The new treaty will need to take on a number of emerging risks and concerns, such as the effects of the changing climate and growing urban populations.

The UN refugee agency is prepositioning aid for tens of thousands of Darfur refugees in eastern Chad amid fears heavy rains will cut off access.

Some deaths have been reported in Bangladesh, where over a million people were evacuated. The caution was justified: in 1970, Cyclone Bhola killed some 400,000 people, in 2007, Cyclone Sidr killed nearly 4,000.

Nearly 80,000 refugees have already started their new lives in eight different countries – an important step towards resolving one of the most protracted refugee situations in Asia.

The region’s urban population is set to double by 2030, with India alone adding 90 million city dwellers to its metropolises since 2000.

10 million people in Yemen need food aid, of whom about 5 million face acute food shortages; 6 million people do not have access to health care; and 1 million children are facing malnutrition, with some 150,000 of them facing the risk of death due to acute malnutrition.

A million people were evacuated and 11 have died, but fears of devastating damage eased when the storm weakened as it moved over land. Myanmar was largely spared the brunt of the storm.

Appeal will focus on assisting those affected by seasonal floods, drought, chronic food insecurity, population movement and epidemics such as yellow fever, malaria and cholera.

Many of the affected communities are fishing communities where lack of clean water coupled with poor sanitation and hygiene practices have contributed to the outbreak and spread of the disease.