The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has accepted the advice of the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee and approved from the Disaster Relief Fund two grants totalling $11.734 million to two agencies for providing relief to cyclone victims in Mozambique.
Contact: Danielle Payant at dpayant@airserv.org
Entebbe, Uganda. An Air Serv aircraft has positioned to Mozambique, where it will support relief efforts following a devastating period of successive storms.
By Amos Zacarias
MAPUTO, May 20 2019 (IPS) - Mozambique, which was affected by an unprecedented two tropical cyclones over a matter of weeks, is still reeling from the impact a month after the latest disaster. But resultant devastation caused by the cyclones could impact the country’s elections as concerns are raised over whether the southern African nation can properly hold the ballot scheduled for later this year.
This Weekly Bulletin focuses on selected acute public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African Region. The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 71 events in the region. This week’s edition covers key new and ongoing events, including:
1.1 CYCLONE IDAI
1.85M People affected
400K Displaced
603 Deaths
1641 Injured
1.2M People in need
6754 Cholera cases
31107 Malaria cases
There are now 11 accommodation centers remaining in Sofala province sheltering 2,987 families representing 13,654 people as of 14 May.
- The country has been hit hard by two cyclones in less than two months.
- Ayuda en Acción, an NGO that has been working in Mozambique for 22 years, has already begun its humanitarian response to support reconstruction.
- The organization calls for citizen collaboration to build latrines, provide clean water and distribute seed kits, hygiene and sexual and reproductive health for women.
Madrid, 16 May 2019.
This Emergency Appeal seeks a total of 2.4 million Swiss francs to enable the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to support the Comoros Red Crescent Society (CoRC) to deliver assistance to some 20,000 people for 12 months, in Grande Comore, Moheli, and Anjouan Islands with a focus on Shelter and Household items (HH items); Community Based Health and First aid (CBHFA); Health, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH); Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Protection and Gender and Inclusion (PGI).
Pemba, Mozambique. 14 May 2019 – A five day emergency cholera vaccination campaign which was launched today by the Ministry of Health in Mozambique with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other health partners, will see over 285 000 people receiving oral cholera vaccine
The campaign began today in the Eduardo Mondlhane Cholera Treatment Center (CTC) and it will cover the areas most affected by Cyclone Kenneth - the districts of Pemba and Mecufi and the localities of Metuge-Sede e Nacuta.
Highlights
Late April and early May rainfall unlikely to ease on-going severe drought in Eastern Horn
KEY MESSAGES
• Below-average rainfall performance, abnormally high land surface temperatures, and poor vegetation conditions continued in April over much of the equatorial sector of East Africa. Drought conditions persist despite an increase in rainfall in late April and early May, which was driven in part by the presence of tropical cyclone Kenneth.
By Gordon Willcock
It’s been eight weeks since Cyclone Idai made landfall in Mozambique, bringing destructive winds and torrential rain that created dangerous flooding, effectively creating an inland sea and cutting off multiple communities for more than a week.
More than 1,000 people across the region were killed as a result, and 1.85 million people left in need of assistance in Mozambique alone. Widespread flooding also impacted the neighboring countries of Malawi and Zimbabwe.
- Member States and the private sector should increase investments in ecosystem restoration and protection, particularly water-related ecosystems, to reduce the disaster risk and impacts of climate change.
- Ecosystems play a vital role in reducing the impacts of natural hazards and climate change and ecosystem-based approaches should be an integral part of disaster preparedness, emergency response, post-disaster recovery and reconstruction.
- The Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, held in Geneva, Switzerland from 13 to 17 May 2019 is the world's foremost …
Geneva 17 May 2019 (WMO) _ The impacts of climate change, associated sea level rise and extreme weather are amplifying as a result of record greenhouse gas levels and combining with urbanization, environmental degradation and water stress to produce interlocking crises. There needs to be a drastic change of course, according to the top global forum on disaster risk reduction.
"We live with the highest concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for 3 million years,"
Geneva 17 May 2019 (WMO) _ The impacts of climate change, associated sea level rise and extreme weather are amplifying as a result of record greenhouse gas levels and combining with urbanization, environmental degradation and water stress to produce interlocking crises. There needs to be a drastic change of course, according to the top global forum on disaster risk reduction.
"We live with the highest concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for 3 million years,"
Rehabilitation of water sources is often necessary after a flood event. This technical checklist provides the basic steps on how to return the borehole and handpump to service, providing safe drinking water for the community.
STEP 1: Assess the flood impacts on the water point
- Downhole pollution and/or blockage by mud and silt - Damage to the handpump - Damage to the concrete apron and drainage
STEP 2: Clean and disinfect the borehole
Ibo Island, Cabo Delgado — Three weeks after Cyclone Kenneth made landfall in northern Mozambique, over 300,000 people continue to need humanitarian assistance in the coastal provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula. An estimated 45,000 houses have been damaged, many totally destroyed and more than 1,400 houses remain flooded, according to the Government of Mozambique.
HIGHLIGHTS
The first airlifts of supplemental USAID-funded relief supplies for the Tropical Cyclone Kenneth response arrive in Mozambique
USAID announces more than $5.8 million in additional support to respond to tropical cyclones Idai and Kenneth in Mozambique
GRM reduces nationwide alert level from red to orange as humanitarian conditions improve across Mozambique
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
MAPUTO, 16 May 2019 - Hundreds of thousands of children affected by deadly Cyclone Idai in Mozambique have been vaccinated and received vitamin A supplements in the past week, with UNICEF and partners including the World Health Organisation (WHO) supporting the Government-led Health Week in the 21 most affected districts of Sofala, Manica, Inhambane, and Zambézia provinces.
