Central America: Floods - Oct 2008

By Wai Moe

Burma is one of the countries worst affected by extreme weather resulting from climate change, according to a new report that assesses the impact of global warming over a period of nearly two decades.

Published by the Berlin-based climate watchdog Germanwatch on Tuesday, the report, the Global Climate Risk Index, says that Bangladesh, Burma and Honduras were the countries most affected by extreme weather events from 1990 to 2008.

The report was launched in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, where the United Nations Climate Change Conference is underway.

In addition to …

Written by: Laurie Goering

COPENHAGEN (AlertNet) - Weather extremes have hit Bangladesh, Myanmar and Honduras the hardest over the past two decades and will likely have a bigger impact in the future as climate change intensifies storms, floods and heatwaves, a report said on Tuesday.

The three countries experienced the highest combination of deaths and economic losses from 1990 to 2008, according to a new climate risk index by Germanwatch, a non-governmental organisation promoting sustainable development.

Bangladesh has said …

Salvadoran youths have been taking direct action to protect their flood-hit communities, with help from Plan.

Following last year's storms, a Civil Protection Committee was formed in 56 communities across central El Salvador, and the members have been trained in disaster risk reduction as part of a project carried out by Plan with the aid of UK government agency DFID and European Commission Humanitarian Aid.

Youth from the local areas were trained in civil protection and split into dedicated brigades covering monitoring and early warning, first aid and evacuation.

Glide No.

A casi un año del paso de la Tormenta Tropical 16, en el mes de noviembre del 2008, la comunidad de Corquin mantiene la esperanza de tener una nueva y mejor vida gracias al apoyo del PMA-Honduras y la Alcaldia Municipal de Corquin a través del proyecto Alimentos por Trabajo.

This report covers the period 01 January 2009 to 31 June 2009.

In brief

Programme purpose: National Societies in the Caribbean region are implementing efficient, responsive and focused programmes that contribute to improving the lives of vulnerable people. These programmes are aligned with the International Federation's Global Agenda, which sets out four broad goals to meet the Federation's mission to "improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity".

Programmes summary:

The first half of 2009 was characterized by finalizing the …

U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BUREAU FOR DEMOCRACY, CONFLICT, AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE (DCHA)

Introduction

On May 28-29, 2009, CONRED, CEPREDENAC, and the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, with the support of the Embassy of Switzerland, convened a workshop on response and protection in situations of natural disaster in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.

The objectives of the workshop were:

- to raise awareness and build support for a human-rights based approach to disaster response at both the regional and national levels;

- to facilitate the integration of human rights in disaster management (risk reduction, preparedness, response, and early …

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

Caribbean Red Cross Program Transitions into Second Phase

A USAID/OFDA-supported Red Cross program to strengthen disaster preparedness in the Caribbean concluded its first phase in August and will begin phase two in October.

The program, "Readiness to Respond: Increased Disaster Preparedness through Enhanced Coordination and Community Awareness," is a joint effort between USAID/OFDA, the American Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and Caribbean Red Cross societies.

USAID/OFDA provided more than …

Deadly Water

Houses submerged entirely in floodwaters. Whole villages leveled by winds gusting more than 160 miles per hour. These are often the images that come to mind when we think about the devastation caused by a hurricane in a poor country like Nicaragua.

But the deadliest part of a hurricane is actually something that rarely makes it to the front-page headlines: a water supply contaminated by raw sewage and other pollutants. This water can cause cholera, typhoid and dysentery. These illnesses are often fatal for babies and young children.

Sixty-fourth session
Item 72 (a) of the provisional agenda
Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and
disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including
special economic assistance: strengthening of the coordination

General Assembly
Sixty-fourth session
Item 72 (a) of the provisional agenda
Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and
disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including
special economic assistance: strengthening of the coordination

RESUMEN EJECUTIVO.

Alcance y métodos

En octubre de 2008, la Depresión Tropical No. 16, ingresó en territorio de Guatemala causando inundaciones, deslaves y derrumbes que afectaron mayoritariamente los departamentos de Petén, Izabal, Alta Verapaz y Quiché. Seg=FAn la Secretaría de Planificación y Programación de la Presidencia (SEGEPLAN) y la Secretaría Ejecutiva de la Coordinadora Nacional para la Reducción de Desastres (SE-CONRED), unas 60,671 personas fueron afectadas.

Foreword

Hunger in the world is projected to reach an historic high in 2009, with 1.02 billion people going hungry every day-an increase of nearly 100 million people. The United Nations' World Food Programme is working to extend food assistance to 108 million among the poorest people in 74 countries. WFP is deeply concerned by the growing impact of the world's financial crisis on the poorest part of the world, which is causing lower incomes, increased unemployment, lower remittances and higher levels of poverty.

In response to the announcement that leaders of the Major Economies Forum had agreed to hold rising temperatures to no more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) today reaffirmed its call for short- and medium-term targets that would limit increases to below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Addressing a Headquarters press conference on climate change, Dessima M.

Foreword: A year of challenges

It is my pleasure to present to you the 2008 Annual Report for the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

For the millions of people affected by natural disasters and conflict worldwide, 2008 was a year of enormous challenges. More than 211 million people were affected by natural disasters, with more than 238,000 killed and US$200 billion in damages, making 2008 one of the most devastating years in terms of human and material losses.

Note: Document in 2 pages

RESUMEN EJECUTIVO

El presente documento contiene los lineamientos generales y mecanismos para la ejecución del Plan de Contingencia y Emergencia Alimentaria 2009. El Plan identifica las acciones necesarias para realizar un proceso de asistencia alimentaria para beneficiar a 186,561 familias (932,800 personas aproximadamente) de 1,901 comunidades categorizadas con alto y muy alto riesgo de inseguridad alimentaria y nutricional (comunidades naranjas y rojas), clasificación realizada por la SESAN en los 136 municipios priorizados por el Consejo de Cohesión Social.