Nearly 1 million people in Somalia were reported to be in need of life-saving help in 2014, 300,000 of whom were malnourished children.

Exacerbating the food situation, Somalia was also dealing with military offensives and threats from insurgents.

The UNHCR estimated that 50,000 people were internally displaced in the first quarter of 2014 alone, with the total figure standing at approximately 1.1 million. The crisis in Somalia is multi-faceted, with each region struggling with its own issues.

ACT response

ACT members undertook assessments in different areas to prioritise the specific needs of the regions. They found that decreased food security was being caused by conflict and the destruction of valuable resources; the erosion of livestock due to lack of water and unprecedented natural disasters, crop failures because of acute water shortages, and high food prices that made it impossible for people living in extreme poverty to eat properly.

It has been a challenge to assist those in need in Somalia. Attempts to aid people were hindered in areas of conflict, where initiatives were sabotaged. Despite the difficulties, there were real achievements in addressing basic food, water and sanitation needs of displaced people and vulnerable host households. These were thanks to well-organised efforts where ACT assisted drought-affected populations in the southern and central parts of Somalia and the Dadaab refugee camp.

Historical violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between 1994 and 2003 led to the loss of an estimated 5 million lives.

While violence has subsided to a large extent, in 2014 renewed conflict in the country displaced an estimated 150,000 households, many of them crossing the border to Uganda.

But the gradual restoration of security in the Kamango region of the DRC resulted in the spontaneous return of more than 60,000 people to the area, most coming back from Uganda.

Strongholds under the control of rebels were taken over by the regular army, and local authorities encouraged the return of displaced people.

Assistance from ACT

The focus of the ACT appeal was North Kivu province of the eastern DRC, including the Kamango refugee camp in the Beni territory, where members worked with 48,000 returned people; and in the Rutshuru territory with 24,000 returned people.

The ACT response revolved around food security, nutrition for 3,350 malnourished children, access to clean water, hygiene and sanitation, and psychosocial support.

Partners of ACT member Christian Aid are providing emergency support to some 50,000 people who have fled a conflict in the north central state of Benue in Nigeria.

The violence is the latest outbreak of a long-running land dispute between local farmers and groups of nomadic Fulani cattle herders.

Clashes between Fulani and Jukun communities in neighbouring Taraba state have added to the number of displaced people (IDPs).

Neither the state government, nor the federal agency directly responsible for emergency management in the state, have established a camp for the IDPs.

As a result, the displaced are taking refuge wherever they can, with some moving into schools that are empty because of an on-going teachers’ strike.

Christian Aid partners, Jireh Doo Foundation (JDF) and Anglican Diocesan Development Services (ADDS) Makurdi are distributing food and non-food items such as water containers and purifiers, mosquito nets, sanitary towels and cooking utensils.

In addition, psychosocial counselling is being provided, and general health education on water and sanitation hygiene to help prevent the spread of disease.

JDF and ADDS Makurdi are working with other civil society organisations and media to put pressure on the government to respond adequately to the crisis.

Charles Usie, country manager for Christian Aid Nigeria said: “Farming is the primary occupation in Benue state and the main source of income for most households.

“As well as people losing their lives, violent attacks during this conflict have destroyed farmlands leaving people homeless and jobless. This is another example of the growing insecurity in the country but we must put pressure on the authorities – they cannot ignore the crisis in Benue”.

Football lovers in Gbalamuya village in Kambia county, Sierra Leone, a region bordering Guinea, are at a loss this football season as they are forced to forgo their favourite matches on the big screen.

They are gripped by fear of the vicious Ebola virus. Their concern stems from the fact the disease is primarily spread through exchange of body fluids, including sweat. Gatherings of people increase the risk of new infections, as sweating is unavoidable in the warm and humid climate.

The community centre was only recently equipped with TV monitors in time for the football World Cup.

ACT member, the Council of Churches in Sierra Leone, managed to use the venue but for a more pragmatic reason: to hold a public awareness meeting about the risks of Ebola and the precautions needed to prevent its spread. The next day, the government prohibited all public gatherings and closed schools in the district.

The loss of the football coverage is a minor inconvenience in an emergency that has cost 370 people their lives, according to latest World Health Organisation figures on the haemorrhagic fever released this week. Since the outbreak was identified in January, it has killed 270 people Guinea, 66 in Sierra Leone and 34 in Liberia.

ACT Alliance is responding to the crisis in both Liberia and Sierra Leone by raising awareness of the disease and methods of avoiding contraction.

When health ministry officials in Monrovia, Liberia, announced on June 13 four confirmed cases in Monrovia, the news created fear in the city. Stigma associated with the disease, coupled with the cultural care practices for nursing the sick and burying the dead, have become the main challenge in controlling the spread of the virus. Infected people are afraid to report contraction and will even flee their area of infection to seek medical attention in the city or a neighbouring country.

Two hospitals belonging to the Lutheran church in Lofa, Liberia – easily accessed from Guinea – are attractive to sufferers of the disease as they offer free treatment.  The hospitals have not treated Ebola cases but have treated cases of Lassa fever, an acute viral illness that occurs in west Africa and which manifests in the same manner as Ebola.

HIV anti-retroviral drugs are used to treat Lassa fever. ACT members in Liberia wish to increase the response to create more awareness and to include emergency isolation units for the Lutheran hospitals for the next six months.

Photo: ACT/Sean Hawkey

United Nations climate change talks in Bonn (Germany) have been suspended on a positive note, with countries closer to agreeing a new global climate deal next year that would put a reign on runaway climate change.

It follows recent signals from the US and Mexico of carbon emission cuts, as well as the decision to put the new Green Climate Fund into operation.

However, delegates have left the final session in Bonn, Germany, with a series of tight deadlines they must meet in order to prevent the process collapsing. ACT Alliance says the small successes of this conference mustn’t be lost to the bigger work ahead.

“It’s not a really bad result. We’ve seen some good progress on the different elements of the deal: a consensus that next year’s agreement should have adaptation at heart and the parties are all talking about the need to cut emissions,” ACT climate change advisory group co-chair Mattias Söderberg said. “However, we can’t let up, the hard work must continue.

“Most parties have tried to find agreement and common ground and to raise their ambition to reach agreement. There is an increasing urgency to find a global way to tackle climate change, and we must start to look for solutions rather than focusing on the problems.”

UN negotiators need to come up with the structure of the new agreement before the meeting resumes in October. By March, countries need to present the contributions each will make to a future agreement.

The contributions, known as intended nationally-determined contributions, were a major topic of debate at the talks. “Emissions reductions will of course be part of the contributions, but it is also important to address means of implementation. With no support, many developing countries will not be able to deliver concrete results. It is unfortunate that the meeting in Bonn didn’t agree on what to include as contributions. The pressure on the next meeting to deliver is now increasing, as parties need clarity before preparing their contributions in the beginning of 2015” Söderberg said.

Söderberg said he was happy there were constructive discussions about finance, and loss and damage, which are important elements of the future agreement. “Our members see the compound effect of harsher and more frequent weather disasters and the long-term effect of changes to weather patterns. Developing countries need funds for the irreversible effects of climate change on their lives. Loss and damage must be included in the 2015 agreement.”

In summing up, co-chair of the meeting, known as the Advanced Durban Platform, Kishan Kumarsingh, congratulated countries for making significant progress on the draft text of the new climate deal, and for starting to identify elements of the contributions that countries will need to make to the agreement.

“Many new ideas have been brought to the negotiating table. You have made significant progress on all elements of the 2015 text, fleshed out and clarified proposals, and have a better understanding of proposals. There is growing convergence on many issues. You have identified politically-significant choices that still need to be made.”

But countries still need to agree on the elements of the text, he said. Although countries have a better appreciation of how the parties view broader outcome of the deal to take effect from 2020, many parties have called for acceleration of implementation and the importance of building trust and confidence in the years before 2020, he said.

2014 marked the 10th anniversary of ACT’s programme of work in Darfur in partnership with Caritas.

The UN has described Sudan’s western Darfur region as one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with 300,000 people having been killed and 2.3 million violently displaced. Current estimates say 1.2 million Darfuris live in camps and 3.2 million rely on humanitarian aid. Those displaced are living predominantly in camps in both Darfur and nearby Chad, where access for humanitarian workers is limited, severely reducing the ability to deliver aid.

Since the beginning of the crisis, the ACT-Caritas programme has raised more than US$120m for health, nutrition, water and sanitation, livelihoods, and emergency preparedness and response.

In Hamedia camp near Zalingei in central Darfur, the ACT-Caritas emergency response unit offers essential household goods, such as plastic mats, blankets, jerry cans, soap, cooking sets and mosquito nets.

When people arrive at the camp they are first registered with the World Food Programme, in order to receive monthly food rations. When a new plot of land becomes available within the camp, people are moved from the reception area and are able to use the permanent services of the camp, many of which are run by ACT Caritas, including schools, health clinics and nutrition centres, and services for improving economic wellbeing.

In 2014 some 420,000 people benefited from the programme.