HELP RED CROSS AND UNICEF HELP VICTIMS OF NATURAL DISASTERS

nancyk58 · April 26, 2010

News in relation to natural disasters and the Philippines on 26 April 2010

NEWS in relation to NATURAL DISASTERS and the PHILIPPINES on 26 April 2010

Swedish SVT: THOUSANDS HOMELESS IN MANILA SLUM FIRE

About 15,000 Filipinos were made homeless in the Filipino capital, Manila after a powerful fire swept through a slum. At least 1 was killed and 4 were injured in the fire in Quezon City on the outskirts of Manila yesterday. Several houses were destroyed. People tried to salvage their belongings from the fire making it difficult for the firemen. The cause of the fire was probably defective wires.

German ARDText: BIG FIRE IN FILIPINO SLUM

A large fire in a slum near the Filipino capital, Manila cost one human life, and 4 were injured. At least 15,000 were made homeless. The fire broke out Sunday afternoon local time in a Quezon slum. It took 7 hours to extinguish the fire. The fire was apparently triggered by a defect wire. The affected people must rely on prompt relief / aid, the mayor of Quezon City said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8643300.stm

Page last updated at 03:17 GMT, Monday, 26 April 2010 04:17 UK

FIREFIGHTERS TACKLE MASSIVE BLAZE IN MANILA SLUM

A huge blaze has swept through a shanty town outside the Philippines capital, destroying hundreds of homes and leaving thousands of people homeless.

Two hundred fire engines were sent to fight the flames in the Quezon City slum, outside Manila, reports said.

Firefighters were beaten back as the blaze spread swiftly, fanned by strong windsand intense summer heat.

At least one man is thought to have died, and several firefighters were injured.

The fire, which started on Sunday afternoon, was still burning at nightfall.

Firefighters struggled to penetrate the dense network of alleys in the slum, which were crowded with people trying to salvage their belongings.

"We failed to save anything except our clothes," a weeping resident, Glen Sardon, told the Associated Press news agency.

As many as 600 homes were feared destroyed in the blaze and up to 7,000 residents left homeless, it was reported.

nancyk58 · May 13, 2010

News in relation to HAITI on 13 May 2010

Swedish SVT: FIRST DONATION TO HAITI FUND

Brazil is the first country to give a donation to the reconstruction fund for the earthquake-hit HAITI.

Brazil is also in charge of the UN force(s) on HAITI and has paid 55 million dollars to the World Bank which administrates the donations.

World Bank president Robert B. Zoellick now recommends other donor countries to live up to their pledges to HAITI.

The disaster which destroyed HAITI's capital, Port-au-Prince, is estimated to have cost 300,000 human lives. The cost of material damage has been calculated at 120% of Haiti's annual gross national product.

BRAZIL BECOMES FIRST MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO HAITI RECONSTRUCTION FUND

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MYAI-85D37E?OpenDocument

Source: The World Bank Group / Date: 11 May 2010

WASHINGTON DC, May 11, 2010 - The Haiti Reconstruction Fund (HRF) gathered momentum today after Brazil contributed US$55 million to the multilateral mechanism set up to help the Caribbean nation rebuild following its devastating January 12 earthquake.

Brazil is the first donor country to make such contribution, but at least 14 other countries are expected to chip in to replenish the fund that has been in operation since April with an initial grant of US$189 million by the World Bank, the fund's fiscal agent and administrator, Bank officials said.

Confirmations of intent to date have come from donors such as CANADA, ESTONIA, NORWAY, SWEDEN, SAUDI ARABIA and the UNITED STATES, while discussions with other potential contributors are underway, noted Haiti country director Yvonne Tsikata.

In welcoming Brazil's contribution, the Bank praised its long-standing commitment to Haiti, which has become increasingly prominent over the last few years in project funding, peacekeeping initiatives and technical advice.

Brazil's announcement comes on the heels of increasing recognition of the growing role of emerging powers in global affairs, in what World Bank president Robert B. Zoellick has called "the end of the Third World".

"Brazil leadership in supporting Haiti underscores an important feature of our multipolar world where emerging powers are taking on new responsibilities to assist those struggling with major development challenges," said Zoellick during a ceremony held at the Bank's Washington D.C headquarters, where Brazil's Secretary-General of External Relations, Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, signed US$55 million over to the fund in the presence of Haiti's Ambassador to the United States Raymond Joseph, and multilateral officials.

The HRF was set up by the government of HAITI and MULTIPLE DONORS to pool mobilize and allocate resources from the international community in support of Haiti's recovery and development. The fund will channel resources "in a manner that builds the capacity of the Haitian state and society in the longer term," said HRF manager Josef Leitmann, while adding that the fund will be flexible enough to respond to unmet priorities in the recovery program, including the provision of budget support.

Activities financed by the HRF can include technical assistance and capacity building, infrastructure investments, delivery of basic services, community development, environmental protection and clean-up, job creation and income generation, Leitmann said. The fund regroups the World Bank, United Nations agencies and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Brazil's secretary-general Patriota noted that after the initial show of support for Haiti, the challenge is now to keep such momentum going and translate international support into effective and timely reconstruction projects.

To achieve this goal, he said, "it is important to stress that we see this as an opportunity for Haiti to embark on a route to sustainable development and the overall improvement of its infrastructure and the livelihood of the Haitian people who for too long have been struggling with chronic difficulties."

"Brazil is proud to be the first country to contribute to the Fund and invites others to join us in this effort," he added.

The international community pledged US$5.3 billion towards Haiti's reconstruction over the next two years at a March 31 United Nations meeting in New York.

Judging from experiences with previous reconstruction funds, about 10-15 per cent of those pledges will find their way into the HRF, which has been designed to fill gaps in the financing available from development partners, according to Bank officials.

Ambassador Joseph thanked Brazil for its generous contribution to the fund and President Zoellick for providing safekeeping of the fund resources "which has given confidence to a lot of people and a lot of countries."

"Haiti cannot do it alone, but I have no doubt that others who have pledged at the March 31 conference will soon follow the example of Brazil," he concluded.

nancyk58 · May 26, 2010

UNICEF DENMARK NEWS - I AM POSTING HERE WHEN RELEVANT

I AM NOT POSTING MUCH IN THIS THREAD ANYMORE.

I AM POSTING HERE WHEN THE ARTICLE(S) & NEWS IN QUESTION INVOLVE COUNTRIES AND EMERGENCIES WHERE I KNOW FOR SURE THAT UNICEF AND/OR RED CROSS IS/ARE INVOLVED.

NEWS ON 26 MAY 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS AND UNICEF

Danish DR1 ttv: RECORD HIGH AMOUNT FROM DANES TO NEEDY CHILDREN

UNICEF Denmark sends more money to needy children of the world than ever before - in spite of the global economic / financial crisis.

In 2009, Danes donated more than 133 million Danish Kroner (DKK) to UNICEF according to the annual report from UN's children fund.

"It's an impressive amount, which will make a difference for millions of children in the world, says Steen M. Andersen, who is the Secretary-General for Unicef Denmark.

In 2009 Danes have contributed to the vaccination of 74 million children against polio in 11 African countries and to rebuilding of 473 schools in Pakistan.

nancyk58 · June 16, 2010

News on 16 June 2010:

German ARDtext: FEWER REFUGEES RETURNING HOME

Fewer refugees can return home according to UN Secretary-General Ban. In 2005, more than 1 million returned to their own countries on a voluntary basis. Last year, i.e. in 2009, it was only 250,000, and this was the lowest figure in 20 years. The reason is i.a. the continuous instability in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and southern Sudan.

nancyk58 · June 17, 2010

News in relation to KYRGYZSTAN on 17 June 2010

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10341348.stm

Page last updated at 14:29 GMT, Thursday, 17 June 2010 15:29 UK

KYRGYZSTAN CRISIS: UN SAYS 400,000 DISPLACED BY CLASHES

The UN says that the number of people displaced by unrest in southern Kyrgyzstan has reached 400,000.

About 300,000 people have fled their homes, while another 75,000-100,000 people - not counting children - are thought to have taken refuge in Uzbekistan.

The Red Cross (ICRC) has described the situation as an "immense crisis".

Some aid has begun to arrive in the region, but the ICRC says refugees are running short of basic supplies.

At least 40,000 refugees are without shelter.

People have been leaving after violence between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks last week, in which at least 191 were killed. Some observers have said the death toll is higher.

The latest UN Humanitarian Office figure exceeds previous estimates of 250,000-275,000 displaced.

Over the border in Uzbekistan, many of the displaced - mostly women and children - are in makeshift camps.

Many report instances of rape, and severe beatings.

"We need clothes and medical supplies, especially for the children, because when we fled our homes we just ran away and couldn't take anything with us," said Halima Otajonova, a 41-year-old mother of two, at a refugee centre at a stadium in the Uzbek town of Khanabad.

"Some of us even ran away in bare feet, without shoes," she told the AFP news agency.

The city of Osh, which saw most of the violence, is being patrolled by Kyrgyz troops, amid an uneasy calm. However, there have been reports of soldiers taking part in looting.

The ICRC says its workers have reached refugees in the areas around Osh.

"We've seen for ourselves and also heard about pockets of displaced people ranging from several hundred to several thousand in number," said the ICRC's Severine Chappaz.

The organisation said insecurity and fear, combined with shortages of basic necessities like food, water, shelter and medicine, were putting a tremendous strain on communities, hospitals and families.

Paul Quinn-Judge, Central Asia Project Director at the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based security think tank, said the situation was likely to get worse.

"We're going to have an increasingly serious humanitarian problem which is going to affect both the Kyrgyz and the Uzbek communities in southern Kyrgyzstan," he told the BBC from the capital, Bishkek.

"The reports from the Uzbek communities in Osh and in Jalalabad are so bloodcurdling that I doubt whether anybody will want to go back in the near future. In fact they'd probably only go back if the Uzbek government forced them to."

In an Uzbek district of Osh, a baker who had fled to the border with his wife and five children on Sunday said his family had lost hope after supplies on the border ran out, and returned out of desperation.

"Is there any difference where to die? There is no food, no water, no humanitarian aid," Melis Kamilov told the Associated Press news agency.

MOB ATTACKS

Eyewitnesses say Kyrgyz mobs began attacking people in Uzbek areas of Osh and another southern city, Jalalabad, in the early hours of Friday last week.

Kyrgyzstan's interim leaders have been struggling to impose their authority since coming to power after President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was overthrown in April.

The government believes allies of Mr Bakiyev, who now lives in exile in Belarus, want to derail a national referendum on constitutional reform scheduled for 27 June.

But the government has said it will go ahead with the referendum despite the clashes.

Mr Quinn-Judge told the BBC the decision not to delay the vote suggested the interim government was "having a few reality problems".

Ethnic Uzbeks have largely supported the interim government, but Mr Bakiyev remains popular with many Kyrgyz in the south.

A Kyrgyz government appeal for Russia to send in peacekeeping troops was rejected by Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has now said his country will provide technical assistance to Kyrgyzstan to help it track down those behind the clashes.

Washington is sending its top Central Asia diplomat, Robert Blake, for meetings with officials in Bishkek on Friday and Saturday.

The clashes are the worst ethnic violence to hit southern Kyrgyzstan since 1990, when deadly clashes were suppressed by the Soviet authorities.

Go to http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home where is described how you can help the victims of this crisis in Kyrgyzstan by making a DONATION. By doing so you contribute to providing shelter and emergency aid to thousands forced from their homes.

Here you can also read UNHCR's articles both about this and other crises where UNHCR is active trying to help the victims.

LATEST NEWS from http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home :

Myanmar and Bangladesh: UNHCR rescues, shelters flood victims

Displacement inside Kyrgyzstan reaches 300,000

Crisis in Kyrgyzstan leaves 300,000 internally displaced

UNHCR airlifting aid to Uzbekistan

Swedish SVT: AT LEAST 400,000 HAVE FLED KYRGYZSTAN

According to the UN, at least 400,000 people in KYRGYZSTAN have been forced to flee due to unrest and ethnic cleansing. The humanitairan disaster aid is reaching refugees having crossed the border to neighbouring Uzbekistan. The Red Cross (ICRC) has described the situation as an "immense crisis".

The number of people killed in the violence against primarily ethnic Uzbeks is unknown. In Osj alone, 1,526 people have been killed in the clashes according to the local management of the news site Fergane.

German ARDtext: US AID TO KYRGYZSTAN INCREASED TO 6.5bn $

Kyrgyzstan is shaken by clashes. The USA has increased its aid to Kyrgyzstan to 6.5 billion $. The money is primarily earmarked for food to the refugees, says Crowley, spokesman for the US secretary of state. The EU made 5million € available.

Hundred thousands - mostly ethnic Uzbeks - have fled to the neighbouring country, Uzbekistan. The situation in Kyrgyzstan continues to be very tense. The Kyrgyz and members of the Uzbek minority continue their clashes.

nancyk58 · June 18, 2010

News on 18 June 2010 / Kyrgyzstan

THANKS FOR STARTING THIS THREAD. I was thinking of starting one thread about Kyrgyzstan last night, but ended up posting in the thread: Help Red Cross and Unicef because IRCR is involved in relief work here.

NEWS IN RELATION TO KYRGYZSTAN ON 18 JUNE 2010:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10347472.stm

Page last updated at 10:48 GMT, Friday, 18 June 2010 11:48 UK

DEATH TOLL IN KYRGYZSTAN CLASHES COULD BE 'MUCH HIGHER'

Kyrgyzstan's interim leader Roza Otunbayeva has said the death toll in the country's worst ethnic violence in decades could be as high as 2,000.

Officials say at least 191 people were killed in fighting between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks around Osh and Jalalabad.

But Ms Otunbayeva told a Russian newspaper that the real toll could be "10 times the official figures".

Meanwhile, a US envoy in the region has called for an investigation into the unrest.

Central Asia envoy Robert Blake made the call while visiting refugees in camps in the Uzbek border city of Andijan on Friday.

About 400,000 people have fled their homes, with many ethnic Uzbeks crossing into Uzbekistan.

Mr Blake is due to travel later to the capital, Bishkek, for talks with Kyrgyz officials.

'Rebuild city'

Ms Otunbayeva made the comments about the death toll in the Kommersant newspaper, saying that the real toll might never be known because of the custom of family burying loved ones as soon as possible.

She travelled to Osh on Friday for the first time since the violence.

Speaking in Osh's main square, Ms Otunbayeva said: "I came here to see, to speak with the people and hear first hand what happened here."

She rejected criticism of her interim government's handling of the crisis, adding: "We will do everything to rebuild this city."

The Kyrgyz government had earlier appealed to Russia to send in peacekeeping troops. But Moscow rejected the request, offering instead technical assistance to track those committing the violence.

The Red Cross (ICRC) has described the situation as an "immense crisis", with shortages of basic necessities.

The unrest last week came two months after the country's former president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was forced out of office.

Ms Otunbayeva's government has blamed the former leader for stoking the conflict.

Eyewitnesses say Kyrgyz mobs began attacking people in Uzbek areas of Osh and Jalalabad in the early hours of Friday last week.

About 300,000 people have fled their homes, while another 75,000-100,000 people - not counting children - are thought to have taken refuge in Uzbekistan.

The UN's health agency, the WHO, said up to a million people could be affected.

In the refugee camps in Uzbekistan, there are many reports of rape and severe beatings.

Some aid has begun to arrive in the region, but the ICRC says refugees are running short of basic supplies. At least 40,000 refugees were without shelter.

The organisation said insecurity and fear, combined with shortages of basic necessities like food, water, shelter and medicine, were putting a tremendous strain on communities, hospitals and families.

Kyrgyzstan's interim leaders have been struggling to impose their authority since coming to power after President Bakiyev was overthrown in April.

The government believes allies of Mr Bakiyev, who now lives in exile in Belarus, want to derail a national referendum on constitutional reform scheduled for 27 June.

But the government has said it will go ahead with the referendum despite the clashes.

Ethnic Uzbeks have largely supported the interim government, but Mr Bakiyev remains popular with many Kyrgyz in the south.

NEWS SITES

Canada.com : Kyrgyzstan toll 'much higher'

Sydney Morning Herald : Death toll may be 2000: Kyrgyz leader

NEWS.com.au : Kyrgyz death toll may be 10 times higher

Deutsche Welle : NGOs demand international intervention in Kyrgyzstan

Financial Times : Kyrgyz leader pledges to rebuild ravaged south

Danish DR1: UN: 1 MILLION PEOPLE WILL NEED HELP

According to the United Nations, 1 million people will need help due to the violent clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan.

Also Robert Blake, US-Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia warns that the situation for the many hundred thousand is very dangerous / serious. After having visited several refugee camps in neighbouring Uzbekistan today, Blake called the situation a "humanitarian crisis".

At the same time the interim leader announced that up to 2,000 may be dead - 10 times as much as previously estimated.

nancyk58 · June 20, 2010

News in relation to KYRGYZSTAN on 19 and 20 June 2010

NEWS ON 19 and 20 JUNE 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

FACTS ABOUT KYRGYZSTAN

KYRGYZSTAN is a mountainous country in Central Asia between China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The capital is Bishkek. Some 5.5 million people.

The country was a Soviet republic until USSR collapsed in 1991.

The country's young democracy was stable under former President Askar Akajev in the 1990s, but has since moved on to autocracy and authoritarian rule. After Revolution in Kyrgyzstan in 2005, President Akajev withdrew.

The political situation in the country is currently unstable. In southern Kyrgyzstan there are currently violent clashes between the Kyrgyz majority and the Uzbek minority.

Kyrgyzstan is a multiethnic society. 55% of the inhabitants are ethnic Kyrgyz, whereas the Russians, Uzbeks and Ukrainians constitute the minority.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10356065.stm

Page last updated at 03:19 GMT, Saturday, 19 June 2010 04:19 UK

UN LAUNCHES $71m APPEAL FOR KYRGYZSTAN REFUGEE CRISIS

The UN has announced a $71m (£48m) flash appeal for Kyrgyzstan, where it says some 400,000 people have been displaced by inter-ethnic fighting.

The Central Asian state's interim leader believes the number of people killed since violence erupted just over a week ago may be as high as 2,000.

Up to a million people are said to have been affected by fighting between the Kyrgyz majority and minority Uzbeks.

Many of those who fled their homes are staying in Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan's government has asked the UN to launch a similar appeal for its own camps next week.

Having accepted tens of thousands of refugees, it fears its capacity to help them will soon run out, reports the BBC's Tom Lane from the UN in New York.

'Shocked and appalled'

John Holmes, head of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, is meeting donor member states, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said.

The focus of the Kyrgyz appeal will be food and shelter, with the hope that the aid will last at least six months.

There are shortages of food, water and electricity, said Mr Ban, because of looting, lack of supplies and restrictions on movement.

"Hospitals and other institutions are running low on medical supplies," he added.

Mr Ban said an estimated 300,000 people were living displaced within Kyrgyzstan and up to 100,000 had fled to Uzbekistan, of whom 80,000 were located in refugee camps.

"Tens of thousands more are reportedly waiting to cross the border," he added.

He said he had contacted Kyrgyzstan's interim leader, Roza Otunbayeva, Uzbek President Islam Karimov and others "to explore options for restoring order, preventing further loss of life and coordinating humanitarian assistance".

Mr Holmes urged a "generous and rapid response" from donors.

"I have been shocked by the extent of the violence and appalled by the deaths and injuries, widespread arson, sexual violence, looting of state, commercial and private property and destruction of infrastructure," he said.

The UN Human Rights Council called on the Kyrgyz government to conduct a full and transparent investigation into the clashes.

Unknown death toll

Ms Otunbayeva's estimate of 2,000 deaths is 10 times higher than previous official figures.

On Friday, she flew into Osh, the city at the centre of the violence, to inspect the damage.

As her helicopter landed in the city's main square, she emerged wearing a bullet-proof vest and surrounded by bodyguards with automatic weapons.

Even so, the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports, she made no attempt to enter the Uzbek neighbourhoods of the city.

It is there that the worst of the damage was done in four days of ethnic bloodletting last weekend.

She said the Muslim tradition of burying the dead before sunset on the day of death meant many hundreds of victims had not been counted.

Her government now faces the difficult task of persuading tens of thousands of refugees to return to their homes, our correspondent says.

Visiting a refugee camp in Uzbekistan, US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake said there must be an independent investigation into what had happened.

Eyewitnesses and victims have repeatedly said that the violence was orchestrated, and many have accused soldiers from the Kyrgyz military of being involved.

Since taking power after the overthrow of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev in April, the interim government has struggled to assert its authority in Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic of some 5.5 million people.

Swedish SVT: UN LAUNCHES APPEAL IN FAVOUR OF KYRGYZSTAN

UN launches an appeal for donations of 71 billion $ - the equivalent of ½ billion Swedish kroner - to disaster-struck Kyrgyzstan. This was done by UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon on Friday.

It is estimated that 400,000 have fled the ethnic violence in the central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan. More than 1,000 are assumed dead.

According to UN, there is an urgent need for food, water and electricity in large parts of Kyrgyzstan. Looting is an enormous problem.

German ARDtext: BAN APPEALS TO UN MEMBER STATES TO MAKE DONATIONS IN FAVOUR OF KYRGYZSTAN

UN appeals to its member states to donate 71 billion $ to Kyrgyzstan which is struck by violent clashes.

The amount - equivalent of 58 billion € - should be suffient to support more than 1 million people, said UN-Secretary-General Ban. The donor appeal is without any obligation for the 192 member states.

Earlier, the Kyrgyz interim leader Otunbayeva had said that up to 2,000 people could have been killed in the violent clashes.

German ZDFtext on 19 June 2010: RELIEF WORKERS WARN AGAINST EPIDEMICS IN REFUGEE CAMPS

After violent clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan, relief workers warn against the danger of epidemics in the refugee camps along the border between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. "The camps are overcrowded", said Andreas Bründer from the relief organization Medicins sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). UN plans a 71-million $ aid programme.

German ZDFtext on 20 June 2010: RELIEF WORKERS: BIG HUMANITARIAN PROBLEMS IN KYRGYZSTAN

One week after the violent ethnic clashes started in southern Kyrgyzstan, relief workers report with regret that there are enormous humanitarian problems. "We see people who have nothing left", said Alexandre Baillat, who is from the relief organization Medicins sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). Up to 2,000 died in clashes according to the interim government. Drinking water & food is scarce, he said.

The clashes between the Kyrgyz majority and the Uzbek minority continue. According to the UN more than 400,000 have fled the violent unrest in Kyrgyzstan.

nancyk58 · June 21, 2010

News on 21 June 2010 in relation to natural disasters

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/10362459.stm

Page last updated at 03:03 GMT, Monday, 21 June 2010 04:03 UK

By Mike Thomson, BBC News, Niamey

BBC World News: AID AGENCIES LAUNCH NIGER APPEAL

Two major aid agencies have launched $10m (£6.7m) appeals for DROUGHT-stricken NIGER in West Africa.

About seven million people - half of the country's population - face food shortages after crop failures last year.

Aid organisations OXFAM and SAVE THE CHILDREN say the situation is growing more critical by the day.

Their concern is shared by the UN, which says the crisis is of a magnitude not seen before.

Save the Children says 400,000 children under five are at risk of starvation.

Oxfam says it will focus help towards a further two million adults who are facing severe food shortages.

The crisis, in the world's most under-developed nation, has been caused by a combination of a crop failure - following a drought last year - along with big increases in the price of many staple foods.

The UN's country director, Khardiata Lo Ndiaye, says the emergency is already worse than the drought in 2005, and says that help is needed quickly.

"The magnitude of this crisis has not been seen before. We need money now!" she said.

The UN currently only has just over half the funds it has appealed for to support the population until the next harvest, which is due in September.

OTHER NEWS SITES

Guardian.co.uk : Free markets and famine in Niger | Jeevan Vasagar

World Bank : UN launches Kyrgyzstan aid appeal

x : Starvation threat prompts West Africa appeals

The Scotsman : Charities appeal for fast funds in food crisis

Sydney Morning Herald : Aid agencies appeal for West Africa food crisis

See also

Niger's silent crisis (21 June 10) / Today

'Niger drought made me a beggar' (14 June 10 / Africa)

Niger's hungry 'fleeing south' (21 May 10Africa)

Niger 'faces total crop failure' (28 April 10Africa)

In pictures: Niger's food crisis (27 April 10Africa)

Country profile: Niger (03 March 10 / Country profiles)

Related internet links : Save the Children + Oxfam

NIGER is a vast, arid state on the edge of the Sahara desert, Niger endured austere military rule for much of its post-independence history and is rated by the UN as one of the world's least-developed nations.

The drought-prone country sometimes struggles to feed its people.

------------------------------

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10366032.stm

Page last updated at 12:11 GMT, Monday, 21 June 2010 13:11 UK

NEW CLASHES NEAR SOUTHERN KYRGYZ CITY OF OSH

At least one person has been killed in Kyrgyzstan as security forces clashed with ethnic Uzbeks near the troubled southern city of Osh, officials say.

A man was shot dead in Nariman as the authorities attempted to flush out "militants" behind the recent violence between Kyrgyz and Uzbek people.

Human rights activists said the troops had killed two people and injured 20.

Kyrgyzstan's interim leader has said as many as 2,000 people may have died in the fighting earlier this month.

Officials say at least 208 people were killed in fighting between Kyrgyz people and ethnic Uzbeks around Osh and Jalalabad.

But Roza Otunbayeva told a Russian newspaper on Friday that the real toll could be "10 times the official figures".

About 400,000 people have fled their homes since the violence erupted on 10 June, with many ethnic Uzbeks crossing into Uzbekistan.

Different accounts

Human rights workers say the latest incident occurred when government forces went on patrol in the Uzbek neighbourhood of Nariman.

"The military have been going around doing checks... and looking for weapons. A lot of people have been beaten up," Human Rights Watch researcher Ole Solvangwas was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Other activists allege the attack was in retaliation for the recent killing of a local police chief.

However, the Kyrgyz interim government said its soldiers had come under attack and a man was killed in an exchange of gunfire.

"The acts of the officer were justified," it said in a statement, adding that claims 20 people were injured did not "correspond to reality".

The unrest comes two months after the country's former president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was forced out of office.

Ms Otunbayeva's government has blamed the former leader for stoking the conflict ahead of a referendum on Sunday on constitutional reform that would give greater power to the prime minister.

Mr Bakiyev, who is in exile in Belarus, has rejected the allegations.

Ms Otunbayeva said on Monday that the referendum must go ahead as planned to "create a legal framework".

"If we allow any delays, this will threaten us with further instability," she said.

OTHER NEWS SITES

Yahoo! UK and Ireland :: Kyrgyzstan hunts for 'militants' behind ethnic clashes

Financial Times : Two killed in fresh Kyrgyzstan violence

Reuters UK : Trouble flares in Kyrgyzstan as vote nears

France24: Kyrgyzstan hunts for 'militants' behind clashes

TheStar.com.my : Kyrgyz leader backs referendum, trouble flares

nancyk58 · June 22, 2010

News in relation to HAITI on 22 June 2010

NEWS ON 22 JUNE 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

German ARDtext: REBUILDING IN HAITI ALMOST STOPPED !

Since the powerful earthquake 5 months ago, HAITI has hardly made any progress in relation to rebuilding the country - according to a US-Senate report.

The reasons are

- a weak Haitian government

- differences of opinion among donor countries and other donors

- a general bad organization!

Millions of people have not been able to return to their homes.

Ruins and destroyed buildings are everywhere.

The reconstruction was also delayed by

conflicts in relation to land - and

difficulties with the customs authorities.

nancyk58 · June 23, 2010

News in relation to KYRGYZSTAN on 23 June 2010

Danish TV2 TTV: EU: POLICE FORCE TO KYRGYZSTAN

The OSCR, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, negotiates in Kyrgyzstan on deploying an international police force in southern Kyrgyzstan. A number of EU's ministers of foreign affairs are involved in the negotiations, says Kimmo Kiljunen who is the special representative for Central Asia for OSCE's parliamentary assembly. "OSCE chairs the negotiations on that issue. I know that EU's ministers of foreign affairs already are discussing the possibility of police crisis management in Kyrgyzstan, he says.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10394312.stm

Page last updated at 16:04 GMT, Wednesday, 23 June 2010 17:04 UK

ETHNIC UZBEKS IN KYRGYZSTAN FREED AFTER ABDUCTION

A group of ethnic Uzbek officials were briefly kidnapped in Kyrgyzstan before being released.

The six officials, all women, were seized by a crowd at a polling station in the southern city of Osh, the Central Election Commission said.

However, news agencies say the situation has now been resolved and the women have been freed.

Ethnic violence between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz people broke out on 10 June.

The kidnapped women were due to act as officials during a referendum on Sunday. Kyrgyzstan will vote on a package of constitutional reforms which would give greater powers to the prime minister.

As many as 2,000 people may have died in the fighting earlier this month, Kyrgyzstan's interim president has said.

About 400,000 people have fled their homes since the violence began, with many ethnic Uzbeks crossing into Uzbekistan.

Bakiyev blamed

The unrest comes two months after the country's former president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was forced out of office.

The interim government has blamed Mr Bakiyev for stoking the conflict ahead of the referendum on Sunday.

Mr Bakiyev, who is in exile in Belarus, has rejected the allegations.

Ethnic Uzbeks have mainly supported the interim government.

The European security body, the OSCE, has called for an international police force to be deployed in southern Kyrgyzstan.

The OSCE's special representative for Central Asia, Kimmo Kiljunen, said it could create an "atmosphere of trust" in the region.

Police in Osh have raided Uzbek neighbourhoods in what they say is an effort to restore order. Uzbeks have accused the police of brutality and looting.

OTHER NEWS SITES

France24 : KYRGYZSTAN: Thousands return home amid calls for international security force

Miami Herald : Kyrgyz authorities try to get Uzbeks to vote

Reuters UK : OSCE calls for int'l police force in Kyrgyz south

Financial Times : Kyrgyzstan denies driving out ethnic Uzbeks

CBC : Kyrgyz cities face unrest ahead of vote

nancyk58 · June 25, 2010

News in relation to Kyrgyzstan on 24 June 2010

News on 24 June 2010

Danish DR1: REFUGEES RETURN TO KYRGYZSTAN

According to Kyrgyzstan's border police, the 70,000 people who fled to Uzbekistan after violent clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan, will soon have returned. Yesterday, 26,000 refugees returned. 2,000 were killed during the ethnic clashes between the Kyrgyz majority and ethnic Uzbeks which made the many thousand ethnic Uzbeks flee to Uzbekistan.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10410397.stm

Page last updated at 00:10 GMT, Friday, 25 June 2010 01:10 UK

THOUSANDS OF UZBEK REFUGEES RETURN TO TENSE KYRGYZSTAN

Refugees from the clashes two weeks ago in the south of Kyrgyzstan have been returning in large numbers across the border from Uzbekistan.

The UN refugee agency told the BBC that figures provided by Tashkent showed that some 70,000 people, mainly ethnic Uzbeks, had gone back so far.

But thousands of refugees are believed to remain in Uzbekistan.

At least 200 people are known to have died in the clashes though the final number is feared to be much larger.

Very frightened

A spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Uzbekistan said that many camps were now empty and dozens of buses were transporting people to the Kyrgyz border.

A Kyrgyz army officer at a border crossing point near the city of Osh - the epicentre of the clashes - said that refugees started coming back this week and that 5,000 people had come across on Wednesday alone, the BBC's Richard Galpin in Osh reports.

One group of women told our correspondent that they were returning with mixed emotions: very frightened and yet desperate to be reunited with husbands and sons who had stayed in the city to protect homes.

Our correspondent adds that there are still sporadic attacks on the Uzbek community, and security remains a big problem.

Up to 100,000 people fled into Uzbekistan after violence between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz broke out on 10 June.

As many as 2,000 people may have died in the fighting, Kyrgyz interim leader Roza Otunbayeva said. Ethnic Uzbeks - the minority community in Kyrgyzstan - bore the brunt of the violence.

The unrest came two months after the country's former President, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was forced out of office.

The interim government has blamed Mr Bakiyev - who now lives in exile in Belarus - for stoking the conflict ahead of a referendum on Sunday. He rejects the allegations.

The European security body, the OSCE, has called for an international police force to be deployed in southern Kyrgyzstan.

OTHER NEWS SITES

The Independent : Kyrgyz leaders urged to halt 'illegitimate' referendum

Reuters UK : After bloodshed, Kyrgyzstan to vote on future

The Economist : Sad homecoming

AFP via Yahoo! : Refugees return to uncertain future in Kyrgyzstan

Financial Times : Fresh accusations of human rights abuses in Osh

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10401917.stm

Page last updated at 11:22 GMT, Thursday, 24 June 2010 12:22 UK

US PLEDGES MILLIONS IN AID FOR KYRGYZSTAN REFUGEES

By Tom Esslemont / BBC News, Bishkek

The US government has pledged $48m (£32m) in aid to help ease the humanitarian crisis in Kyrgyzstan.

The US state department said the money would be spent on serving the needs of some 400,000 people displaced by the recent ethnic violence in the south.

Kyrgyzstan's interim authorities say as many as 2,000 people died in clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks.

It is two weeks since violence began in the southern city of Osh. A state of emergency remains in force.

Volatile situation

The authorities say that of the estimated 100,000 who fled across the border into neighbouring Uzbekistan nearly all have returned to their homes.

Many others have not, wary that more violence could be on the way.

The authorities are under pressure to keep security tight in the build up to a referendum on constitutional reform planned for Sunday.

Clearly not everything is going according to plan: the central election committee said six of its Uzbek workers were kidnapped briefly on Wednesday before being released unharmed.

In all this, it is important to remember the volatile political situation this country finds itself in only three months since President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was overthrown after days of protests.

The interim authorities - put to the test by the destabilising events of the last fortnight - now need to prove their worth by holding a peaceful referendum.

The West has tentatively backed the vote.

nancyk58 · June 25, 2010

News from UNICEF's website

News from UNICEF's website

http://www.unicef.org/emerg/index_52686.html

UNICEF Humanitarian Action Report 2010 emphasizes power of partnerships

By Chris Niles and Tania McBride

NEW YORK, USA, 4 February 2010 – As much of the international community continues to focus attention on the disaster in Haiti, UNICEF's flagship Humanitarian Action Report emphasizes the critical role of partnerships in assisting vulnerable children and families caught in crisis situations worldwide.

The Humanitarian Action Report, launched today by Deputy Executive Director Hilde F. Johnson at a press conference in Geneva, is UNICEF's only publication dealing specifically with the needs of children and women in emergencies. It spotlights crises that require exceptional support, and additional funding, to save lives and protect children from harm in an increasingly challenging humanitarian environment.

This year's report – subtitled 'Partnering for children in emergencies' – says the world is seeing crises exacerbated by larger trends, such as climate change and the international financial downturn, that are beyond the capacity of any one agency to address.

'Unprecedented' challenges

"The tragic events in Haiti are still very present in our thoughts, with some 3 million people affected by the earthquake," said Ms. Johnson. "As we launch UNICEF's Humanitarian Action Report 2010, we know that millions of children are suffering also elsewhere. They suffer from disasters, conflicts and displacement around the world."

Reiterating the importance of partnerships, Ms. Johnson spoke of the collaboration needed at every level to address the urgent needs of children and women in Haiti – and in all of the 28 countries and territories featured in the report.

"The number of children affected by humanitarian disasters and crises, by hunger and malnutrition, is increasing significantly," she said. "Children are put at grave risk. It's unprecedented."

At the same time, armed conflict continues to blight the lives of millions of children. "In countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, DR Congo and Sudan, emergencies are becoming more and more complex," Ms. Johnson noted. "Children are subject to abuse and grave violations of their rights. This includes sexual violence, killing and maiming, and forced recruitment into armed groups."

Ensuring children's rights

The new Humanitarian Action Report emphasizes the need to ensure that all children's rights are secured in a world that has just celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

To that end, the report appeals for nearly $1.2 billion in international donor funding for emergency-response efforts in countries covering six regions – from Eastern Europe to Africa to Asia to Latin America. The funding will be used to support a greater emphasis on emergency preparedness, early warning, disaster risk reduction and rapid recovery.

The report points out that UNICEF – working with communities, governments and civil society organizations – is developing new approaches to help vulnerable nations prepare for threats and respond to emergencies quickly and effectively."The crises that we now face are unparalleled," said Ms. Johnson. "It's only by working with and through partners that we can deliver on our mission: to protect children in crises, respond to their needs and help fulfil their rights."

World Cup TV spot calls for kicking out poverty

To kick off the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Didier Drogba and Zinedine Zidane, Goodwill Ambassadors for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), make an urgent appeal against poverty in a TV spot produced by UNDP. “The World Cup brings people around the globe together to support their national teams; we need the same kind of passion to end poverty and hunger,” says Zidane, former French national team captain. “There can be no spectators in the fight against poverty. We all need to be on the pitch to improve the lives of millions of poor people in this world,” Chelsea striker and Cote d’Ivoire national team captain Drogba ads.

Summit on the Millennium Development Goals

20-22 September 2010

With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on world leaders to attend a summit in New York on 20-22 September 2010 to accelerate progress towards the MDGs.

Eminent personalities to help mobilize global action on the MDGs

To galvanize support for the Millennium Development Goals, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has established an MDG Advocacy Group of eminent personalities who have shown outstanding leadership in promoting the implementation of the Goals. The Group will support the Secretary-General in building political will and mobilizing global action to make the MDG Summit a turning point in the collective effort to achieve the Goals by the 2015 target date.

Millennium Development Goals Report 2010

It is clear that improvements in the lives of the poor have been unacceptably slow, and some hard-won gains are being eroded by the climate, food and economic crises," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in the foreword to the Millennium Development Goals Report 2010, issued on 23 June. But the report also cites big gains in cutting the rate of extreme poverty, getting children into primary schools, addressing AIDS, malaria and child health, and a good chance to reach the target for access to clean drinking water.

German ZDFtext: UNICEF REPORT 2010: THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN THREATENED

Children in developing and emerging (newly industrialized) countries are the real victims of the global economic crisis according to UNICEF (United Nations' organization with the primary aid of improving conditions for children). The crisis has aggravated childrens' poverty, hunger and illnesses, according to the UNICEF REPORT 2010. This year the number of people living in extreme poverty will rise by 64 million, the half of which could be children according to estimates. According to the report, the lives of thousands of children are in danger if nothing is done about it.

One day before the beginning of the G8 and G20 summit in Canada, UNICEF recommended the heads of state and government to work in favour of the poorest children's well-being and development.

German ZDFtext: UN FIGHTING FOR THE POOREST / THE WORLD BANK RAISES THE ALARM

Currently 1,2 billion people live on less than one dollar per day according to experts' estimates. More than 1

billion people have no access to clean drinking water; more than 2 billion have no access to sanitary installations.

Both the World Bank and the United Nations call for more aid to the poorest. The slow recovery of the global economy and the slow recovery in the rich countries threaten the successes obtained in the world-wide fight against poverty, the World Bank warned. Also UN is worried: According to the UN, the poverty in the world falls, but slower than a few years ago.

---------------------------------

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/kyrgyzstan_54025.html

UN AND UNICEF TAKE HUMANITARIAN ACTION IN RESPONSE TO KYRGYZSTAN CRISIS

FLASH APPEAL SEEKS EMERGENCY FUNDING

By Tim Ledwith

NEW YORK, USA, 18 June 2010 – As the crisis in Kyrgyzstan enters its second week, there are reports that violence against ethnic Uzbeks in the southern part of the country is gradually declining. However, the situation remains volatile and could still deteriorate.

As of today, 192 people are officially confirmed dead and about 2,000 have been wounded in southern Kyrgyzstan, including many in and around the cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad. But the country’s interim president has been quoted in the media stating that the actual number of casualties could be 10 times higher.

Meanwhile, an estimated 300,000 people have been displaced in Kyrgyzstan.

More than 90,000 others have taken refuge at camps across the border in neighbouring Uzbekistan.

In response to the crisis, the United Nations has initiated a humanitarian action plan that is evolving as conditions on the ground allow. A UN flash appeal issued today seeks $71 million in funding from international donors to address the needs of more than a million people affected by the ethnic violence that broke out in Kyrgyzstan on 10 June. UNICEF's portion of the appeal amounts to nearly $9.8 million.

Needs of displaced families

Because of continued sporadic fighting, the specific needs of the displaced population in Kyrgyzstan have been hard to assess so far – though there is a broad consensus that their situation is grave.

It’s very difficult to have accurate information,” said UNICEF Representative in the Kyrgyz Republic Jonathan Veitch, referring to the conditions faced by children and women in the south.

While most of those displaced inside Kyrgyzstan are thought to be staying with host families, Mr. Veitch added, tens of thousands may need shelter, safe water or other support. “We are receiving reports of diarrhoea cases resulting from limited access to clean water, and we are particularly concerned about it,” he said.

Another key concern is the status of children who have been separated from their families and need to be reunited with parents or other caregivers.

“It will be very important to start family tracing,” said Mr. Veitch, “linking up children who been reported alone in Osh and other places with their parents, who may have come across the border or could be internally displaced persons in Kyrgyzstan.”

Emergency supplies

To aid the displaced, UNICEF is dispatching 40 metric tonnes of emergency health, water, sanitation and hygiene supplies from its global supply hub in Copenhagen. The supplies are scheduled to reach Kyrgyzstan by air tomorrow for overland distribution to affected areas. An additional shipment of 40 metric tonnes will follow early next week.

In Uzbekistan, UNICEF has already delivered several truckloads of emergency supplies to refugee camps and is now procuring $1.5 million in additional aid for refugee children and families there.

Although the level violence inside Kyrgyzstan has gone down, tensions remain high. Pending security arrangements, UNICEF plans to open an office in Osh soon, and additional staff are expected to arrive shortly to provide urgently needed surge capacity. The agency’s crisis-response plan will be revised and updated as the security situation permits a better assessment of the needs of women and children at risk.

nancyk58 · August 13, 2010

NEWS ON 11 August 2010 (but not posted here before 13 August 2010) from UNICEF

NEWS ON 11 August 2010 (but not posted here before 13 August 2010) from UNICEF

NEWS NOTE

UNICEF: 6 million children affected by the floods in Pakistan; some 2.7 million in need of immediate, life-saving assistance

GENEVA/ISLAMABAD, 11 August 2010 - As the figures continue to rise, UNICEF says that 6 million children have been affected by the floods in Pakistan with some 2.7 million children in need of urgent, life-saving assistance.

According to UN estimates, a total of 14 million people have been affected by the flood crisis. Hundreds of thousands have received humanitarian aid, but millions more urgently need shelter, food, water, and health care. The flooding could worsen considerably in the coming days, especially in parts of SINDH.

"This is the biggest natural disaster to hit Pakistan and this region in living memory, bigger than the Tsunami or the 2005 earthquake, with millions of children and women struggling to survive in dire conditions.

It is a race against time as we rush to deliver supplies to affected populations. The waters are still rising and we are bracing for flood waves as rivers overflow and the rains continue," said Martin Mogwanja, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan.

"SHELTER is the most urgent need, while FOOD, WATER, and HEALTH CARE are also critical.

Right now we need to save lives and create temporary living conditions for the 1.8 million homeless. It is a massive task and we are not there yet. Once we are, we can begin to think about the longer-term recovery of regions in Pakistan which have suffered widespread devastation," added Mr.

Mogwanja.

UNICEF is particularly concerned with the risk of water-borne diseases and working with the Government to ensure that basic water, sanitation and hygiene services are repaired to prevent major health outbreaks. UNICEF is also delivering assistance in the areas of nutrition, education and child protection.

About UNICEF

UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: http://www.unicef.org

For further information, please contact:

Patrick McCormick, UNICEF Media, New York,

Tel + 1 212 326-7426,

[email protected]

DONATE VIA UNICEF:

http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=9fLEJSOALpE&b=6161181

Pakistan flood crisis: Six million children are in need of emergency assistance. Donate now!

What your money can do:

$25 can provide immunization to protect a child for life against the six leading child diseases: measles, polio, diptheria, whooping cough, tetanus and tuberculosis.

$100 can provide a basic family water kit for ten households, with detergent, soap, wash basin, towels, bucket and water purification tablets.

$250 can provide one "School-in-a-Box" kit containing basic education supplies for 80 children during times of crisis.

http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=9fLEJSOALpE&b=6161181

http://www.redcross.org/

http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.1a019a978f421296e81ec89e43181aa0/?vgnextoid=3c40e8617475a210VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD

No End In Sight to Catastrophic Floods in Pakistan

By Patrick Fuller with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Monday, August 09, 2010 — Islamabad, Pakistan — As heavy rains continue and floodwaters wreak havoc across Pakistan, engulfing entire villages and huge swathes of farmland, the American Red Cross is sending $150,000 worth of tarps, blankets and kitchen items to help 5,000 families, in addition to the $100,000 in immediate financial support provided last week.

“As the flood waters move further south, we are concerned that dams and embankments may breach, causing the situation to worsen,” says David Meltzer, senior vice president of International Services at the American Red Cross. “We hope to get these supplies to families in Pakistan as quickly as possible and will continue to provide assistance to our partners on the ground.”

The government now estimates that more than 12 million people have been affected by the flooding that stretches for more than 600 miles along the Indus River.

In Nowshera town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Jamroz Khan and his two sons are trying to salvage whatever possessions they can from two feet of stinking mud that the receding floods left behind in their home. Jamroz was lucky to escape with his life.

“I fled when the water was waist high, but it rose so fast, even the police boats that were evacuating people could not move against the current,” he says. His son Ali was not so lucky. He became trapped in the house as the waters rose 15 feet up the walls. He was marooned on the roof for two days until a passing boat came to his rescue.

Jamroz’s story is typical of some 450,000 families in Nowshera, one of the worst affected districts in the country. The force of the floods has left his home uninhabitable. Walls have crumbled, furniture lies mangled and smashed and the household grain supply is totally ruined. “This was our food stock for the entire year. The crops in my field, all my money – the floods took it all.”

At a nearby food distribution carried out by the Pakistan Red Crescent Society, Jamroz doesn’t seem to be bothered as he’s jostled by a crowd when he tries to secure his one-month ration of wheat flour, cooking oil, lentils and salt. The distribution is tightly controlled. People are called in one by one through a small door which opens into a large compound where they pick up their supplies and leave by another door.

“People are desperate here. This is the first relief they have received in a week and we have to careful in case things get out of control and the supplies are looted,” explains Syed Ali Hassan, provincial secretary of the Pakistan Red Crescent Society branch in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The challenges for the Red Crescent are immense and they haven’t escaped the disaster unscathed. Most of the relief items stored in their main provincial warehouse in Nowshera have suffered flood damage. Thousands of sodden tents, blankets, kitchen sets and other materials now sit marooned in four feet of water.

Editorial contributions provided by Eric Porterfield, senior press officer for the American Red Cross.

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies nearly half of the nation's blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit http://www.redcross.org or join our blog at http://blog.redcross.org.

Red Crescent health workers are treating 100-200 patients every day in the Nowshera district

The American Red Cross is sending $150,000 worth of tarps, blankets and kitchen items to help 5,000 families affected by the flooding.

Please help PAKISTAN - DONATE via AMERICAN RED CROSS using:

http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.1a019a978f421296e81ec89e43181aa0/?vgnextoid=3c40e8617475a210VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD

nancyk58 · September 17, 2010

News in relation to natural disasters on 17 September 2010

German ARDtext and Swedish SVT: THE MORTALITY RATE OF CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 5 HAS FALLEN BY A THIRD

According to UNICEF, the mortality rate of children under the age of 5 has fallen by a third during the last 2 decades - from 12.4 to 8.1 million (2009).

In 2000 the governments had agreed to reduce the mortality rate of children by two thirds by 2015 compared to 1990.

8 million small children died each year.

In Africa south of SAHARA aka. Sub-Saharan Africa 1 out of 8 children dies.

The goals failed in particular in southern Africa and South Asia.

In India, Nigeria, Pakistan, China and DR Congo, small children's chances of surviving remain very bad according to UNICEF.

--------------------

DONATE VIA UNICEF:

http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp...ALpE&b=6161181

Pakistan flood crisis: Eight million children are in need of emergency assistance. Donate now!

What your money can do:

$25 can provide immunization to protect a child for life against the six leading child diseases: measles, polio, diptheria, whooping cough, tetanus and tuberculosis.

$100 can provide a basic family water kit for ten households, with detergent, soap, wash basin, towels, bucket and water purification tablets.

$250 can provide one "School-in-a-Box" kit containing basic education supplies for 80 children during times of crisis.

http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp...ALpE&b=6161181

http://www.redcross.org/

http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/...0089f0870aRCRD

nancyk58 · October 1, 2010

Latest news in relation to NIGER in Africa Sept. 2010

Latest news in relation to NIGER in Africa at the end of September

On 21 June 2010 I posted an article in this thread about FLOODS in NIGER.

Now I have skimmed a recent newspaper article about the situation in Niger:

The UN aids agencies / relief organizations do not have the means to feed needy populations.

In NIGER, UN has been forced to make this tough decision: Food can only be distributed to children under the age of 2 and their families!!

17% of the children under the age of 5 in Niger suffer from acute malnutrition. UN's limit for nutrition / nourishment crisis is 15%.

In some regions in Niger the number is higher. In DIFFA in the eastern part of Niger, 22% of the children under 5 are hit by acute malnutrition.

On Monday I expect to post more about the situation in NIGER including translations of some of the article later.

On SUNDAY I will participate in DANISH RED CROSS' annual collection. This year most of the money collected will go to Africa including NIGER, and some of it goes to flood-struck PAKISTAN.

nancyk58 · October 1, 2010

News on 1 October 2010 in relation to natural disasters

NEWS ON 1 OCTOBER 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11448690 / 30 September 2010 Last updated at 19:17 GMT

DEATH TOLL RISES FROM TROPICAL STORM NICOLE IN JAMAICA - 5 DEAD

The DEATH TOLL from Tropical Storm NICOLE in Jamaica has risen to FIVE following FLASH FLOODS and MUDSLIDES triggered by the storm, officials say.

At least SEVEN others are MISSING, swept away by floodwaters, Jamaica's disaster management office said.

The latest victims include two men who died when a house in Kingston collapsed in a slide triggered by heavy rain on saturated ground.

Nicole broke apart over the Atlantic late on Wednesday afternoon.

WASHED AWAY

But intermittent rains increased the RISK of additional landslides across the island.

Emergency workers were trying to locate at least seven missing people, most of whom were believed to have been washed away in slides that roared through Kingston shanty towns.

Schools and universities stayed closed for a second day, while about 30% of those served by Jamaica's utility company were without power, officials said.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who surveyed the damage by helicopter on Wednesday, said the recovery would "cost a significant amount of money".

NICOLE is the latest storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. The storm's remnants have now begun moving up the east coast of America.

The US National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, said there was a fair chance the weather system could develop into a tropical depression in the next couple of days, raising the possibility of coastal flooding.

---------------------------

Latest news in relation to NIGER in Africa at the end of September

On 21 June 2010 I posted an article about FLOODS in NIGER.

Now I have skimmed a recent newspaper article about the situation in Niger:

The UN aids agencies / relief organizations do not have the means to feed needy populations.

In NIGER, UN has been forced to make this tough decision: Food can only be distributed to children under the age of 2 and their families!!

17% of the children under the age of 5 in Niger suffer from acute malnutrition. UN's limit for nutrition / nourishment crisis is 15%.

In some regions in Niger the number is higher. In DIFFA in the eastern part of Niger, 22% of the children under 5 are hit by acute malnutrition.

On Monday I expect to post more about the situation in NIGER including translations of some of the article.

On SUNDAY I will participate in DANISH RED CROSS' annual collection. This year most of the money collected will go to Africa including NIGER, and some of it goes to flood-struck PAKISTAN.

nancyk58 · October 1, 2010

News on 1 October 2010 in relation to natural disasters

NEWS ON 1 + 2 + 3 OCTOBER 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11448690 / 30 September 2010 Last updated at 19:17 GMT

DEATH TOLL RISES FROM TROPICAL STORM NICOLE IN JAMAICA - 5 DEAD

The DEATH TOLL from Tropical Storm NICOLE in Jamaica has risen to FIVE following FLASH FLOODS and MUDSLIDES triggered by the storm, officials say.

At least SEVEN others are MISSING, swept away by floodwaters, Jamaica's disaster management office said.

The latest victims include two men who died when a house in Kingston collapsed in a slide triggered by heavy rain on saturated ground.

Nicole broke apart over the Atlantic late on Wednesday afternoon.

WASHED AWAY

But intermittent rains increased the RISK of additional landslides across the island.

Emergency workers were trying to locate at least seven missing people, most of whom were believed to have been washed away in slides that roared through Kingston shanty towns.

Schools and universities stayed closed for a second day, while about 30% of those served by Jamaica's utility company were without power, officials said.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who surveyed the damage by helicopter on Wednesday, said the recovery would "cost a significant amount of money".

NICOLE is the latest storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. The storm's remnants have now begun moving up the east coast of America.

The US National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, said there was a fair chance the weather system could develop into a tropical depression in the next couple of days, raising the possibility of coastal flooding.

---------------------

Latest news in relation to NIGER in Africa at the end of September

On 21 June 2010 I posted an article about FLOODS in NIGER.

Now I have skimmed a recent newspaper article about the situation in Niger:

The UN aids agencies / relief organizations do not have the means to feed needy populations.

In NIGER, UN has been forced to make this tough decision: Food can only be distributed to children under the age of 2 and their families!!

17% of the children under the age of 5 in Niger suffer from acute malnutrition. UN's limit for nutrition/nourishment crisis is 15%.

In some regions in Niger the number is higher. In DIFFA in the eastern part of Niger, 22% of the children under 5 are hit by acute malnutrition.

On Monday I expect to post more about the situation in NIGER including translations of some of the article later.

On SUNDAY I will participate in DANISH RED CROSS' annual collection. This year most of the money collected will go to Africa including NIGER, and some of it goes to flood-struck PAKISTAN.

SORRY ABOUT THE DOUBLE POST, BUT I POSTED - THEN WENT TO THE OVERVIEW THREAD, BUT THIS THREAD DID NOT APPEAR THERE!

nancyk58 · October 2, 2010

Latest news in relation to NIGER - newspaper article dated 26.9.10

NIGER article from Jyllands-Posten on 26.9.10

by Jonathan Bjerg Moeller - Jyllands-Posten's special correspondent / translated by Nancy Boysen

SAYAM, Niger

Death surrounds the little tent camp with nomads. Dead bodies of calves, sheep and goats are lying on the ground, rotting wherever you look. Despite of that, the families stay here, because the grass has started to grow. Here, their very lean animals might have a chance of survival. After a long period of DROUGHT , the RAINY SEASON has finally started, and the landscape has started to turn green in NIGER. But even though it rains, and even though the grass grows, the nomads' possibility of surviving is still threatened, because the many animals that are still alive are so weakened that many of them will hardly survive the coming weeks.

WEST AFRICA is facing a MASSIVE FOOD CRISIS. Last year's bad rainy season resulted in a failed harvest, high food prices and withered grazing grounds/pastures in the Sahel belt stretching along the southern part of the SAHARA desert. And it has left 10 MILLION people in need of food. The nomads in NIGER are particularly hard hit. But this disaster has not been mentioned much in the media even though relief agencies and UN have rung the alarm bells for a year. The media have focussed on the HAITI EARTHQUAKE and the PAKISTAN FLOODS. ate

A LIFE ON THE BRINK OF DISASTER

Baruma Lawalido, who lives in the little tent camp, lost 20 animals in the latest rainstorm. Many of his animals are so weak that they die just like that. "We try to keep the animals alive, but it is not easy". Several of his cows can hardly stand on their feet. Therefore, several times each day Baruma and the other family members must lift the heavy animals and force them to move. Sometimes it works, other times the animals collapse after few steps.

In NIGER the population lives on the brink of a threatening famine all the time, and each year a large part of the population is hit by a period of hunger / famine when they run out of the yield of last harvest and you must wait for the next harvest. But this year the situation is extraordinarily difficult and bad.

NIGER is among the poorest and most underdeveloped countries in the world and is last on UN's Human Development Index.

Niger consists mainly of a desert where the population lives at the mercy of nature. When the rain falls right, people can cultivate land and let their cattle graze in the tough desert environment. But sometimes the rain comes too late or is too heavy, and then it is very difficult for animals and the people.

AT FIRST THE NOMADS LOSE THEIR ANIMALS, THEN THEY LOSE THEIR MINDS

In the DIFFA region in the eastern part of Niger, the rain has failed for two years. Only nomads live here, and they have lost most of their animals. Some have lost everything. Without animals a nomad has got nothing. Relief workers are meeting people in the desolate desert areas who have initially lost their animals and then lost their minds.

"In the dried-up / arid grazing grounds, it occurs that some cattle breeders and herdsmen have become insane," says Amadaou Sayou who is West Africa Coordinator for the international development organisation CARE.

"For a nomad, the herd means everything. If he loses his animals, he loses his entire livelihood (=possibility of surviving). The peasants in South Niger have their land. With a good rainy season they can return relatively quickly. But if a nomad has lost all his animals, he has lost his identity, his cultural heritage and his possibility of supporting his family".

The food prices in Niger have been high since the global increases in the food price in 2008. They have hit many inhabitants of Niger very hard, but the nomads are those worst hit. With last year's poor harvest, the prices on food and animal feed have sky-rocketed, whereas the market prices for live animals are extremely low. The sale of one or two goats used to support a family of nomads for one month. Today it may cost up to 10 goats.

LIVING / SURVIVING ON BORROWED TIME

"Normally, people sell the small animal such as sheep and goats first," says American Peter Wright who works for Care Danmark in Niger.

"But all their animals are in bad shape. The animals cannot yield a good price on the market. Now, people have started selling their possessions such as pots and pans, and I have also heard of people who are selling their blankets in order to be able to buy food."

By selling some of their possessions, the nomads in Niger are surviving on borrowed time.

"It is a temporary and very bad solution," says Gianlucca Ferrera from UN's World Food Programme (WFP).

"They will be even poorer when the crisis is over. We are beginning to see that the progress we have made the latest years is about to be lost. When people sell some of their animals and possessions, it will leave the in an even extremer poverty."

Latest news in relation to NIGER in Africa at the end of September:

The UN aids agencies / relief organizations do not have the means to feed needy populations.

In NIGER, UN has been forced to make this tough decision: Food can only be distributed to children under the age of 2 and their families!!

17% of the children under the age of 5 in Niger suffer from acute malnutrition. UN's limit for nutrition / nourishment crisis is 15%.

In some regions in Niger the number is higher. In DIFFA in the eastern part of Niger, 22% of the children under 5 are hit by acute malnutrition.

TOMORROW, SUNDAY 3.10.10 I WILL PARTICIPATE IN DANISH RED CROSS's ANNUAL COLLECTION. TWO THIRDS OF THE MONEY COLLECTED GO TO AFRICA INCLUDING NIGER AND ONE THIRD GOES TO PAKISTAN.

chuck kottke · October 3, 2010

*bump*

;)

nancyk58 · October 3, 2010

NEWS IN RELATION TO DANISH RED CROSS' COLLECTION 3.10.10

I had a wonderful Sunday collecting money for Danish Red Cross.

The number of people collecting money for Danish Red Cross was considerably higher than at the latest collections, so it was very encouraging indeed.

And people were ready to give a considerable contribution / donation. There were many bank notes (bills in the USA) this time.

The result: DKK 18.6 million compared to DKK 15.5 million last time.

nancyk58 · November 16, 2010

CAN YOU SPARE A BAR OF SOAP FOR HAITI ?

http://www.care2.com/causes/health-policy/blog/can-you-spare-a-bar-of-soap-for-haiti/

CAN YOU SPARE A BAR OF SOAP FOR HAITI ?

posted by: Ann Pietrangelo

When can a 50 cent bar of soap save a life? During a cholera outbreak in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

From The Washington Post:

Soap could slow the terrifying cholera outbreak that is quickly spreading and has just in the past week entered the ravaged capital, according to health care specialists and international aid groups.

But in the squalid slums of Port au Prince and the river towns where the cholera outbreak began three weeks ago, many Haitians held up their hands and shook their heads, saying they had no soap to stop an infection that is spread by contaminated food and water, and where a vigorous hand-washing, especially after using the toilet, is the number-one way to save lives.

Almost half a million water tablets, soap, and oral rehydration salts are being distributed by United Nations agencies and their partners.

Reuters reports that as of November 12, there have been more than 900 deaths and over 14,600 hospitalizations since the outbreak began several weeks ago. It is estimated that 200,000 could contract cholera as the outbreak spreads across the country.

From UNICEF:

UNICEF and partners are responding to a cholera outbreak in six of the country's 10 departments...

The disease can kill within hours and can spread rapidly through the overcrowded camps where more than one million people still are housed following the January earthquake. Even outside the camps, sanitation conditions in most of the country are substandard, allowing disease to spread quickly.

Nearly half of all children in Haiti still have no access to sanitation facilities and approximately one in five children lack access to a safe drinking water source.

UNICEF is on the ground supplying soap, aquatabs and rehydration salts to prevent and treat cholera and is supporting hygiene awareness campaigns to prevent the spread of the disease.

Clean the World, a not-for-profit whose mission is to collect and recycle soap and shampoo products discarded by the hospitality industry, distributes these donated products to impoverished people in an effort to prevent hygiene-related illnesses and death. The group has already distributed 100,000 bars of soap and is stepping up efforts to provide more during Haiti’s time of need.

Oxfam International is rushing aid in the form of oral rehydration salts, soap, buckets, and aquatabs to the site of a new outbreak in the northern city of Cap Haitien.

Other activities of the organization include:

* Reinforcement of WASH facilities at all sites (chlorination of water, hygiene promotion, reinforcement/additional installations of sanitation facilities, increased cleaning of sanitation facilities)

* Hygiene promotion including trainings, distributions on preparation of oral rehydration salts/homemade rehydration liquids (sugar and salt solutions)

* Increased vigilance and training of staff and community members for disease surveillance, cooperation with health partners in sites of intervention

* Support to Petite Goave hospital (latrines) for cholera treatment center (CTC)

* 17,775 hygiene kits distributed so far in 47 villages

* Training of 88 community leaders in Léogâne on cholera

* Installation of messages in the sites to promote the drinking of chlorinated water

* Personal hygiene activities in schools and in the neighborhood of the sites where we work.

Soap and proper sanitation are things many of us take for granted. For Haitians it's a matter of life and death.

Can you spare a bar of soap for Haiti?

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP:

· Help UNICEF fight the spread of cholera in Haiti

https://secure.unicefusa.org/site/Donation2?df_id=9001&9001.donation=form1&JServSessionIdr004=xeisf9zqo1.app227a

· Donate soap and shampoo to Clean the World

http://www.cleantheworld.org/donate-soap-and-shampoo.asp

· Donate to Oxfam

http://www.cleantheworld.org/donate-soap-and-shampoo.asp

RECENT HEADLINES:

· Cholera Spreading in Haiti: Death Toll Mounts

· Cholera Outbreak Continues to Devastate Haiti

COMMENTS:

Tony l: what we all need to do is to also send bars of soaps to the laboratories that released the cholera outbreak onto the haitian people because they burnt all the GMO stock waiting to be sent out to the innoscent farmers on the dockside,this total disaster of these people was orchestrated by the US government.

Jaine N: The poor Haitians! I know from personal experience that little things really can make a difference. I am putting a link on my site to this article http://www.tears2smiles.org.uk which is about the plight of displaced Haitian kids in the Dominican Republic.

nancyk58 · November 17, 2010

NEWS ON 17 NOVEMBER 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11772283

17 November 2010 Last updated at 11:44 GMT

UN APPEALS FOR CALM AFTER CHOLERA RIOTS IN HAITI

The UN has said attacks on relief workers battling the cholera outbreak in Haiti are seriously hampering the international response to the problem.

Aid flights had been cancelled, water purification and training projects curtailed, while food had been looted or burnt at a warehouse, it added.

UN troops have been blamed for bringing the disease into the country. So far, more than 1,000 people have died.

Earlier, the Dominican Republic said it had detected its first case of cholera.

Health Minister Bautista Rojas said the patient was a Haitian migrant who had returned from his homeland to the eastern Dominican Republic.

The Dominican authorities have stepped up border controls and health checks to try to stop the disease from spreading.

'Politically motivated'

On Tuesday, the UN mission in Haiti (Minustah) appealed for an end to violent demonstrations in the cities of Cap-Haitien and Hinche, which it said had seriously hampered its response to the outbreak.

On Monday, armed demonstrators also opened fire on peacekeepers at Quartier Morin in the Nord Department, a UN statement said.

At least two protesters were killed, including one hit by a bullet fired by a peacekeeper in Quartier Morin. Six UN personnel were injured in Hinche.

The protests continued on Tuesday in Cap-Haitien, with locals erecting barricades, throwing rocks at UN vehicles, and setting fire to a police station.

The UN said it was forced to cancel flights carrying soap, medical supplies and personnel to the north, where the outbreak is centred.

Demonstrators also looted and burnt a World Food Programme warehouse, destroying 500 tonnes of food aid, and other humanitarian organisations in the area had suspended projects, it added.

The violent demonstrations broke out after people started blaming UN peacekeepers from Nepal - where cholera is endemic - for introducing the disease, which officials said had killed 1,034 people and infected more than 16,700 others as of Sunday.

The UN said tests at the base used by the peacekeepers had all proved negative, and that the violence was instead intended to disrupt elections scheduled for 28 November.

"The way the events unfolded suggests that these incidents were politically motivated, aimed at creating a climate of insecurity on the eve of elections."

"Minustah calls the people to remain vigilant and not be manipulated by enemies of stability and democracy in the country."

The BBC's international development correspondent, Mark Doyle, says the UN force is unpopular because it is widely seen as the public face of the Haitian government.

Haiti's President, Rene Preval, also appealed for calm on Tuesday, saying the demonstrations were keeping people from getting treatment.

"Disorder and instability have never brought solutions to a country going through hard times," he said in a national address.

"You must be even more watchful of those who exploit the country's misfortunes for their own benefit."

"Gunshots, throwing bottles, barricades of burning tires will not help us eradicate cholera bacteria. On the contrary, it will prevent the sick from receiving care and to deliver medicine where it is needed."

The aid group, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has warned that its facilities are already overrun and that it will not have the capacity to treat the growing numbers of patients in the coming days.

Cholera is caused by bacteria transmitted through contaminated water or food. It causes diarrhoea and vomiting leading to severe dehydration, and can kill quickly if not treated through rehydration and antibiotics.

The Caribbean country is still reeling from January's earthquake, which killed an estimated 200,000 people and displaced about 1.3 million.

Mark Doyle BBC international development correspondent

________________________________________

The United Nations co-ordinates aid in Haiti, so the anti-UN demonstrations could be seen as Haitians biting the hand that feeds them.

But many Haitians say they are not getting any help from the UN. And quite apart from the controversy over how the cholera outbreak arrived in the country, the UN "stabilisation force" is unpopular because it is widely seen as the public face of the Haitian government. That government is perceived to have done little to help the population since January's devastating earthquake. On a wider level, the UN force is seen by many Haitians as a foreign occupation force, little different from previous operations by the US military.

Haiti has a long history of being either shunned or exploited by the outside world. For many ordinary Haitians the UN - even though it conducts humanitarian operations - is seen as representing that malevolent outside world.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/haiti-needs-soap.html

HAITI NEEDS SOAP!

posted by Melissa Breyer Nov 16, 2010 9:01 am

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/haiti-needs-soap.html#ixzz15Ylb9Xd6

The solution is as simple as a bar of soap. As the situation in Haiti goes from bleak to bleaker, the recent cholera outbreak is quickly spreading through the country–and the easiest fix is out of reach for many. The Haitian health ministry is reporting an estimated 917 deaths and 14,600 hospitalizations since the cholera outbreak was confirmed in late October–though that number only accounts for people who have made it to clinics, the actual number is expected to be much higher.

Amid the squalid slums, hillside shanties and tent towns for displaced persons, the most tragic plot line of this story may simply be that Haitians need soap, yet bars of ordinary hand soap are few and far between. Cholera is spread by contaminated food and water, and a hearty hand-washing after using the toilet is the number one way to avoid the infection.

A bar of soap in Haiti costs about 50 cents, but many Haitians cannot afford it.

More than half of the population lives on less than $1.25 a day. More pressing in the minds of many is filling an empty stomach.

Experts at the Pan American Health Organization forecast 200,000 Haitians will show signs of the disease, while it is possible a million will be infected, but remain asymptomatic carriers still capable of spreading the potentially deadly bacteria. Although there are plans for water trucks, chlorination, new wells and water distribution points–the situation needs more immediate attention and soap is a quick fix.

UNICEF brought 100,000 pieces of soap in 500 of the country’s orphanages. Along the Artibonite River valley, the group distributed 82,000 bars. They will be heading into 5,000 schools in coming weeks.

I love the work of the awesome group, Clean the World, which collects barely-used soap from hotels in North America then recycles and redirects them to where they can be put to good use. So far they have delivered 100,000 bars of soap to Haiti, and promise 200,000 more soaps by the end of the month.

If YOU have soap you would like to donate, YOU can ship it to the Clean the World Recycling Operations Center in Orlando:

Clean The World

8026 Sunport Drive, Ste 306

Orlando, FL. 32809

USA

And after you’ve sent some soap to Haiti, see how washing your hands can make a small difference in your own life: The Single Best Way to Prevent Illness

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/haiti-needs-soap.html#ixzz15Ylq0hDy

nancyk58 · November 18, 2010

NEWS ON 18 NOVEMBER 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

German ARDtext: FLOODING IN COLOMBIA KILLS AT LEAST 4

Unusually heavy rains have submerged parts of Colombia's capital, BOGOTA and COST AT LEAST 4 HUMAN LIVES. They died in a LANDSLIDE in the quarter Usaquen according to the newspaper "El Tiempo".

The day before it had rained so much in a few hours in Colombia's capital, BOGOTA which has millions of inhabitants, that it corresponded to one month's rain.

For months, COLOMBIA has suffered from the WORST AND HEAVIEST RAIN FOR 40 YEARS - a consequence of the weather phenomenon "La Nina2 which occurs every second year.

Swedish SVT: CLASHES IN HAITI CAUSED BY THE CHOLERA EPIDEMIC

The clashes in Haiti have spread to the capital, Port-au-Prince according to AFP. Hundreds of Haitians are throwing stones at UN peacekeepers.

A man has been shot dead in Cap Haitien when demonstrators were in a clash with UN peacekeepers.

11 missionaries were attacked when fleeing the city in a bus. "We are fine", said one of the members of the group to CNN.

The cholera epidemic has so far cost more than 1,100 human lives and more than 18,000 have been hospitalized..

nancyk58 · January 8, 2011

News on 7.1.11 in relation to HAITI - UNICEF reports

Please find in the two previous posts Part I and Part II of an interesting and long situation report on HAITI 4 months ago describing life in tent camps where women live in fear of being raped by gangs and describing the conditions for the Haitians in the rainy season etc.

News on 7 December 2011 in relation to HAITI

Swedish SVT: UNICEF: HAITI's CHILDREN ARE LIVING IN CHAOS

After reports of stagnant rebuilding & reconstruction in quake-hit HAITI and sexual assaults in the tent camps, UNICEF (UN's organization for children) reports that Haiti's children are in a very difficult situation.

One year after the disaster, 380,000 children remain homeless.

Only one quarter of the lone children has been reunited with a parent or a relative.

More than half of the children do not go to school.

1.2 million children are to a high degree exposed to diseases and threats of (sexual) violence.

nancyk58 · January 30, 2011

Six Month Anniversary of Pakistan Floods Sees “A Crisis of Epic Proportions”

Six Month Anniversary of Pakistan Floods Sees “A Crisis of Epic Proportions”

posted by: Suzi Parras (from care2causes)

Six months after the worst monsoon floods in 80 years wreaked havoc on Pakistan, killing more than 1,700 people and affecting up to 20 million others, “we are seeing a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions,” according to Kristen Elsby, UNICEF’s chief of communications in Pakistan.

The flooding started on July 28, 2010 in the mountainous north and quickly raged south over the next month, following the path of the Indus River. It submerged one-fifth of the country, left more than 7 million people homeless, and damaged 5.4 million acres of arable land. Some of that farmland is still under water, raising concerns about next summer’s harvest.

Oxfam, too, believes the crisis is far from over, and could get worse. As Neva Khan, head of Oxfam’s Pakistan office said during a press conference in Islamabad, “the aid community has done a tremendous amount, but given the immense scale of this disaster, we have only scratched the surface of human need.”

Today, in the flood-ravaged areas of the south, malnutrition rates rival those of sub-Saharan Africa. “I haven’t seen malnutrition this bad since the worst of the famine in Ethiopia, Darfur and Chad,” Karen Allen, deputy head of UNICEF in Pakistan said in a statement.

The United Nations says hundreds of thousands of Pakistani children -- particularly in the southeastern SINDH province, the area hardest hit -- are suffering from acute malnutrition, almost a quarter of the children in the region.

Shelter is a grave concern, 1.7 million homes were destroyed by the floodwaters, 900,000 of them in Sindh alone.

There’s been small progress. According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, about 166,00 people currently live in 240 camps and roadside settlements, down from 3.3 million in October.

The U.N. appealed for approximately $2 billion in aid last September but has only received 56% of it to date. According to the BBC, Pakistan's government is scheduled to halt most emergency relief efforts this month, but Oxfam is calling on the government to extend its deadline.

As the Guardian points out: “Before the floods the western aid effort in Pakistan focused on the north-west, where an earthquake struck in 2005 and military operations against the Taliban have displaced millions.

After the floods, aid workers admit to being caught offguard by the problem in Sindh. "It was a real wake-up call," said one.”

The U.N. claims almost 10 million people have received essential medical assistance, and about 7 million are receiving monthly food rations. In addition, an estimated 3.5 million people have access to safe drinking water.

But longer-term recovery will require continuing these services as well as reopening schools and reviving agriculture. “We are helping farmers in recovering their land by providing them with seeds, fertilizers and tools to accelerate the rehabilitation process. At the same time the humanitarian community will continue to provide food aid as long as it is needed,” Rauf Engin Soysal, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Assistance to Pakistan said in a statement. Humanitarian aid agencies are working in concert to alleviate the crisis.

The World Food Programme has been providing support to more than 5 million Pakistanis, according to WFP official Carl Paulsson. He says his organization has enough funding to continue through February, but would then experience shortages unless it received more support.

Save the Children has reached more than 2.6 million flood-affected people through emergency medical care, distribution of shelter materials, food, child protection, education, and livelihoods support.

“It’s going to be a long haul. Twenty million people is more than the population of about 180 countries in the world, more people affected than Haiti, the [2004 Asian] tsunami, and the [2005] Kashmir earthquake combined,” says Allison Zelkowitz, Deputy Team Leader for Programming for Save the Children’s Emergency Response Program in Pakistan. “It’s really a vast number of people in a very economically challenged country, so it’s going to take a couple of years to really recover to where they were before.”

Top 5 Shocking Facts About The Pakistan Floods

posted by: Beth Buczynski 153 days ago (i.e. from the beginning of September 2010)

Devastating floods have been ravaging Pakistan for over a month, but despite widespread suffering, the media coverage of this disaster has been casual at best.

Nearly 20 million Pakistanis have been displaced from their homes and put at risk for water born disease, yet the American media seems to have marginalized the issue, impeding the flow of supplies and donations needed to provide aid.

Some believe that "the West and Europe have adopted Islamaphobia, which obviously has clouded humanitarian concerns" (Huffington Post).

You don't have to be a political analyst to see that more social and political unrest isn't what this region needs. People are suffering, and as fellow humans and activists, it is our duty to do what we can.

Here are 5 things you may not have known about the Pakistan floods. Become informed, and then take action!

1. The United Nations has rated the floods in Pakistan as the greatest humanitarian crisis in recent history. Already, more people have been affected in Pakistan than the 2004 South-East Asian tsunami and the recent earthquakes in Kasmir and Haiti combined.

2. The Pakistan flood may be linked to the fires in Russia. Although the unfolding disasters seem far apart, they are actually being driven by the same meta weather system, according to a report from National Geographic. Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist at the Boulder, Colorado-based National Center for Atmospheric Research, told the organization, "That's because the monsoon – a seasonal wind system that brings rain and floods to Pakistan and much of the rest of Asia in summer – also drives the circulation of air as far away as Europe."

3. Only a fraction of the people needing aid have been contacted by emergency crews. In the 10 days following the initial flood waves, the government managed to distribute only 10,000 food packs, which contained a box of dried milk, and a few bottles of water and Pepsi. These packages were meant to "feed" 80,000 people, leaving 1,720,000 without any type of aid.

4. The Pakistan flood may be linked to global warming. In an unprecedented move, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has come forward to formally blamed the flooding in Pakistan on "global warming," angering some denialists (CNSNews.com). "Indeed, the Islamic world is paying a heavy price resulting from the negative repercussions of climate change," said OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu at an emergency meeting in Saudi Arabia.

5. The destruction is enormous, and preys on the weak. Reports indicate 62,000 square miles of land have been affected -- about one-fifth of the entire country. Of the 15 million people seriously affected, about 50 percent are children.

HELP RED CROSS AND UNICEF HELP VICTIMS OF NATURAL DISASTERS

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