Link: Southern Africa Humanitarian Bulletin: Issue 11, June 2013

Contains 2 maps

HIGHLIGHTS

• Madagascar:

The first round of presidential election is currently scheduled to be held on 24 July 2013. No decision yet on whether it will be postponed or not.

• Namibia:

On 17 May 2013 the President declared a national drought emergency and called for assistance from international community. An estimated 330,925 people have now been classified as food insecure - 14 percent of Namibia's 2,324 million people (total population)

KEY MESSAGES

• As the agricultural season drawsto a close, above normal rains in April in the southern parts of the region could improve pasture conditions. However, they are unlikely to mitigate the impact of earlier periods of extended dryness on crop production. Additionally, recent wet conditions, along with possibility of continued rains, may cause cob-rot among crops drying in the field.

MBABANE, 23 May 2013 (IRIN) - Mounds of food aid intended for Swaziland’s food insecure were recently found rotting in the government’s main storage warehouses at the Matsapha Industrial Estate, about 25km east of the capital, Mbabane.

According to a March 2013 briefing by the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS), “Approximately 116,000 persons are currently estimated to be food insecure, up 31 percent from the previous year.”

UNAIDS reports that more than 7 million people are now on HIV treatment across Africa, while new HIV infections and deaths from AIDS continue to fall.

HIGHLIGHTS

 The region is exposed to a range of environmental and social pressures.

 47 defined international humanitarian emergencies were identified between 2000 and 2012.

 The results highlight the short recurrence intervals for major shocks and the annual co-occurrence of multiple shocks.

 The research signals a transition from conditions of armed conflict seen in the 1980s and 1990s to social conflicts, often in urban areas, particularly in national capitals.

This report covers the period 01/01/12 to 31/12/12

Overview

Comoros: Flash Flooding

On Grande Comore island, heavy rains between 30 April and 1 May caused some rivers to overflow. An estimated 172 families were affected, of which 82 families had to stay with community members. Some affected people have already started returning to their homes. Government, with support from partners, is assisting those affected. A request for international assistance is not expected.

Mozambique: Early Recovery Strategy

MBABANE, Apr 9 2013 (IPS) - For more than a decade after 1992, when Swazi gold miner Benson Maseko, 50, fell ill with chest pains and a nagging cough, he did not seek treatment.

Because of his illness, Maseko was retrenched without benefits from his job at a mine in Johannesburg, South Africa. And when he returned to his home in Mahlangatsha, a small village on the outskirts of Swaziland’s commercial hub, Manzini, he chose to pursue traditional healing for his ailment instead of going to a doctor.