The Global Overview collates information from a range of sources and displays it in a manner that allows for quick comparison of different humanitarian crises.

The Global Overview collates information from a range of sources and displays it in a manner that allows for quick comparison of different humanitarian crises.

The Global Overview collates information from a range of sources and displays it in a manner that allows for quick comparison of different humanitarian crises.

HIGHLIGHTS

• FAO’s first forecast for world wheat production in 2013 stands at 690 million tonnes, about 28 million tonnes up from 2012 and the second largest crop on record. The increase is expected mostly in Europe, driven by an expansion in area in response to high prices, and in some countries due to an expected recovery in yields from last year’s below-average levels.

• The international cereal prices in recent months have followed mixed trends with rice prices rising and wheat declining, while maize prices remaining generally steady.

The Global Overview is a weekly update that provides a snapshot of current humanitarian priorities and recent events. The Global Overview collates information from a wide range of sources, including Reliefweb and media sources, and displays this information in a manner that allows for quick comparison of different humanitarian crises.

Despite a four-day truce which was supposed to come into effect on Friday 26 October, fighting has continued to escalate in Damascus province, Aleppo, Idlib, Daara and Deir Ezzor in Syria manifested by a new wave of airstrikes by the Syrian forces and attacks by the rebels on strategic army checkpoints and air bases.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Fifteen countries from Africa’s most drought prone regions are meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to share practices on how to best address recurrent droughts and chronic food insecurity on the continent.

Governments and organizations from Africa’s Horn and Sahel regions are showcasing initiatives on some of the good agricultural practices with a view of easing the impact of recurrent droughts on the continent’s productivity. Both regions suffer recurrent and severe droughts, sometimes leading to famine.

Snapshot, 8 to 15 October

This week, flooding caused by heavy rains affected more than 1.3 million people in Nigeria. Flooding also affected more than five million people in Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab in Pakistan and around 226,000 in Bogra State in Bangladesh. A heavy tropical cyclone hit the south-west coast of Bangladesh on 11th October 2012 displacing 20,000 people and affecting more than 100,000. Armed violence continued to escalate in Syria with heavy fighting occurring in Homs, Daraa, Deir Ezzor, Idlib, Latakia, Aleppo and Damascus.

21 September 2012 – Alors que l'ONU se prépare à l'un des débats généraux les plus chargés de l'histoire de l'Assemblé générale, avec la venue la semaine prochaine à New York de plus de 120 chefs d'État et de gouvernement et la tenue en parallèle de plus d'une cinquantaine d'évènements, un défi considérable se pose au Secrétaire général Ban Ki-moon.