Typhoon Haiyan, considered the world’s deadliest typhoon and one of the most powerful to ever make landfall, tore through the Philippines on the morning of 8 November 2013 with winds of up to 275km an hour. ACT established a coordination centre in Manila, and initiated a massive combined response that has topped US$10m. Haiyan cut […]
Existing chronic food insecurity in Mali was compounded by three years of low rainfall, reducing the availability of food and increasing food prices beyond the reach of the poor. Mali is on the frontline of climate-related emergencies today. The UN Human Development Index ranks the country at 182 out of 187 countries. In 2013, environmental […]
The Civil Society Partnership for Development Effectiveness (CPDE) has assessed international policies such as the Millennium Development Goals and concluded that they cannot be met with economic growth as the driver of development. Instead, it promotes political leadership and commitment to sustainable approaches. However, aid budgets are in decline, and in many parts of the […]
The civil war in Syria has been raging for three years, causing a severe humanitarian crisis. According to the UN, more than 4 million people have been displaced within the country and more than 2 million refugees have found their way to Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and countries further afield. The death toll rose by […]
When Aline was first diagnosed with HIV, she was ashamed and frightened. Now she provides support and advice to others and takes part in a radio show for people living with HIV that encourages people to talk openly about the virus. Radio Ivyizigiro means Radio Hope – and hope is exactly what it provided for […]
Torrential rains swept eastern Romania in mid-September, wreaking devastation in towns and rural areas of the Moldova province. Thousands of villagers fled as floodwaters rose and spread. Housing, bridges, roads and other infrastructure were destroyed. Farmers lost standing crops, farm buildings and livestock, and many had their soil washed away, incurring debts for the agriculturally […]
Africa is a ‘vulnerability hot spot’ for the impacts of climate change – with adaptation challenges growing substantially even if emissions are reduced drastically. This was one of the findings in a report, which has been launched in Gaborone, Botswana, in the occasion of the Fifth session of the African ministerial conference states that Africa […]
Typhoons and unusually heavy rains caused severe flooding in Cambodia for the second year in a row. The Mekong and other major rivers broke their banks, ruining standing crops and washing away people’s houses and belongings. More than 1.7 million people were affected. One hundred and thirty four people lost their lives, 119,000 were displaced […]
In 2013, a national drought emergency was declared in Namibia, with roughly 37 per cent of the population considered at high risk. In the Okarukoro area of north-eastern Namibia, for example, there has been no rain for three years. Okarukoro is normally arid and the Himba people living there have, for generations, been relying on […]
Climate change, coupled with urbanisation, rapid population growth and environmental degradation, is creating greater risks of disasters. How these are dealt with is largely defined by the frameworks for governmental and local disaster risk reduction (DRR) management and mechanisms. ACT members in Indonesia have been involved in the consultations on the second Hyogo Framework for […]