Natural disasters1 in 2012

In 2012, 310 natural disasters were recorded in the EM-DAT database. They claimed 9,930 lives, affected over 106 million others and caused economic damages of US$138 billion.

There were no mega-disasters in 2012 in terms of human impact.

The largest disaster of 2012 in terms of mortality was Typhoon Bopha in the Philippines that resulted in 1,901 deaths. It was the strongest tropical cyclone on record to hit the southern Philippine island of Mindanao and affected over 6 million persons.

The National Diet of Japan has approved the country's supplementary budget fiscal year 2012, which includes USD 43.5 million to support IOM humanitarian operations for vulnerable migrants, internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, and host communities worldwide.

The funding is designed to address unmet or unplanned needs during the fiscal year and is the largest amount that IOM has received to date from this Japanese funding mechanism.

An earthquake with magnitude 5.6 has hit South Khorasan province in Iran, killing at least eight people and injuring 12. As of 6 December, no further information available

Refugee crises appear to come and go. In 2011, all eyes were on the Dadaab refugee complex in northern Kenya as it received hundreds of thousands of Somalis fleeing famine and conflict. This year, attention has shifted to the refugee exodus from Syria, even though the majority of Somalis who arrived at Dadaab last year are still there.

Additional Investments in Family Planning Would Save Developing Countries More Than $11 Billion a Year

Access to family planning is an essential human right that unlocks unprecedented rewards for economic development, says new UNFPA report

• 222 million women in developing countries have an unmet need for family planning
• Additional $4.1 billion in funding is needed to address current needs and those of the growing youth population

The report “Louder than words: An agenda for action to end state use of child soldiers” is published to mark the tenth anniversary year of the entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. It examines the record of states in protecting children from use in hostilities by their own forces and by state-allied armed groups. It finds that, while governments’ commitment to ending child soldier use is high, the gap between commitment and practice remains wide.

GENÈVE, 18 juin (HCR) – Selon un rapport statistique publié aujourd'hui par le Haut Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés, l'année 2011 culmine en terme de déplacement forcé – incluant le passage d'une frontière – avec le plus grand nombre de personnes devenues réfugiées jamais enregistré depuis 2000.

UNHCR is very grateful for the USD 113.18 million received from the Government of Japan during the first quarter of the 2012. 19 operations worldwide will benefit with some USD 83.18 million allocated to Africa and the Middle East while USD 30 million will help internally displaced persons and returnees inside Afghanistan as well as countries hosting Afghan refugees in the region. The Japanese funding will contribute toward UNHCR’s 2012 global requirement of USD 3.59 billion.