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Afghanistan + 6 more

Humanitarian Update: Regional Office for the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia Jan 2008

Attachments

Regional Update

The Regional Office held a two-day retreat on 2829 January in Dubai, which was attended by representatives from all OCHA field offices and presences within the region, as well as HQ (CRD, PICS, GCMS, AO and SPU) and the head of UNAMA's Humanitarian Affairs Unit. The Special Humanitarian Envoy, Mr. Abdul Aziz Arrukban, participated in the first day of the retreat, during which the following issues were discussed:

- ROMENACA's role and coverage

- Humanitarian challenges across the region

- Special Humanitarian Envoy's support to regional humanitarian actors

- Complementarity of workplans and joint activities by OCHA offices and presences

- Administrative and operational issues

Country Coverage

Afghanistan: The western region of Afghanistan witnessed the harshest winter weather conditions in nearly 30 years. Temperatures fell to minus 25 degrees Celsius, with unusually heavy snowfall causing some 355 fatalities in the provinces of Herat, Farah, Badghis and Ghor, in addition to the deaths of a reported 63,880 livestock.

Delivering assistance proved difficult in certain areas =AD especially Ghor, Badghis, Farah and Hilmand =AD due to winter and security conditions. Priority needs were: food for vulnerable communities, fuel for cooking and heating, fodder for livestock and non food items (NFIs) =AD blankets, clothing, tarpaulin and heaters.

IDPs living in camps near Herat also suffered greatly from the harsh winter. Provincial authorities were at the forefront of coordination efforts, under the guidance of the provincial governors supported by the Afghan National Disaster Management Authority and the Department of Rural Rehabilitation and Development. The Afghan Red Crescent assisted 300 winter affected families in Guzara district, Herat, with food and NFIs.

Latest Developments

DIHAD

The Dubai International Scientific Advisory Board (DISAB) met on 22 January to consolidate the agenda and speaker list for DIHAD 2008, 'Humanitarian Challenges of the Future'. Mr Gerhard PutmanCramer, Chief of the Emergency Services Branch in Geneva, chaired the event. Special Humanitarian Envoy Abdul Aziz Arrukban, the Chief of the Surge Capacity Unit, and ROMENACA's Head of Office also attended, in addition to representatives from partner humanitarian agencies. The agenda for OCHA's preDIHAD workshop has been drafted.

CAP OPT

On 22 January, the United Nations and humanitarian partner agencies launched their largest ever appeal for Palestinians-$462 million.

For more information, please visit www.humanitarianappeal.net

Disclaimer

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.