Namibia: Cholera Outbreak - Feb 2014

Snapshot 16–22 July

oPT: 583 have been reported killed and over 100,000 displaced since Operation Protective Edge began on 8 July. There are urgent needs for essential drugs, shelter, water, and food assistance in the Gaza Strip, requiring greater humanitarian space.

Snapshot 9–15 July

oPT: 178 Palestinians have been killed since the launch of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge on 8 July. Around 17,000 people have sought shelter in UNRWA schools. Rockets from Syria and Lebanon have hit the north of Israel, raising fears of the conflict spreading.

Democratic Republic of Congo: More than 30,000 people are estimated to have been displaced in North Kivu, South Kivu, and Katanga in June, due to FARDC military operations and fighting between armed groups.

Pakistan: Water, sanitation, and health services are urgent needs among the 780,000 registered displaced from North Waziristan (government figures). The data is being cleaned to check for duplication.

Iraq: Access to areas within the governorates of Anbar, Babylon, Diyala, Salah al Din, Kirkuk, and Ninevah remains difficult due to ongoing violence clashes, disruption of communication and transportation routes, and a widespread shortage of fuel.

Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone: The Ebola outbreak that started at the beginning of 2014 has resurged, with more than 635 cases recorded, including 399 deaths, as of 23 June. WHO is urging a wider, inter-country response to the subregional crisis.

South Sudan: SAM was found to be at 6% from a screening of 500,000 children. In Bentiu UN base, the under-five mortality rate has passed the emergency threshold. 2,300 cases of cholera have been reported.

Iraq: 1.2 million people have been displaced by the ISIL June offensive and the Anbar crisis. Humanitarian access to militant-held areas remains a challenge. The security situation in Anbar, Ninevah, Salah al Din and Diyala is volatile and unpredictable. Host communities are facing difficulties assisting new IDPs and over 226,000 Syrian refugees.

Pakistan: The military offensive against the Taliban in North Waziristan has reportedly killed up to 30 Taliban and displaced at least 300,000 people to neighbouring provinces as well as Afghanistan.

CAR: The security situation in Bangui has reportedly deteriorated; 25 have been killed in renewed clashes. Violence has disrupted the April–May planting season, which will likely lead to below-average 2014–2015 harvests.

Syria: 241,000 people are estimated to be living under siege, 196,000 besieged by government forces, and 45,000 by opposition forces. Nearly 2,000 civilians are reported to have been killed in air strikes on Aleppo this year. Humanitarian access to both government and opposition controlled areas dropped significantly in May.

Katutura, on the outskirts of Windhoek, is a destination for people migrating from rural areas in search of a better life. The 200,000 people who live here are poor, and they have limited access to clean water and sanitation.

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Balkans: On 13 May, cyclone Tamara hit the Balkans. Heavy rainfall resulted in extensive flooding in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia; 1.6 million, 1.5 million, and 38,000 people have been affected, respectively. In total, 81,879 people have been evacuated. Relief efforts are being hampered by landslides, damaged infrastructure, blocked roads, and blackouts.

Malawi:
Floods are being reported in the northern district of Karonga. Assessments are still ongoing, but preliminary information indicates that around 2,200 households have been affected, with 600 houses destroyed. A red locust outbreak has been sighted over parts of Lake Chilwa in southern Malawi, which may impact food security. A joint response is ongoing.

Comoros:
UNESCO and the Indian Ocean Commission sent experts from 16 to 18 April to assess the cracked soil and landslide in Anjouan, following rains from Tropical Cyclone Hellen and an earlier 4.8 magnitude earthquake on 12 March 2014. Both experts recommended that in some parts of the village La Mahale, displaced people can return to their homes, but not to all parts of the village.

Comoros:

Comoros:
Moderate Tropical Cyclone Hellen reportedly affected around 8,800 people to date, according to ongoing assessments by the General Directorate of Civil Protection (DGSC) and the Red Crescent. Government is leading the response with the assistance of UN Agencies and the Red Crescent.

Syria: Violence continues with government forces shelling areas recently gained by opposition fighters in Lattakia province, along the western Turkish border. In the northeast, aid convoys have crossed from Turkey, enabling relief agencies to deliver assistance to communities in need at the border area. In a further political development, the Turkish government stated its readiness to launch cross-border military operations in Syria if its national security was threatened.

Syria: Fighting continued, with rebel forces making noteworthy gains of strategic Government strongholds in Lattakia and near Aleppo. Syria's air force bombarded a suburb northwest of Damascus, killing seven and violating a truce that had been in place since October. The total number of Syrians registered or waiting to register as refugees outside Syria stands at 2,597,427. The total number of people displaced internally and externally now exceeds 40% of Syria’s pre-conflict population.

HIGHLIGHTS

Mozambique:
Seven river basins are on alert. In central Sofala the Pungue River burst its banks, cutting road access between Beira and the Zimbabwe border. In Zambezia, some people living near the Licungo river coastal area have voluntarily left to seek shelter in temporary camps set up during the 2013 flood emergency.

Since the beginning of the season at total of 15,115 families have been affected,1,665 houses totally destroyed and 5,951 houses partially destroyed.

Erin Law, IFRC

As we wind our way past homes, down muddy tracks bordered by rubbish, I wonder how much more we will have to walk to reach the home of the woman with the pleading eyes. It is a hot day in this informal settlement on the outskirts of Namibia’s capital, Windhoek, as five teams of Namibia Red Cross Society volunteers navigate similar winding routes in the heat and rain.

Highlights

• Heavy rains experienced in February and early March 2014

• Floods cause devastation in several parts of the region

• Cholera outbreak spread to more areas in Namibia

Syria: Tensions continue to run high across the country, with Government forces retaking control of a key rebel supply route in the southwest, and insurgents from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) moving eastward after months of infighting between rival opposition groups in the northwest. Over nine million people have been uprooted from their home since the start of the crisis three years ago, and the international community continues to push for humanitarian access in conflict-affected areas, notably in the northeast of the country.

Mozambique: Flood Update

As of 14 March:

• 7 basins are on alert: Pungué, Zambeze, Limpopo, Messalo, Lugenda, Incomáti and Maputo
• Maputo, Umbeluzi, Incomáti and Limpopo Basins in Southern Mozambique (and also covering Swaziland) are at risk of inflows due to rains.
  

Rains from 12 and 13 March affected most districts of Maputo province. In Maputo city, a total of 262 houses in informal settlements have flooded.

Southern Africa: Risk of Flooding

Southern Africa has been experiencing torrential rains since 1 March, which have been particularly affecting Swaziland, southern Mozambique, and north-east of South Africa.

In Mozambique, the basins of Incomati, Limpopo and Umbeluzi have been on alert since 6 March. As of 8 March, Incomati river levels reached their peak and Maputo basin reached alert levels. Other basins still on alert in the rest of the country were Pungue, Zambeze, Messalo and Lugenda.