases of severe Acute Watery Diarrhea and suspected cholera were reported with 190 total associated deaths since January. Nearly one third of the reported cases are children under the age of five years old. This comes two years since Yemen witnessed the world-largest outbreak when more than 1 million cases were reported. -
UNHCR: 500,000 Displaced Cameroonians Urgently Need Humanitarian Aid
Mar 26, 2019 | Voice of America
By Lisa Schlein
The U.N. refugee agency is appealing for $184 million to support its life-saving operations for nearly a half-million Cameroonians displaced inside their country and as refugees in Nigeria. Violent clashes between the Cameroonian military and armed separatists in the English-speaking parts of the country have intensified during the past year. The U.N. refugee agency estimates more than 437,000 Cameroonians are internally displaced and more than 35,000 others have fled to Nigeria in search of refuge. -
Amid din over Brexit and US border wall, spare a thought for South Sudan
Mar 27, 2019 | The Guardian
By Father James Oyet Latansio
Civil war has ravaged the world’s youngest state, killing 400,000 people. The international community must prioritise peace
Cyclone Idai
Yemen
Cameroon
South Sudan
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Destructive Cyclone Idai rings 'alarm bell' on climate change: U.N. chief
Mar 26, 2019 | Reuters
By Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer
BEIRA, Mozambique (Reuters) - Cyclone Idai’s deadly hit has left some 1.85 million people in need of assistance in Mozambique in a catastrophe that United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday rang “yet another alarm bell” about climate change.
Guterres described Idai, which flattened homes and caused massive flooding after slamming into Mozambique near the port of Beira on March 14, as “an uncommonly fierce and prolonged storm”.
The cyclone ripped through neighboring Zimbabwe and Malawi, killing at least 686 people across the three southern African countries. In hardest-hit Mozambique, tens of thousands of homes were destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people were displaced across an area of some 3,000 square km (1,200 square miles) - roughly the size of Luxembourg.
“At least one million children need urgent assistance and this number may well grow. We fear that whole villages have been washed away in places we have yet to reach,” Secretary-General Guterres told reporters at the United Nations.
Some reports said $1 billion worth of infrastructure had been destroyed, he said.
The storm was, Guterres said, “yet another alarm bell about the dangers of climate change”.
While scientists say single weather events cannot be attributed to climate change, they say global warming is causing more extreme rainfall and storms, sweltering heatwaves, shrinking harvests and worsening water shortages around the world.
Receding flood waters in Mozambique have allowed greater access, and a greater sense of how much people have lost. Thousands of people, stranded for more than a week by the flooding, are now being moved to safer shelters.
“We’re now going out on the ground, dropping people off from helicopters to determine what the critical needs are,” said Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, coordinator in the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.BIG, DENSE POPULATION
The relief focus has increasingly turned to preventing or containing what many believe will be inevitable outbreaks of malaria and cholera. No cholera cases have yet been confirmed, but health workers have reported an upsurge in cases of diarrhea - a symptom of the disease.
“We are testing as we go,” said Rob Holden, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) incident manager in the capital Maputo. “But nonetheless we are treating acute watery diarrhea, it’s the same as treating cholera. That’s just the diagnosis.”
Dozens of people queued in front of a clinic in Beira’s Munhava district on Tuesday, as nurses wearing surgical masks handed out a chlorine solution to prevent the spread of diseases.
“There is a big population, dense population in Beira,” said Gert Verdonck, emergency coordinator for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). “Of course any spread of any kind of epidemic will be a lot quicker here.”
The WHO is dispatching 900,000 doses of oral cholera vaccine from a global stockpile. The shipment is expected to arrive within 10 days, and a first round of vaccinations will target 100,000 people.
Cholera is spread by faeces in sewage-contaminated water or food, and outbreaks can develop quickly in a humanitarian crisis where sanitation systems are disrupted. It can kill within hours if left untreated.
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has designated Mozambique a level three emergency, placing it on a par with Syria, Yemen and South Sudan. The agency is preparing to feed 1.7 million people in Mozambique, which has a population of around 30 million.
The United Nations is appealing for $282 million to fund the first three months of the disaster response in Mozambique, and a total of $337 million. So far, only 2 percent of that amount has been funded.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday it will consider emergency financial assistance in Mozambique under an IMF Rapid Credit Facility. While it was still early to precisely assess the cyclone’s macroeconomic effects and reconstruction costs, “these will be very significant”, the IMF said in a statement.
IMF chief of the mission visiting Mozambique, Ricardo Veloso, said it would loan Mozambique $60 million to $120 million under its loan facility to help in reconstruction efforts.
Mozambique admitted in 2016 to $1.4 billion of previously undisclosed loans, prompting the IMF to cut off support and triggering a currency collapse and debt default.
SEARCHING THROUGH RUBBLE
In Zimbabwe, where 179 people have died, another 329 people were still unaccounted for on Monday.
In Chimanimani district, villagers used hoes and shovels to dig through debris on Tuesday and search for missing relatives believed buried in mudslides unleashed by the cyclone.
One family has spent a week digging day and night for four relatives, in what was once a settlement of 500 people but has been reduced to rubble.
Large rocks, some more than two meters (six feet) high, rolled down from a nearby mountain at high speed and are all that remains after the storm swept away a police camp, houses and an open market.
“I am an orphan now and I am so much in pain because I lost my brother who looked after me. He was more of a father to me,” said Sarah Sithole, 32, whose policeman brother was washed away while on night duty at the police station.
“We will continue searching until we find him and bury him. We will not rest,” she said, her hands and feet covered with red soil.
Around 95 percent of roads in affected districts have been damaged, impeding access to rescuers with earth moving equipment. Zimbabwe has asked South Africa to send search dogs, a local government official said.
The WFP said it will aim to distribute food assistance to 732,000 people in Malawi and 270,000 in Zimbabwe.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-africa-cyclone/nearly-2-million-mozambicans-in-need-after-cyclone-u-n-idUSKCN1R70T4?il=0
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Cyclone Idai Has Caused an “Inland Ocean” in Mozambique the Size of Luxembourg
Mar 26, 2019 | UN Dispatch
By Mark Leon Goldberg
An “inland ocean” the size of Luxembourg has devastated a massive swath of Mozambique. When Cyclone Idai hit the country last week, it brought heavy winds, massive rains in what has been called the worst storm ever to strike that region of Africa.
Satellite imagery from the European Space Agency reveals that is also caused a massive flood plane, about 125km by 25km. This is the size of the country of Luxembourg.
Here are before and after photos of the parts of Mozambique currently submerged.Facts and Figures of Cyclone Idai in Mozambique
The latest update from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reveals a desperate situation on the ground.
As of March 24th, the death toll is 446, though that figure is expected to rise as more areas become accessible.
Some 110,000 people are displaced across over 130 makeshift encampments.
Over 1 million children affected, according to UNICEF
The government is reporting a increasing numbers of a deadly form of acute watery diarrhea.
Meanwhile, power and water services are restored to parts of the main city of Beira, but much of the rest of the region is in dark
The response by international humanitarian agencies is ramping up, including airdrops of food and medicines. From OCHA:
In Beira, a grid-based system has been put in place to assess and prioritize areas for airlift of essential life-saving kits. An MI-8 transport helicopter contracted by the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) is airdropping inter-agency emergency kits, including food (high-energy biscuits (HEBs) and micronutrient-rich peanut paste used to prevent and treat malnutrition) as well as tents, medicines and other essentials for stranded communities outside Beira. WFP-funded drones are supporting rapid assessments with the National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC) and locating survivors trapped in the flooded areas in Sofala. Bilateral support is increasing, with the arrival of both Search and Rescue (SAR) and Emergency Medical Teams (EMT). Two UNHAS MI-8s helicopters and a C295 cargo plane are now operational in Beira.
The crisis stretched beyond Mozambique, to neighboring countries that were also affected.
This is a massive humanitarian disaster and by far the worst natural disaster to strike this region in recent history. We can expect the Cyclone Idai response to be a major focus of the UN and humanitarian NGOs for several months.
https://www.undispatch.com/cyclone-idai-has-caused-an-inland-ocean-in-mozambique-the-size-of-luxembourg/
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Mar 26, 2019 | UNICEF
MUSCAT/AMMAN/CAIRO, 26 March 2019-“In Yemen, since the beginning of the year till 17th March, nearly 109,000 cases of severe Acute Watery Diarrhea and suspected cholera were reported with 190 total associated deaths since January. Nearly one third of the reported cases are children under the age of five years old. This comes two years since Yemen witnessed the world-largest outbreak when more than 1 million cases were reported.
“We fear that the number of suspected cholera cases will continue to increase with the early arrival of the rainy season and as basic services including lifesaving water systems and networks have collapsed. The situation is exacerbated by the poor status of sewage disposal systems, the use of contaminated water for agriculture, unreliable electricity to store food and families’ displacement as they flee escalating violence especially in Hudaydah and Tai’z.
“Our teams in Yemen are working day and night with a wide network of local partners to respond and stop the further spread and transmission of the diseases. Focusing on 147 priority districts, additional health, water, hygiene and sanitation supplies are being mobilised. Rapid response teams have been deployed. A total of 413 Diarrhea Treatment Centres and Oral Rehydration Centres are operational in all 147 priority districts. Partners are repairing water and sanitation systems. In the past weeks, we scaled up chlorination activities to disinfect water in 95 priority districts and provided fuel and spare parts to keep going water supply and sanitation networks. A round of Oral Cholera Vaccine campaign reached over 400,000 people in several districts. Meanwhile, community-based awareness raising reached 600,000 people in house-to-house campaigns since early 2019 to provide families with hygiene practices and improve reporting symptoms and seeking treatment.
“UNICEF and WHO are committed to continue scaling up the response to assist immediately the people affected and to prevent the disease from spreading further. We are doing everything possible to avoid the 2017 scenario including the timely use of proven effective measures including Oral Cholera Vaccination. However, we face several challenges including the intensification of fighting, access restrictions and bureaucratic hurdles to bring lifesaving supplies and personnel to Yemen.
“UNICEF and WHO are calling to lift all restrictions on our humanitarian operations to respond to the spread of the disease and other areas. Our humanitarian teams must have full access to reach every child, every woman, every man in need of medical and other humanitarian assistance.
“Above all, we jointly reiterate the calls for the fighting to end. It is time for the four-year long war to come to an end. If not, Yemen will continue to be trapped in a web of diseases, malice and sink deeper in endless humanitarian disasters. With the most vulnerable paying the highest price."
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/two-years-worlds-largest-outbreak-acute-watery-diarrhea-and-cholera-yemen-witnessing
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UNHCR: 500,000 Displaced Cameroonians Urgently Need Humanitarian Aid
Mar 26, 2019 | Voice of America
By Lisa Schlein
GENEVA —
The U.N. refugee agency is appealing for $184 million to support its life-saving operations for nearly a half-million Cameroonians displaced inside their country and as refugees in Nigeria.
Violent clashes between the Cameroonian military and armed separatists in the English-speaking parts of the country have intensified during the past year.
The U.N. refugee agency estimates more than 437,000 Cameroonians are internally displaced and more than 35,000 others have fled to Nigeria in search of refuge.
The UNHCR said most of the victims are women and children who have fled their homes with very little, and they often arrive in impoverished host communities where food, health, education, water and sanitation are scarce.
UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch tells VOA that violence is forcing civilians caught in the crossfire to flee for their lives.
“Civilians have suffered immensely and also burning of houses, torture, rape, kidnapping of school children in this region is a great concern for us," Balock said. "And, in terms of burning houses, we have reports that in over 172 villages in these regions, houses have been burned or destroyed.”
Baloch said the UNHCR, which he said is severely underfunded and unable to meet the growing needs, urgently needs $35 million to provide critical aid for the hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
Inside Cameroon, he said many people are living in overcrowded conditions, without proper shelter or health and sanitation. He said the UNHCR does not have enough money to protect the affected population.
That has put the safety of women, children, and people with disabilities, as well as lactating and pregnant women, at risk, he said.
Baloch said refugees in Nigeria are living in more than 47 villages along the border in makeshift settlements and are dependent upon humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs.
https://www.voanews.com/a/unhcr-500-000-displaced-cameroonians-urgently-need-humanitarian-aid/4849273.html
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Amid din over Brexit and US border wall, spare a thought for South Sudan
Mar 27, 2019 | The Guardian
By Father James Oyet Latansio
Ihave met both Donald Trump and Boris Johnson in the course of my work. You might associate one man with his campaign to build a wall along the US border with Mexico, and the other with Brexit. But I was trying to convince them to spare a thought for my country, South Sudan.
I quite understand that they have other things on their minds. When I visited parliament on the fraught opening day of the Brexit debate, Johnson recognised me from his trip to South Sudan, and sought to reassure me. But he had resigned as foreign secretary, because of Brexit.
As for Trump, he told me that South Sudan was “a bad deal”. I was in Washington as part of a church delegation from our troubled country, seeking help. What he meant was that the US government was struggling to work with leaders whose only interest was in perpetuating an endless war.
The timing of that mission was probably a “bad deal” for us, too. Amid the constant noise of Brexit, the border wall and US-China trade wars, I find myself having to shout to get anyone to pay attention to the continuing conflict in South Sudan. But this does not hold me back. The church in South Sudan has to keep Africa’s most pressing humanitarian crisis high on the international community’s agenda.
We are a “nation interrupted”. The civil war that broke out only two years after we gained independence in 2011 has killed more than 400,000 people, ruined the economy, driven nearly 4 million people from their homes and disrupted the education of generations. About 7 million people, more than half the population, are now dependent on humanitarian aid for their survival, according to the UN.
The presence of international charities such as Cafod and Trócaire has so far staved off the spread of famine, despite the dangers they face. These charities offer hope to people in remote parts of the country, sometimes reaching areas where other aid agencies fear to tread because of the risk of attack. The killing of a Jesuit priest, Father Victor-Luke Odhiambo, showed the church is not immune, even though we have a strong presence in all ethnic communities.
The church knows all too well that the future peace of South Sudan cannot rest solely on the latest fragile deal between the warring sides. Ink on paper is not enough: there needs to be change at the grassroots level. We are working with traumatised, war-torn communities on peace-building and reconciliation. By bringing together Dinka and Nuer people across the main ethnic divide, and persuading perpetrators and victims to meet face to face, we can address the grievances that are fuelling the conflict, including endemic violence against women. This is what the Churches Action Plan for Peace is doing, community by community.
The international community must be robust in demanding that the peace deal agreed in September is adhered to, above all when it comes to honouring the commitment by all sides to a ceasefire. We need this to be amplified by the UK government, which should maintain pressure on the Juba administration to ensure that it stays on track. We refuse to be left along the roadside – we too have mothers, children, fathers, young people, the elderly and disabled people, suffering the brutality of this five-year conflict.
South Sudan is blessed with the waters of the Nile, fertile terracotta soil, and oil wealth. These assets would allow the country’s people to rebuild their lives and flourish, but this is only possible if there is real peace on the ground. We deserve the concerted attention and efforts of the international community, despite Brexit and other distractions.
My hope is the last thing to die. With international support we can turn a “bad deal” – death and destruction – into a good one, where there is peace and reconstruction.
Father James Oyet Latansio is the general secretary of the South Sudan Council of Churches
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/27/din-over-brexit-us-border-wall-south-sudan
Cyclone Idai
Yemen
Cameroon
South Sudan
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