On the morning of Monday 2 March 2020, the region of of Tumbes, Northern Lima, Ica, Junin, and San Martin in Peru, was notified with an increased endemic level of the Aedes aegypti, the main vector of the viruses Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya.  The Epidemiology Offices of the Regional Health Directorates have reported the following number of confirmed cases per region: Ica, 27 cases; Northern Lima, 6 cases; Junín, 414 cases; Tumbes, 40 cases; San Martin, 664, cases. It should be noted that, in the first five weeks of 2020, there have been 12 deaths from dengue in and a total of 5,480 cases.

Peru: Dengue outbreak

The Philippines has been seeing a succession of disasters since December 2019 that have so far affected about 5.7 million people across the country.  Overall these have taken a significant toll on the capacities of the government and other actors to support the affected population. All three major island groups have been hit: typhoon and volcanic eruption in Luzon, typhoon in Visayas, and earthquake in Mindanao.  Across these areas, it has been difficult for affected people to restore their assets particularly their homes and livelihoods. The government estimates that almost USD 2 million worth of agriculture have been affected and economic losses of more than USD60 million, and the situation is not expected to improve very soon.

ACT Philippines Forum plans to submit a single Appeal for these disasters with NCCP as lead requesting member. The ACT Appeal will define a comprehensive and strategic approach for responding, considering the multiplicity of needs in a wide geographic location and mindful of the limited resources and capacities available within the ACT Forum.

ALERT Philippines Multi Disasters

Continuous and heavy rainfall caused flooding in Jakarta and its surrounding cities for two days during new year. Poorly maintained rivers, lack of water infiltration and littering has resulted in the rise of the water levels at many points in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi (Jabodetabek). As of 4 January, there are about 173,000 people have been displaced in 207 sub-districts of Jabodetabek as reported by National Disaster Management Authority of Indonesia (BNPB) with 53 dead.  About 409,000 have been affected by the floods.

ACT Indonesia Forum have been coordinating. Jakarta-based Indonesian Christian Association for Health Services (ICAHS/PELKESI), in partnership with Salvation Army and Gereja Kristen Indonesia (GKI), has started its relief operations by providing medical services in selected Jakarta areas and have already served 158 people.  They will continue their work in Bekasi in the coming days.

PELKESI plans to access ACT Alliance’s Rapid Response Fund to continue their health services in flood-affected areas.

ALERTS Indonesia Jakarta Flood

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that typhoon Phanfone (local name:  Ursula) 600,142 families or 2,431,821 persons were affected in 2,702 barangays (villages) in MIMAROPA, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, and CARAGA regions. About 19,553 families or 77,989 individuals are still staying in government designated evacuation centers. Twelve municipalities in nine provinces have declared a State of Calamity. About 428,781 houses were damaged.

In the afternoon  of Tuesday the 24 December 2019, the province of Salcedo, Eastern Samar in the Philippines, Phanfone made its first landfall with sustained wind speeds of 120 kph and gusts of up to 150 kph. The storm brought heavy rain and violent winds as it traversed the Visayas region of Central Philippines, taking a similar path as typhoon Haiyan in 2013.  It exited the landmass through Mindoro and Palawan provinces on December 28, making seven landfalls overall.

ACT Philippines Forum, through National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) plans to raise an appeal.

ALERT Philippines Typhoon Phanfone

The humanitarian crisis in Iraq remains one of the largest and most volatile in the world. The pace of displacement over the past four and a half years is nearly without precedent with more than 5.4 million people displaced since the rise of the Islamic State (IS). The 2019 Iraq Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) states 6.7 million people continue to be in need, and although 4.3 million people have returned to their place of origin, 1.7 million people remain internally displaced. At present 721,000 IDP’s and 241, 000 Syrian refugees reside within the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), many of whom have remained in prolonged displacement since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011.

Act Iraq forum is preparing an appeal to respond to the needs of the affected communities. Act members: CA, DCA, HIA and LWF are getting ready for a response in Iraq targeting Shelter/ NFI’s, WASH, Livelihoods, Protection and Mine action sectors.

Call-4-Action_Iraq_Humanitarian_Crisis

The Syrian crisis is in entering its tenth year of protracted conflict causing a UN declared level three humanitarian emergency. The past and present hostilities compounded with the continued massive displacement of populations, remain the main drivers of humanitarian needs. As such the Syrian crisis remains the largest displacement crisis in the world, with over 5.6 million registered refugees and over 6 million people displaced within Syria. Jordan hosts 671,074 registered Syrian refugees. Lebanon hosts 1.5 million Syrian refugees along with 31,502 Palestine Refugees from Syria, and a pre-existing population of more than 175,000 Palestine Refugees.
With this Lebanon is on street demonstration for over that 55 days demanding change in the government, which put the country on hold, with negative affect of the Lebanese population in general and more specific on the refugees mainly affected quality of life, purchase power, disrupted of social cohesion as well as economic investment, devaluation of local currency and ongoing sanction that affect food and health supply.
North East Syria recent developments also worsen the situation, as the number of people living in camps in the northeast has almost tripled in 2019.

Act JSL forum is preparing an appeal to respond to the needs of the affected communities. Act members: DSPR, FCA, LWF and MECC are getting ready for a response in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon targeting shelter/NFI, Food Security, WASH, Education, Protection/Psycho-social, Livelihood/Early Recovery, Health/Nutrition, and capacity building sectors.

Call-4-Action_Syria_Humanitarian_Crisis