58 updates found
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01 Jan 1998

Papua New Guinea
Oxfam Emergencies Bulletin Jan 1998

Report
— Oxfam
The drought is the worst in 100 years, and is probably related to El Niño. Frost has killed off a lot of the staple sweet potato crop in the highlands, causing people to migrate down to areas which themselves do not have a high degree of food security. A government delegation asked Oxfam to look at water, as many people are having to drink water from dirty sources, which is leading to health problems. In Papua New Guinea water supply generally presents few problems and its people are therefore not well equipped to deal with a lack of potable water. The
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26 Dec 1997

Papua New Guinea
Aid body says Papua New Guines's drought remains at crisis point

Report
— Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Friday 26 December, 1997 (5:11pm AEDT)

An Australian aid organisation says the drought in Papua New Guinea remains at crisis point, with 15 children dying in recent days and almost 700-thousand people still in extreme danger.

CARE Australia says the situation is compounded by a slowdown in donations from Australia, reducing the ability of aid organisations to deliver emergency supplies to the worst-affected regions.

CARE's executive director Charles Tapp said it would be a sad irony if during the Christmas season people forgot the tremendous need in PNG.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation:

© ABC

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19 Dec 1997

Papua New Guinea
CARE responds to drought in Papua New Guinea

Report
— CARE
An Update
The Ongoing Situation

The situation in Papua New Guinea continues to worsen. Although some rainfall has been reported, it has been very limited and does not alleviate the long-term drought situation. The most severely affected areas for water supply are along the coast and the islands.

It is estimated that serious food shortages will continue for several more months, as even fast growing crops, if successful, will not be harvested for another 4-5 months. The worst period is likely to be January - April 1998, with possible improvement in May.

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18 Dec 1997

Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea Drought Situation Report No.1

Report
— IFRC
The serious drought now affecting most of the country shows little signs of ending and food shortages are growing more acute. The PNG Red Cross/Federation relief operation has got under way, but is being slowed down by delays in deliveries of government food supplies and may have to be redesigned to take this factor into account. If this happens the appeal target will be increased.
period covered: 1 November - 15 December, 1997

The context

Drought conditions started to appear in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in September as one of the consequences of El

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15 Dec 1997

Papua New Guinea
Aide humanitaire en Asie: nouvelles en bref

Report
— European Union
Aide humanitaire en Asie: nouvelles en bref
La Commission européenne a approuvé une aide humanitaire d'un montant total de 1,23 million d'Ecus en faveur de projets
réalisés en Asie. L'aide, gérée par l'Office humanitaire de la Communauté européenne (ECHO) permettra aux organisations de la Croix-Rouge et à des organisations non gouvernementales de réaliser des projets pendant les six prochains mois. les projets approuvés sont les suivants: Bengale occidental : 380.000 Ecus en faveur des victimes des inondations; Vietnam
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15 Dec 1997

Papua New Guinea
Humanitarian aid in Asia: news in brief

Report
— European Union
Humanitarian aid in Asia: news in brief
The European Commission has approved humanitarian aid worth a total of ECU 1.23 million for projects in Asia. The aid,
managed by the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), will enable the Red Cross family and non-governmental organisations to carry out projects over the next six months. The projects approved are as follows: West Bengal -- ECU 380,000 for victims of flooding; Vietnam -- ECU 400,000 for victims of Typhoon Fritz; Papua New Guinea -- ECU 250,000 for people affected by
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04 Dec 1997

Papua New Guinea
Drought and frost deplete water and food supplies in Papua New Guinea

Report
— UN Development Programme
Nearly 500,000 people in the highlands of Papua New Guinea face severe food shortages due to drought which has affected the country over the past several months. The population of the low-lying regions of the islands still has access to food, but is suffering from lack of water. Up to 80 percent of the total population is relying on polluted rivers for water sources. Incidences of eye infections, skin diseases and diarrhoea are on the rise. The drought and frost emergency is damaging subsistence farms, and cash crops such as coffee and cocoa.
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02 Dec 1997

Papua New Guinea
Background Briefing Paper Number 12

Report
— Australian Agency for International Development
Update Paper Number 12 (2 December 1997)

PNG DROUGHT UPDATE

Australian Aid - Papua New Guinea Drought Relief

Australian Aid returns to drought-stricken provinces

Today AusAID begins its second round of food aid delivery to the drought stricken provinces of Western, Central, Gulf, Milne Bay and West Sepik. Another 660 tonnes of food aid will be delivered to districts only accessible by air which have no food at all left in gardens, and little or no water. These areas were identified in the initial assessment report commissioned by the PNG Department of

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01 Dec 1997

Papua New Guinea
Australian navy delivers relief supplies to PNG's Milne Bay

Report
— Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Navy has delivered drinking water and other relief supplies to drought-affected islands in Papua New Guinea's Milne Bay Province.

A spokesman says two Naval ships over the weekend delivered 60-thousand litres of fresh water to Samarai Island, the province's former administrative headquarters, and to nearby islands in the China Strait.

It was the first delivery of water under the Australian government's relief operation in P-N-G, which began at the end of October and is expected to last until the end of March.

So far, more than 620-tonnes of food,

Australian Broadcasting Corporation:

© ABC

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28 Nov 1997

Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea Drought and Frost Situation Report No. 5

Report
— UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs
Ref: DHAGVA - 97/0862
Situation Update

1. The drought situation in late November 1997 is broadly as predicted in the Government/AusAID assessment conducted in September/October 1997. Most areas of Papua New Guinea (PNG) have had no significant rainfall since May/June 1997, and some have had none all year. Though there has been some rain in the Northern and Central Highlands, lower than average rainfall is expected to continue until at least March/April 1998. Above 2,200 m the generally clear skies (except for smoke from the forest fires) have caused more damaging night-time frost.

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28 Nov 1997

Papua New Guinea
Background Briefing Paper Number 11

Report
— Australian Agency for International Development
Update Paper Number 11 (28 November 1997)

PNG DROUGHT UPDATE

Australian Aid - Papua New Guinea Drought Relief

60,000 litres of water to Samurai Islands
Tomorrow two Australian Navy vessels will deliver 60,000 litres of fresh water and other relief supplies to the drought-stricken Samarai Islands, off the coast of Milne Bay in Eastern PNG. Part of AusAID's $1 million a week relief operation, this is the first delivery of water since the operation began at the end of October. So far more than 623 tonnes of food has been delivered to almost 60,000 people most affected by the

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26 Nov 1997

Papua New Guinea
Background Briefing Paper Number 10

Report
— Australian Agency for International Development
Background Briefing Paper Number 10 (26 November 1997)

PNG DROUGHT UPDATE

Australian Aid - Papua New Guinea Drought Relief

Deliveries to West Sepik begin
Food deliveries have begun to the most isolated drought-affected areas of West Sepik Province, taking food to the remaining 10,000 people targeted to receive food aid by AusAID. Already, 50,000 people have received 574 tonnes of food since the end of October.

$3 million more for drought relief
The Australian Government has committed an additional $3 million to drought

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19 Nov 1997

Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Drought Crisis Escalating

Report
— CARE
PAPUA NEW GUINEA Death is fast becoming a regular occurrence in drought-affected regions of Papua New Guinea according to the Australian offices of CARE International.
CARE Australia's Emergency Manager Simon Williamson says up to 250,000 people are now without food. That figure is predicted to increase drastically within 2 weeks. CARE Australia is the lead representative in Papua New Guinea for CARE International - a confederation of ten members including CARE USA.

Williamson says reports suggest that more than one hundred people 'mostly children and the elderly' have died

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17 Nov 1997

Papua New Guinea
Revised Appeal El Niño Emergency Relief - Pacific Papua New Guinea

Report
— Action by Churches Together International
ASPG71

Appeal Target : US$ 500,014

Dear Friends,

The El Niño weather patterns hit Papua New Guinea some four months ago causing severe drought and frost throughout the nation. However, the full impact of this weather was only felt towards the end of August and more fully in the month of September.

The prolonged dry spell has seriously affected many parts of the country forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes looking for food and water elsewhere. Schools and industries have been forced to close due to lack of water amidst increasing reports

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13 Nov 1997

Papua New Guinea
Australian mining company moves to help PNG drought victims

Report
— Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian mining company, B-H-P, says it's working hard to assist drought victims in Papua New Guinea.

The company, which operates the giant Ok Tedi gold mine, says it's been working closely with AUSAID and the Australian Defence Force in the distribution of aid, including rice.

B-H-P Port Moresby spokesman, Vincent Ball, says the company has also been involved in handing out basic gardening kits designed to help people maintain food gardens.

Another initiative that we've introduced in conjunction with Porgera joint venture is an agriculture kit. Our agriculture

Australian Broadcasting Corporation:

© ABC

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11 Nov 1997

Papua New Guinea
PNG drought having increasing impact on capital

Report
— Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The drought in Papua New Guinea is having an increasing impact on the capital, Port Moresby.

Sean Dorney reports that from next Monday, severe power rationing will be introduced to try to save water in the dam that feeds the city's hydro-electric system:

"The Sirinumu Dam which provides Port Moresby with drinking water as well as most of its electricity is emptying. On current trends it could be dry by March unless significant rain falls. PNG's Electricity Commission says it's carving the city up into four areas and from next Monday each will be blacked out in turn for

Australian Broadcasting Corporation:

© ABC

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10 Nov 1997

Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea drought to produce widespread famine

Report
— Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Drought relief officials in Papua New Guinea say they'll have to enlist the aid of the United Nations if November rains don't arrive.

They say they're alarmed at the extent of the drought and fear it will produce widespread famine

A major relief effort is underway with 120-Australian defence force personnel and 10-aircaft assisting the PNG government in delivering food, water and supplies to isolated areas.

But Australian aid officials say hundreds of thousands of rural villagers in Papua New Guinea don't have enough food

They say people are walking into the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation:

© ABC

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06 Nov 1997

Papua New Guinea
Drought appeal

Report
— IFRC
Weekly News
There has been no significant rainfall in Papua New Guinea since April this year. Around 550,000 people are seriously affected by a ruinous drought that has destroyed staple crops, weakened water supplies and is undermining the immediate well-being of whole communities, where self-sufficiency has been the norm.

At the request of the Papua New Guinea Red Cross, the Federation has launched an appeal for 570,000 Swiss francs, targeting 152,000 beneficiaries through technical support to the government's supplementary feeding programme and a series of vital water and community

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