In the last 20 months, parts of Sri Lanka have been hit by a severe drought and two bouts of floods. The WFP estimates that at least 1.2 million people are in need of food aid.
Updates (Headlines)
Search
Refine the list with filters
Search helpList
Humanitarian cluster system deactivated
There is concern over the lack of adequate funding, which is curtailing the capacity of the development actors to take over from the humanitarians, as the frequency of natural disasters increases.
Beating wild weather in Sri Lanka
Planners in Sri Lanka should do more to mitigate the effects of extreme weather, experts say. In 2012, 1.2 million people were affected by drought and over half a million by floods.
Sri Lanka: IFRC funding appeal to help 125,000 people hit by drought
Drought conditions are persisting in the seven districts targeted by the Appeal. Many people in remote rural areas are still having difficulties accessing safe drinking water
World + 42 more
Global emergency overview highlights magnitude 5.6 earthquake in Iran, Typhoon Bopha
An earthquake with magnitude 5.6 has hit South Khorasan province in Iran, killing at least eight people and injuring 12. As of 6 December, no further information available
World + 42 more
Global emergency overview highlights Storm Bopha heading for the Philippines, severe rains in Panama
The Global Overview is a weekly update that provides a snapshot of current humanitarian priorities and recent events. Its primary objective is to rapidly inform humanitarian decision makers by presenting a summary of major humanitarian crises, both recent and protracted.
World + 41 more
Global emergency overview highlights massive displacement in eastern DRC, fighting in Syria and food insecurity in Kyrgyzstan
Household food security in Kyrgyzstan has deteriorated, with an estimated 25 % of the population - about 1.3 million people - considered food insecure
World + 42 more
Global emergency overview highlights Gaza conflict, fighting in DRC, Ebola in Uganda and Yellow Fever in Sudan
The Global Overview is a weekly update that provides a snapshot of current humanitarian priorities and recent events. The Global Overview collates information from a wide range of sources, including Reliefweb and media sources, and displays this information in a manner that allows for quick comparison of different humanitarian crises.
World + 44 more
Global Emergency Overview highlights earthquake in Guatemala, cholera epidemic in Benin and food insecurity in Swaziland and Tanzania
Both Guatemala and Myanmar were affected by earthquakes during the reporting period. On 7 November, an earthquake of 7.2 magnitude struck the pacific coast of Guatemala, affecting more than 600,000 people followed by a second quake of 6.2 magnitude on 11 November. There were no immediate reports of...
Sri Lanka: War’s end threatens water supply in the North
By Amantha Perera JAFFNA, Sri Lanka, Nov 10 2012 (IPS) - War is seldom good for anything, especially protracted conflicts like the one in Sri Lanka, which dragged on for over three decades and claimed between 80,000 to 100,000 lives. But in a strange twist, this island nation’s civil war seems to...
World + 47 more
Global Emergency Overview highlights damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, Cyclone Nilam and Typhoon Son-Tinh
Despite a four-day truce which was supposed to come into effect on Friday 26 October, fighting has continued to escalate in Damascus province, Aleppo, Idlib, Daara and Deir Ezzor in Syria manifested by a new wave of airstrikes by the Syrian forces and attacks by the rebels on strategic army...
Sri Lanka: 1.8 million people affected by drought; worst-hit remote rural areas without access to safe drinking water
GLIDE n° DR-2012-000177-LKA 2 November 2012 This Emergency Appeal seeks CHF 1,070,504 in cash, kind, or services to support the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) to assist 20,000 drought affected families (some 125,000 people) for 18 months. The operation will be completed by 28 April 2014. A...
World + 41 more
Global emergency overview highlights violence in Myanmar and Syria, flooding in Cameroon and Chad
This week, renewed violence between Arakan Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims took place in Rahkin state in Myanmar, affecting an estimated 28,000 people. Sectarian violence between the two communities in June already left more than 75,000 people displaced. Despite a four-day truce that was supposed to...
World + 39 more
Global emergency overview highlights crises in Syria and Sudan, flooding in Nigeria and drought in Sri Lanka
This week, armed violence continued to escalate in Syria with heavy fighting occurring in Homs, Daraa, Deir Ezzor, Idlib, Latakia, Aleppo and Damascus. The Government has been accused of using cluster munitions in populated areas. There is an increasing risk of regional spill over, the most recent...
Sri Lanka: Drought hits northern rice farmers
VAVUNIYA, 18 October 2012 (IRIN) - Officials in northern Sri Lanka’s Vavuniya District say 60 percent of the rice harvest could be lost if the dry weather continues. “In Mannar District [in the north] we have records indicating that between 5,000 to 6,000 paddy hectares of the cultivated 10,000...
Sri Lanka: Three years of peace but no sign of prosperity
By Amantha Perera VAVUNIYA, Sri Lanka, Oct 18 2012 (IPS) - Mamaduwa, a remote village in Sri Lanka’s northern Vavuniya district where scorching winds blow across parched earth, is trying to forget the past. Comprised of 130 families, Mamaduwa lies on the southern border of Sri Lanka’s former war...
China: Floods affect over 1 million people in Hongqing Municipality
English.news.cn 2012-09-03 07:09:07 BEIJING, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- China's central authorities initiated a level-four emergency plan on Sunday afternoon in response to severe flooding in southwest China's Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality. The National Commission for Disaster Reduction and...
Sri Lanka: Water conservation “desperately” needed; late monsoon threatening crop yields
COLOMBO, 20 August 2012 (IRIN) - Rising temperatures, a late monsoon and dwindling rivers in parts of Sri Lanka are straining the energy sector and threatening crop yields. Local experts say water conservation has become an urgent necessity. In Moneragala District, in the east of the island, a man...
Sri Lanka: Why so few vegetables?
BANGKOK, 15 August 2012 (IRIN) - While the government focuses on boosting rice production in Sri Lanka, the fresh produce industry, with its contribution of essential nutrients and potential for providing livelihoods, needs more support, say farmers. "Take what we are faced with now - the...
China: Over 220,000 people evacuated as flood hits SW county again
CHENGDU, July 11 (Xinhua) -- More than 220,000 people in southwest China's Sichuan Province have been evacuated from low-lying areas following a flood that struck the disaster-prone region on Wednesday, local authorities said. The flood, the third in 10 days, affected more than 580,000 residents,...