ACT Alliance demonstrates its value as the leading faith-based alliance in humanitarian response by working with faith and humanitarian actors at the global, regional, national, and community levels. ACT harnesses the combined strength of its members in delivering humanitarian response at scale and with considerable reach through joint programming approaches.
We commit to an effective ecumenical response that saves lives and maintains dignity, irrespective of race, gender, belief, nationality, ethnicity, or political persuasion. Humanitarian needs define our priorities and the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence guide our actions. We remain committed to strengthening the resilience of affected communities and to being accountable to people and communities affected by a crisis. The ACT Alliance Secretariat is certified against the Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability and is committed to the Sphere Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response.
Through its national, regional and sub-regional forums ACT Alliance provides humanitarian and emergency preparedness support to local communities helping them during a crisis and to become more resilient.
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The Rapid Response Fund is an innovative funding mechanism designed to put local communities at the centre of decision-making and is recognised as one of few such funding mechanisms across the sector. The RRF provides valuable opportunities to demonstrate the niche of faith actors in humanitarian response as we work closely with local ACT members and their community networks. On average, the RRF funds 20 emergencies annually and responses are implemented within six months.
The primary mechanism for large scale or global emergencies, including protracted crises: ACT Alliance raises an appeal to its membership with both requesting and funding members co-owning the process. Appeals are open for funding during their entire project period and accessible to both national and international ACT Alliance members.
Consortia represent a new funding mechanism for ACT Alliance. As part of Emergency Preparedness planning, consortiums are established before a disaster strikes and consortium members share a vision and strategic focus. Members self-organise and develop their own financial management models and programme strategies supported by the EPRP process and tools.
Emergency preparedness and response planning is integral to the strengthening of ACT Alliance’s capacity to respond effectively in emergencies through joint programming.
ACT national and regional forums develop emergency preparedness and response plans (EPRPs), working collaboratively to understand potential disaster risks and plan how to respond to emergencies quickly and effectively. Forum EPRPs are accessible by members through an online platform, which can be viewed by other members who may be interested to support them. ACT Forums use specific ACT guidelines and tools to support the process of developing an EPRP which is reviewed regularly.
As part of the holistic and integrated approach to humanitarian response, development and advocacy, ACT’s emergency preparedness and humanitarian response is supported by stronger humanitarian coordination and advocacy with stakeholders and duty bearers.
In the current strategic period our advocacy focuses on three banner commitments to the Grand Bargain at the World Humanitarian Summit where ACT has made significant investments and where member engagement is quite strong: the localisation agenda and the primary role of national/local members and local faith actors; demonstrating the important role of faith actors in humanitarian response; and strengthening of cash-based programming across the humanitarian sector.
The conflict in Rakhine started in 2012 and displaced about 140,000 individuals. During the period 2015-16, about 25,000 IDPs were resettled near their original home by the government. On 9 October 2016 an armed group attack on border guards in Northern Rakhine and the retaliation by the Myanmar army caused severe unrest and affected the lives of thousands of people especially in Northern Rakhine. The violence intensified further on 25 August 2017. According to the Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) of the UN, 427,000 people are reported to have crossed the border since 25 August.
As this is a cross-border crisis which impacts Myanmar and Bangladesh, a coordinated and complementary humanitarian response among ACT Alliance members in the countries is necessary. Consequently, ACT Myanmar Forum members (Christian Aid and LWF) will respond to this crisis in Myanmar by providing Shelter/NFI s, Food Security, Protection/Psychosocial, Early Recovery/ Livelihoods, Unconditional Cash and Community Resilience programs. The ACT Myanmar Forum is now requesting for 1,500,000 USD to run the program. Over 19,000 households and 12,500 individuals will be benefited by this intervention. Any indication of funding or other support is encouraged to be made in the name of the ACT Myanmar Forum, and allocations will be made according to agreed mechanisms among requesting members.
ACT Bangladesh Forum (Christian Aid, DanChurchAid, Diakonia Sweden, ICCO Cooperation) will assist over 6,600 households or 39,600 individuals in Bangladesh. ACT Secretariat will share the detailed Concept Note (Emergency Assistance to the Rohingya Community) from ACT Bangladesh Forum in the next email.
As part of the revision of the ACT Alliance Humanitarian Response Mechanism, the “Preliminary Appeal” is replaced by the “Concept Note”, a shorter more concise document which summarizes the proposed ACT response and emphasizes collaboration amongst the ACT members. For further information on the Revised Humanitarian Response Mechanism, please refer to its online toolkit : https://actlearn.org/course/view.php?id=236
Hurricane Irma, a category 5 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 295 km/hour, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic, made landfall in Haiti´s northern coastline on September 7, 2017. The eye of the storm passed north of Haiti, yet heavy rains, winds and flooding have cause significant damages in the Nord-Est, Nord-Ouest, Nord, Artibonite and Centre departments, damaging homes, fruit trees, flooding crops such as rice, banana, corn, sweet potato, cassava, and peanut and killing livestock. On the night of the hurricane, 12,539 persons were evacuated to 81 shelters. To date, 6,494 persons remain in the 21 centers. One life was lost and a person was recorded missing in the Centre Department, while 17 people were injured in the Nord, Nord-Ouest and Ouest departments. Flooding of rivers caused partial flooding in 22 communes in the departments of Artibonite, Centre, Nord, Nord-Est, Nord-Ouest and Ouest. 4,903 houses were flooded, 2,646 houses were badly damaged, while 466 houses were severely destroyed. Significant losses were also recorded in the agricultural sector in the departments of Centre, Nord-Est and Nord-Ouest. In the commune of Bassin-Bleu, a church was reported to have been completely destroyed. The Institute of Social Welfare and Research and its partners supported 1,661 children from orphanages in the Nord and the Ouest, of whom 1,226 were moved to other non-flooding homes; In the Sud Department, approximately 300 people, the total population of the Dumont neighborhood, were moved to a temporary shelter in Port-Salut. They have returned home since the warning has been lifted.
SCH, a national member from the Haiti ACT Forum is the ACT requesting member for this response, and had identify the following sectors as priorities: Food Security, non-food items and WASH. The ACT Secretariat has approved the use of USD 79,314.00 towards the budget from its Rapid Response Fund.
Since the beginning of August, heavy monsoon rains have caused intense flooding across more than one-third of Bangladesh. According to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR), these floods are the worst in the last four decades. As of 27 August 2017, 32 districts in the north, north-east and central districts of Bangladesh have been flooded, affecting 8.2 million people (2.3 million male, 2.4 million female, and 3.5 mln children under 18 years of age). 141 people, including children, are reported to have lost their lives. An estimated 55,383 houses are reported to have been damaged and 640,786 are believed to have been destroyed by the floods.
Massive floods and landslides triggered by incessant and torrential rains have killed 143 people, and 30 have gone missing since 13 August 2017 as of 20 August 2017, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of Nepal. Approximately 6 million people have been affected by the catastrophe. As per the initial findings till 15th of August, the number of displaced households have reached over 100,000 and is expected to rise when a complete assessment is carried out. Nepal Army alone has rescued 8,000 individuals and put them in safer places. Various I/NGOs and voluntary groups have started to respond the situation and help affected communities to meet their basic needs with various relief works.
The first revision of SYR171 is being issued as necessitated by the level of funding raised for the Appeal to
date, with priority for this revision given to livelihood and education interventions. Among the key
changes made under this revision is the inclusion of an early recovery livelihood program for issuing loans
to Syrian refugees in host communities to “(re-) start-ups of Small-Medium Enterprises” by the
Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR). Government approval has already been granted
to start the implementation of this component.
The International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) Lebanon proposes to re-allocate resources to the
education sector owing to the relatively low level of funding for the different sectors of response; IOCC
therefore decided to reduce activities in other sectors, and prioritize education as a strategic priority.
Education and youth are main pillars to protect children and to contribute to build a better future for
them. IOCC Lebanon is not requesting an increased amount but just reducing the requested amount
under other sectors and moving it to the education sector.
Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Jordan and Syria have not revised their appeal and/or budget.
The changes reflected in this revision are corrections due to formula errors in the original budget, resulting
in a change in their appeal budget. The Consolidated Revised Budget is on pages 38/39 of this document.
The main Appeal narrative and the intervention strategy remain largely the same, and the Secretariat
continues to raise member and donor awareness and support coordination for this Appeal to support the
complex needs of the Syria Crisis.
As of September 6, 2017, Hurricane Irma, a category 5 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 295 km/hour, strengthened significantly to become one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic. After wreaking havoc in the Eastern Caribbean, the devastating Hurricane Irma approached the eastern coast of Cuba in Guantánamo on Thursday, September 7 2017, initiating its passage through the north coast of the country, making landfall on September 8 in Cayo Romano, north of Camagüey. Irma battered the entire north coast for 4 days. At 8:00 p.m. on Monday, September 11, the hurricane finally left Cuban territory leaving a huge devastation and heading to Florida as the hurricane category 3 making also large damages. Approximately 2,000,000 persons were evacuated to the homes of relatives or neighbours, emergency shelters and local churches. In terms of damage caused by the sea coming inland, with waves of up to 9 meters, there has been considerable environmental, economic and social damage in the entire country: 10 deaths have been reported; there is inadequate supply of safe water for human consumption; significant loss of coastal dunes, forests, fruit trees, as well as seed granaries, banana and other crops; total or partial destruction of houses, health and educational centers, markets, bridges and access roads to those communities. Widespread flooding promoted unsanitary conditions which have resulted in health issues. Many communities remain without electricity and telecommunications, due to extensive infrastructural damage to the national network. The tourism industry, the main source of income for the Cuban economy, was seriously impacted, due to the destruction of hotel infrastructure. All this has seriously affected the psychosocial well being of vulnerable groups, especially elderly persons, children, teenagers, youth, women, persons with disability and persons with chronic illnesses.
The Cuban Council of Churches (CIC), an ACT Alliance Member in Cuba is responding to the emergency and had identified Shelter, WASH, Food Security, early recovery and livelihood as priority sectors, and are targeting in the response 20,000 households.
On September 2017, Hurricane Irma, a category 5 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 295 km/hour, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic, touched land in the Dominican Republic during the night of Wednesday September 7, 2017 affecting the region of East, Northeast, Northwest and Southwest in the Dominican Republic, causing unusual tides and strong waves of up to 20 feet. In the Dominican Republic, there are 24,000 displaced people, with half of them in shelters, 12, 829 persons are displaced at relative’s homes, 15 communities remain isolated. Food security assessments are underway and protection measures for vulnerable people in affected communities are being taken. Livelihoods in affected communities are anticipated to be an area of need when recovery efforts begin. The Emergency Operations Center continue to keep 18 to 24 provinces on red alert, due to the possibility of landslides and floods. No fatality was reported.
SSID an ACT Alliance local Member is going to provide humanitarian relief for 200 Households from 10 communities with assistance in Food Security, hygiene kits, and Non food Items.
RRFs_Dominican Republic_Hurricanne Irma_No.RRF09_2017
Since 11 August 2017, heavy monsoon rains have caused intense flooding across more than one-third of Bangladesh. According to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR) this floods are the worst in the last four decades. As of 27 August 2017, the Government of Bangladesh reports that the floods have affected 32 districts in the northern, North-Eastern and Central parts of the country due to the overflowing of the Brahmaputra-Jamuna river. An estimated 55,383 houses are reported to have been damaged and 640,786 are believed to have been destroyed by the floods, while 140 people are known to have died. The Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR) has reported that as of 27 August, 335 shelters in flood-affected areas are sheltering more than 106,000 people.
As part of the revision of the ACT Alliance Humanitarian Response Mechanism, the “Preliminary Appeal” is replaced by the “Concept Note”, a shorter more concise document which summarizes the proposed ACT response and emphasizes collaboration amongst the ACT members. For further information on the Revised Humanitarian Response Mechanism, please refer to its online toolkit : https://actlearn.org/course/view.php?id=236
Concept Notes_Bangladesh_Floods_BGD171
The current floods in Assam have been termed the worst since 1998. The third wave of floods has claimed 67 lives so far in Assam. The total number of deaths in this year’s flood- related incidents has gone up to 151 in the state. Incessant rains leading to floods have wreaked havoc in 25 of the 32 districts of Assam. In Morigaon district, which has been hit hardest, 5.21 lakh people have been marooned while 4.67 lakh people are affected in Barpeta district. In Bihar, the number of dead in the devastating floods in Bihar has gone up to 514 as the situation worsened with more areas getting affected. Around 17.1 million people are facing the deluge covering 2,371 Gram Panchayats (settlement councils) under 187 blocks of 19 districts of North Bihar. According to the Bihar State Disaster Management Department, 854,936 people have been shifted to 1,646 relief camps in different parts of Bihar While, in northern districts of West Bengal are reeling under heavy rains and unprecedented floods since July 21 with the state’s disaster management department reporting that the disaster has so far claimed 55 lives and affected 55 lakh people in north Bengal districts - Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, South Dinajpur, North Dinajpur, Malda and Cooch Behar.
The ACT India Forum is currently monitoring the situation and is ready to respond, providing, temporary shelter, non-food items, food security, and WASH to 8,000 affected households in the coming months.
Appeals_India_Floods in West Bengal, Bihar & Assam_IND172
The current floods in Assam have been termed the worst since 1998. The third wave of floods has claimed 67 lives so far in Assam. The total number of deaths in this year’s flood- related incidents has gone up to 151 in the state. Incessant rains leading to floods have wreaked havoc in 25 of the 32 districts of Assam. In Morigaon district, which has been hit hardest, 521,000 people have been marooned while 467,000 people are affected in Barpeta district.
The number of dead in the devastating floods in Bihar has gone up to 253 as the situation worsened with more areas getting affected. Around 12.6 million people are facing the deluge in 18 districts of the state. Heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of Nepal has worsened the already grim situation in the worst-hit Araria district.
Northern districts of West Bengal are reeling under heavy rains and unprecedented floods since July 21 with the state’s disaster management department reporting that the disaster has so far claimed 55 lives and affected 5.5 million people in north Bengal districts - Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, South Dinajpur, North Dinajpur, Malda and Cooch Behar.
As part of the revision of the ACT Alliance Humanitarian Response Mechanism, the “Preliminary Appeal” is replaced by the “Concept Note”, a shorter more concise document which summarizes the proposed ACT response and emphasizes collaboration amongst the ACT members. For further information on the Revised Humanitarian Response Mechanism, please refer to its online toolkit: https://actlearn.org/course/view.php?id=2
Concept Notes_India_Floods in West Bengal Bihar and Assam_IND172
Massive floods and landslides triggered by incessant and torrential rains have killed 131 people, and 32 have gone missing since 11th August 2017 so far, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of Nepal. Approximately 6 million people have been affected by the catastrophe. As per the initial findings till 18th August 2017, the number of displaced households is over 44,700 and over 301,500 households are affected[1].
As part of the revision of the ACT Alliance Humanitarian Response Mechanism, the “Preliminary Appeal” is replaced by the “Concept Note”, a shorter more concise document which summarizes the proposed ACT response and emphasizes collaboration amongst the ACT members. For further information on the Revised Humanitarian Response Mechanism, please refer to its online toolkit: https://actlearn.org/course/view.php?id=236
[1] http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Nepal%20Flood%20Sitrep%2018%20August%202017.pdf
Concept Notes_Nepal_Floods in Southern Plain_NPL171
On the evening of the 14th August, mudslides triggered by three days of heavy rains poured in and around the capital of Sierra Leone, Freetown. The most severe mudslides occurred in the coastal suburb of Racecourse on the city’s eastern edge, as well as in Regent and Lumley where thousands of makeshift settlements are home to the city’s poorest communities. Torrential rains have led to a series of significant floods and mudslides in several areas of Freetown. According to Freetown Mayor, rescue workers have recovered 270 bodies so far mainly from the Regent neighborhood where the mudslides happened. As rescue operations are still ongoing, the death toll is expected to rise. An estimated 3,000 or more people are believed to have lost their homes and are in immediate need of emergency assistance and shelter according to Sierra Leone’s Office of National Security (ONS).
The ACT Sierra Leone Forum, via the Council of Churches in Sierra Leone (CCSL), will respond to the Freetown mudslides crisis with a 59,957 USD Rapid Response Fund.
This Rapid Response Fund, published on August 21st, got revised on August 25th. The government decided to move the affected population to a different location and cater for the housing. Targets/allocations were revised based on this changing context and to avoid duplication. Consequent changes in needs have been reflected by a reduction in Shelter of about USD 8,000 and increase in Food Security of about USD 7,500 and WASH about USD 500. The provision of emergency shelter materials was removed (as well as the assistance in location of housing), NFIs distribution remains unchanged, and the additional Food and WASH items will enable the 100 targeted households to have a longer secure period.
RRFs_Sierra Leone_Mudslides_No.RRF 08/2017
After the El Niño weather phenomenon that severely affected Ethiopia and left 10.2 million people in need of emergency assistance in 2015/16, Ethiopia is once again subject to severe weather conditions causing the failure of the Hageya/Deyr rains (fall rain) in the southern and eastern rainfall belt. The severe water shortages resulting from negative Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) induced drought have caused high numbers of livestock deaths due to lack of pasture and high rate of disease. The Ethiopian Government with its humanitarian partners have issued the Humanitarian Requirement Document (HRD) in mid-January 2017 and declared that a total 5.6 million people are in need of urgent assistance. A total of USD 948 million has been requested. The proposed preliminary activities are categorized as life-saving activities such as: the provision of drinking water for people and livestock, provision of water treatment chemicals, the rehabilitation of water supply infrastructure, NFI support, hygiene and sanitation, animal feed, veterinary services, destocking, nutrition, health and protection. Members of the ACT Alliance Ethiopia Forum (AAEF) are currently responding to the 2015-16 El Niño-induced-drought and are preparing to mobilise additional resources to meet urgent needs of the current drought phenomena. Alerts_05_ 2017 Drought Response in Ethiopia
Since January 14th 2017, there has been moderate to strong rainfall in the provinces of the Ica region in Peru. The incessant heavy rainfall has subsequently provoked floods and landslides, causing damages to houses, educational facilities, agriculture, and infrastructure such as roads. So far, there are 13,904 affected persons, 57 collapsed houses, and 3580 damaged houses. The National Government has declared the State of Emergency. Furthermore, the rainy season is expected to last until April, so more floods and landslides are likely to occur.
According to the need assessment, the following sectors have been identified as a priority: Shelters, Non Food items and WASH. The Peru ACT Forum is assessing further the situation for determining which kind of humanitarian assistance intervention is required.
In January 2017 arctic cold, which brought a record breaking low temperature, paralyzed Russia, Ukraine and the whole Eastern Europe. The temperature in the region dropped to -30°C, resulting in transport collapse and damage to communal infrastructure, disruption of heat and electricity supply, frostbite of hundreds of people and a rapid growth of flu and other diseases rate in many places. Harsh weather has led to a drop of temperature in the places where Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees found shelter and which were constructed not for low temperatures. The frosts damaged heat systems and led to disruptions of heat supply. According to the meteorological forecast, Ukraine and Russia expect new bursts of cold weather in February, with temperatures that can plunge down to -20°C. Alerts_03_2017_Support to cold snap affected people from East Ukraine
Exceptionally harsh winter conditions from the beginning of January 2017, with temperatures at time going down to -30 degrees Celsius, have already claimed lives across Europe - among them refugees from various countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. The cold wave started already beginning of January peaking end of last week and building up to a small – scale emergency. Meteorologist forecast new freezing waves in Serbia, with lots of snow and freezing rain. It is estimated that this winter will be one of the coldest in the last 50 years. Among cold snap affected people are already highly vulnerable refugees/migrants in Serbia, who are in need of winterization support. Alerts_02_2017_Winterization support to refugees_migrants in Serbia
The arctic conditions from the beginning of January 2017 have already claimed lives across Europe. Conditions remain tough and constitute a small-scale, local emergency in south-eastern Romania. The severe winter weather hit Romania a week ago, when it started snowing heavily and temperatures dropped consecutively to -25 degrees Celsius. However, the crisis has reached a critical level only in the past 24 hours, hence the release of the alert at this time. Snowfall, combined with powerful winds caused the situation to deteriorate resulting in real danger for many rural communities. The cold snap claimed lives of many elderly people dying of hypothermia. 40,000 are affected by the weather and cut off by the blizzards in the South and East of Romania and in need of some form of humanitarian assistance. People have been trapped for more than a week inside their houses leaving many with no access to food, water and medicine. Authorities are also warning of flooding, when the snow thaws and breaches dams and meteorologists predict that it will continue to snow in the South and East of Romania during the next week. ACT Alliance member AIDRom, is on standby to reach affected areas to carry out a rapid needs assessment and plans to distribute food parcels, water and NFIs through the ACT Alliance Rapid Response Fund. Alerts_01_2017_Support to cold snap affected people
Super Typhoon Nock-ten or known locally as Nina reached maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 255 kilometres as it made landfall, weather officials and radio reports stated. The typhoon has weakened but is still equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane , sustaining winds of up to 140 kilometres per hour as it moved towards the heavily populated provinces of Batangas and Cavite, south of Manila. Nock-ten had made its first landfall in Bato, Catanduanes at 6:30 PM local time on Sunday, December 25. At least 218,000 flee to evacuation shelters as it made its first landfall over Catanduanes province, on the Bicol peninsula, which was on the highest storm alert for its arrival. Its second landfall in Sagñay, Camarines Sur was at around 9:30 pm, December 25. It brought heavy rain and fierce winds to Bicol. The typhoon is forecasted to have 5 landfalls before it goes out of the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) by 28 December. Based on the profile created by UNOCHA, the 50 km radius of the typhoon track covers 14 provinces. An estimated 38 Million people (19.5 M women/ 19.4 M men) or 7.5 M households may be affected. It is not clear how long it will take for initial damage assessments, with electricity and phone coverage likely to be knocked out for some time. alerts_37_2016_typhonn_nock_ten_philippines
The Severe cyclonic storm ‘Vardah’ made landfall near Chennai, the capital city of South Indian State of Tamil Nadu with winds around 140kmph for about 90 minutes during the afternoon of 12th December 2016, until it crossed the city and travelled inland, bringing at least 10 cm rainfall and claiming 10 lives. According to the recent weather forecast, light to moderate rainfall will occur in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Villupuram districts of Tamil Nadu in the next 12 hours. At least 10 people, including a 3-year-old child and four women died in separate rain-related incidents in Chennai city. Skymet Weather chief meteorologist said, "Vardah did not weaken significantly as expected. The very severe cyclonic storm was still a severe cyclonic storm when it made landfall at north of Chennai." Many arterial roads were blocked with fallen trees causing traffic havoc. Several houses were destroyed, especially in coastal parts like Kottivakkam, Palavakkam, Foreshore Estate and Royapuram. Several incidents of wall collapse were reported across the city1. The cyclone has caused severe destruction by uprooting trees, damaging houses, disrupting power services, land and air transport and throwing normal life out of gear. Alerts_36_2016_Cyclone_Vardah_batters_Tamil_Nadu_India
A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia's Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province at 05.03am local time on 7 December 2016. Indonesia's national disaster management agency (BNPB) has reported that 97 people have died and more than 600 have been injured. Around 200 buildings have either collapsed or are heavily damaged. The most heavily affected district is Pidie Jaya, particularly the 4 sub-districts - total population 104,430 (2015) - of Bandar Baru, Trienggadeng, Bandar Dua and Meureudu (district capital). alerts_35_2016_earthquake_in_aceh_province_indonesia
Hurricane Otto, category 2, hit the Nicaraguan and Costa Rican territory on Thursday, November 24, as the latest hurricane of the season with winds of 175 Kms Per hour from the Caribbean Sea. It is the first hurricane in 50 years to hit Costa Rica, where 9 deaths were reported but none in Nicaragua. In Nicaragua, 2,000 persons were evacuated in the Caribbean coast, and in San Carlos, Rio San Juan, near to the Costa Rican border. No significant damages had been reported in Nicaragua. In Costa Rica, more than 50,000 people have lost houses, livelihoods, and the crops. So far, 5,502 persons remain in 50 shelters. The most affected region are the central and northern regions. The country remains with red alert due the heavy rains in the western coasts leaving several communities isolated.
The Syrian crisis is an ongoing multifaceted armed conflict, since unrest began in March 2011. The severity of the humanitarian disaster has been outlined by the United Nations (UN) and many international organizations. The Syrian Centre for Policy Research (SCPR) has found that altogether 45% of the prewar population has been forced to move — including 6.36 million displaced within Syria and more than 4 million who have fled the country to Lebanon, Jordan,Iraq,Turkey, Egypt, and Kuwait. With new offenses planned on the city of Raqqa in 2017, these numbers could be set to increase. ACT Alliance members have been responding directly to the Syria crisis through the Appeal mechanism since 2012 through SYR121, SYR131, SYR151 and SYR161. JSL Forum members are planning to submit a new response to the Syria crisis through SYR171 new appeal. alerts_33_2016_syria-response
Kenya is currently experiencing drought due to the adverse effects of the weather phenomenon La Nina. This is evidenced by the country experiencing generally sunny and dry weather conditions in the months of June, July, August and September. Moreover, the forecast by the Kenya Meteorological Services for the October-November-December 2016 ‘Short Rains Season’ projects that most parts of the country will experience generally depressed rainfall with sunny and dry weather conditions prevailing. The onset is also expected to be late in most parts of the country. Reports from the national government and stakeholders indicate 1.25 million people in Arid and Semi-Arid counties are facing starvation. In October 2016, The National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) declared Kilifi County to be at alarm drought phase while the following counties are in the alert phase: Tana River, Garissa, Taita Taveta, Narok, Meru (North), Mandera. Makueni, Lamu, Wajir, Marsabit, Kwale, and Kajiado. Turkana, Isiolo, Tharaka Nithi, Nyeri and Samburu counties have their drought status classified as normal though it is predicted that this situation will worsen in the coming months. The ACT Kenya Forum through the following members; Anglican Church of Kenya, World Renew, Christian Aid, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, National Council of Churches of Kenya and Church World Service are planning to participate in the response and complement existing efforts through a joint ACT appeal. alerts_11_2016_drought-in-kenya
On 25, 26 and 27 October 2016, heavy rainfall resulted in flooding of populated areas in Upper Egypt, primarily in Suhag with 2’600 people affected and the Red Sea Governorates with 3’000 people affected. 26 people have reportedly been killed and 72 injured due to torrential rain and flooding. The Ministry of Health said the death toll could rise as some families did not report deaths before burial. A warning was released about heavy rains across the country's different regions to continue until about the sixth of November. The Red Sea and Suhag governorates experienced power cuts and disrupted road traffic on routes linking to cities in Upper Egypt. Schools have been closed in the area. ACT member BLESS is looking to provide 5’250 affected people with essential kitchen supplies and bedding sets. alerts_31_2016_flooding-upper-egypt
Head of Humanitarian Affairs
Global
niall.orourke@actalliance.org
Geneva, Switzerland
Regional Humanitarian Officer
Africa
Caroline.Njogu@actalliance.org
Nairobi, Kenya
Humanitarian Operations Manager
Global
Cyra.Bullecer@actalliance.org
Bangkok, Thailand
Humanitarian Programme Advisor
MENA
Amman, Jordan
