BACKGROUND

Many countries in Africa are beset by a range of disasters, from complex emergencies to drought, floods, cyclones, and earthquakes. Climate variability, rapid population growth, environmental and natural resource degradation, lack of economic development, and rapid urbanization further compound the risks by increasing populations' vulnerability to disasters. During the last two decades, cities across Africa have rapidly

The record-breaking 15 flash appeals in 2007 brought to the fore some long-standing weaknesses in flash appeal principles and practices, which the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) moved to correct. A flash appeal overhaul plan was presented to donors at the February 2008 Montreux Retreat and to the IASC Working Group in June 2008, focusing on reviewing the flash appeal mechanism in light of other developments in humanitarian policy and response tools, including the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the cluster approach, the Resident

In brief

Programme purpose: The Indian Ocean Sub Zone provides support through capacity building of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies of Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles in Organisational Development (OD) and Disaster Management (DM), in order to reduce the impact of emergencies on the lives of vulnerable communities in the region.

Programme summary: The DM delegate in Madagascar facilitated the completion of the cyclone Ivan operation, which included the pre-positioning of emergency stock for the next cyclone.

Appeal target (current): CHF 1,074,882 (USD 937,938 or EUR 712,324)

Final Appeal coverage: 68%

Appeal history:

- The Emergency appeal was launched on 6 March 2008 for CHF1, 074,880 (USD 961,431 or EUR 651,442) for 6 months to assist 10,000 families.

- Operations update no.1, issued on 15 May 2008, focused on assessments and distributions conducted by the Malagasy Red Cross Society (MRCS), the DM Federation representative and other stakeholders.

- Initially a total of CHF 108,719 was

In brief

Programme purpose:

The Eastern Africa Zone continues to prioritise enhancing the capacities of the 14 National Societies(NS) as one of the core focal areas in order for them to respond to the humanitarian challenges thatplague the region. The Disaster Management (DM) programme aims to build well prepared, strongerand more efficient NS able to predict, prevent and reduce risks and respond to the high level ofhumanitarian demands in the region posed by small, medium and large scale disasters, mitigate

By Alan Nicol and Nanki Kaur

Water is the key medium that links atmospheric temperature rises to changes in human and physical systems.

Climate change will alter the hydrological cycle in many ways. The trigger is the warming of the atmosphere and oceans, which will change major weather systems. This will alter the temporal and spatial patterns of rainfall with consequences for runoff, surface and groundwater storage, river flow regimes and, it is estimated, greater likelihood of extremes - droughts and floods - in different parts of the world.

PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF ALL HUMAN RIGHTS, CIVIL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT

Summary

This report is submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 6/32 and covers the period May to December 2008. It first addresses three thematic issues: the status of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (Guiding Principles) 10 years after their submission to the Commission on Human Rights; the protection

UNICEF response activities started immediately and supplies reached the region within three days. Reconstructions from last year's Cyclone Ivan were well underway when Fanele hit, stalling existing progress.

UNICEF has conducted a rapid assessment

"Last year 20,000 people were displaced, which was more than in the 2007 cyclone season - every year the number increases," Dia Styvanly Soa, of the government's Office for National