Even as media expresses shock and agencies respond to the mounting death toll in the tribal villages reeling under diarrhea and cholera outbreak, ActionAid and its partners are reaching out to close to 60 affected villages in western Orissa.

The toll is rising. A local daily has put out a figure of 150 dead, whereas the government agencies peg it at

Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Programme

Sixty-first session

Geneva, 4-8 October 2010

30 September 2010

This update presents some examples of challenges, progress and developments in the region since the last strategic overview presented to the 47th meeting of the Standing Committee in March 2010. A more comprehensive report will be provided in the forthcoming Global Appeal 2011 Update.

A. Major challenges and new developments

Following the displacement of an estimated

Sixty-fifth General Assembly
Plenary
23rd & 24th Meetings (AM & PM)

Sixty-Fifth Session of General Debate Ends with Delegations Warning Against Yielding United Nations Vital Decision-Making Functions to Other Forums

The question of the United Nations being able to effectively tackle entrenched global ills - from poverty and terrorism to conflict prevention and pandemic disease - hinged on whether the 192-member body would be brave enough to move beyond deadlock and oft-repeated positions of principle to truly defend its role as the premier centre for global

The region has been hit by protests since June 11, when a 17-year old student was killed by a police teargas shell. Since then security forces have been accused of killing a total of 107 people, mostly teenagers and students.

The Kashmir government Sunday ordered education institutions to re-open, despite a continuing curfew and a two-day strike called by hardline separatist Syed Ali Geelani, who is spearheading

Sixty-fifth General Assembly
Plenary
21st & 22nd Meetings (AM & PM)

Conflict resolution and peacebuilding in places as diverse as the Middle East, Kashmir, Cyprus and the Balkans emerged as major themes as the General Assembly continued its annual general debate today, alongside calls for reforms to make the Security Council more representative of the United Nations membership, 65 years after the founding of the Organization.

Speaking in the context of renewed direct peace talks between the Israeli and Palestinian leadership, and the end

The highest tide since Cyclone Aila occurred on the morning of the 10th of September and resulted in a breach of approximately 30 meters of embankment in Katharbari Chak Village, in West Bengal, India.

As a result, saline water completely

By Kristen Chick, Correspondent / September 26, 2010

A hard-line separatist leader in Indian Kashmir on Sunday rejected an Indian government proposal aimed at ending the violent protests that have swept through the region since June.

More moderate Kashmiri leaders have not yet announced their stance on the Indian government's proposal to release jailed protesters, offer financial compensation to the families of those

Repeated clashes pitting protesters against police and other security forces have led to a significant rise in demand for urgent medical care, while simultaneously making the movement of emergency vehicles more difficult. Nevertheless, ambulance drivers like Irshad Ahmed