Although the storm that struck southern Bangladesh luckily caused few fatalities, the downpour that accompanied it has provoked serious flooding and greatly worsened the living conditions of thousands of Bangladeshis. For the past week, the teams of Terre des hommes have been working hard to bring them aid.

In Patharghata, the situation is especially worrying. In this region, where 85% of the population lives from fishing and farming, the fields have been flooded and the retention basins used for the sand filters for drinking water have been destroyed or are contaminated.

Tiny hopes for Syria

By Alma Hassoun

DAMASCUS, 19 May 2013– Five- day old Yamen takes a long stretch inside an incubator at a charity hospital in Damascus, while his mother and sister are admiring him happily through the glass door of the unit.

Yamen has in many ways become one of Syria’s smallest hopes amid vicious fighting that has damaged hospitals and taken tens of thousands of lives. His mother remains nearby, ready to breastfeed her youngest child to ensure he gets the best nutritional start to life.

Du 06 au 07 avril 2013, le projet kit d’hygiène de la Croix-Rouge Burkinabè a procédé à sa troisième distribution de kits au profit des refugiés maliens sur les sites de Saag-Nioniongo à 35 kilomètres de Ouagadougou et de Bobo Dioulasso. Cette distribution, qui s’est faite simultanément dans les 02 localités, contenait une double ration et couvrira une période de 02 mois.

L’objectif général de la mission était d’évaluer la situation des différents groupes (réfugiés, retournées et la population hôtes), leurs besoins (alimentaires et non alimentaires) et de formuler des suggestions et des recommandations relatives au type d’assistance immédiate (option des réponses et stratégies mise en oeuvre) à apporter à ces populations en particulier. Cette évaluation a permis ainsi de disposer d’informations précises sous les groupes les plus vulnérables, leurs besoins alimentaire et non alimentaire et la période et la durée de l’assistance.

By Wisal Yousafzai

PESHAWAR: As many as twenty-four children died of diarrhea and gastroenteritis in the month of May only in just Lady Reading and Khyber Teaching hospitals in Peshawar. This is the story of two hospitals in one city. One can guess what the figures would be if data from all over the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is collected.

With droughts set to become even more frequent and intense, food and water shortages, and conflicts would also increase. Drought resilience, through awareness-raising, conservation measures, capacity-building and local community involvement, is vital.

Inside:

• Tiny hopes for Syria
• As summer approaches, water and sanitation pose new challenges
• Schools across Jordan offer Sanctuary for Syrian child refugees
• Lighting up candles for children in the middle of darkness
• Update on Refugees by numbers
• Syrian children with disabilities resilient amid conflict
• Briefs from the field

UNICEF Regional Health Advisor Mahendra Sheth visits a UNICEF vaccination campaign in a camp for Syrian refugees in Iraq.

DOMIZ, Iraq, 22 May 2013 – The Domiz refugee camp, which sits about 60 kilometres from the Syrian border amidst an imposing mountain landscape, was originally built to accommodate 22,000 people. Today it is home to around 40,000 Syrian refugees.

I came to the camp to see first-hand the conditions hundreds of families are living in and to see what UNICEF can do to help improve them.

22 de mayo, 2013 — El Secretario General de la ONU subrayó hoy la importancia que tienen el agua y la diversidad en el desarrollo y advirtió el aumento de la inseguridad hídrica debida a la alta demanda de ese líquido vital.

En un mensaje con motivo del Día Internacional de la Biodiversidad, Ban Ki-moon señaló que con frecuencia el agua no llega a los niveles mínimos de calidad y que de continuar la tendencia actual no se podrán satisfacer las necesidades hídricas mínimas.