A 6.2 magnitude earthquake hit the districts of Majene, Mamuju and Polewali Mandarin in West Sulawesi, Indonesia on 15th January, 2021. This was preceded by a 5.9 magnitude earthquake in the same region. Recent reports from UN OCHA and BNPB said that it caused damages to 300 houses, 1 bridge, 2 hospitals, 1 port, 1 hotel, 2 government offices, landslide on 3 spots, 242 casualties, 189 people with serious injuries, 637 people with minor injuries, and around 15,000 people are in evacuation centers where they will . The number of casualties is predicted to increase as reports from local authorities will come in. The earthquake has also affected and disrupted the community’ activities such as health facilities (including hospitals), offices, marketplaces, shops, and religious facilities. The disaster has also resulted in the cut-off of electricity, communication, water, transportation access (by air and land), and lack of food security. Indonesian government has started to deploy rescue and assistance to the affected areas.

ACT Indonesia Forum plans to give assistance to 5,000 people affected by the earthquake through ACT Alliance’s Rapid Response Fund.  They plan to aid and support the disruption of health services, household items, protection for vulnerable groups, shelter materials, WASH services and materials, and assistance to support the disruption of livelihoods.

ALERT Indonesia West Sulawesi Earthquake

The break out of the Syria crises has already entered its tenth year, civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict with an estimated 6.1 million internally displaced person and 1.4 million returnees. It is estimated that 11.06 million people in need of humanitarian assistance including 4.65 million people in acute need. While more than 90 % of the Syrian people live below the poverty line, WFP estimates that an additional 2.2 million people are at risk of food insecurity.

The impact of the conflict is also large and growing pushed millions of people into unemployment and poverty. The international sanctions especially the Caesar Act that took effect on 17 June 2020 are tightening the stranglehold on Syria’s economy and increasing the suffering among the Syrian people first and foremost and making the plight of ordinary Syrians even more desperate.

On top of all these, the COVID-19 pandemic still poses serious public health risks and caused  more loss of the Syrian  economy, worsening the impoverished situation of the most vulnerable people.

Syria ACT forum and through its LWF and MECC  is preparing an appeal to respond to the needs of the affected communities.

Alert – Syria Conflict

It is estimated that 1.3 million Syrian refugees live in Jordan today. Approximately 85 per cent of them lives in the host communities, while more than 139,000 lives in two main  camps, Za’atari and Azraq. According to UNICEF, 86% of Syrian refugees outside camps in Jordan live below the poverty line. Most Syrian families rely on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs at a time of aid cuts and economic downturn compounded by the coronavirus pandemic.  Due to COVID-19, many refugees and local Jordanian lost their jobs. This had impact on lack of food and make a high pressure on the families in Jordan, and many of the host communities lost their jobs. The total number of positive tested people in the country are 198 thousand, with 2,442 associated deaths.

While poverty and unemployment rates were already high prior to the onset of COVID-19, Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordanians face even greater challenges in earning a livelihood, covering basic needs such as food, protection and accessing key services as healthcare.

Alert-Humanitarian crises in Jordan

The protracted humanitarian crisis in Iraq remains one of the largest and most volatile in the world. The COVID-19 outbreak hit a country already facing a humanitarian crisis, further deepening vulnerabilities and disrupting on-going efforts to deliver aid to the most vulnerable people in acute need of humanitarian assistance. The people most in need of such assistance continue to be those directly affected by the conflict against ISIL and recently affected by the pandemic compromising of (Internally displaced people, “approximately 1.4 million, 70 per cent of whom have been displaced for more than three years”, Syrian Refugees approximately 253,000, Returnees and host communities in and out of camps).

Call-4-Action_Iraq_Humanitarian_Crisis