Reaching its thirteenth year of war, Syria remains a complex humanitarian and protection emergency both inside Syria and the neighboring countries. Jordan hosted more than 672,000 registered Syrian refugees, however the actual total is estimated at around 1.3 million when those not registered are considered. Around 90% of the Syrian refugees live outside the camps in urban, peri-urban, and rural areas, with almost 80% of the Syrian refugees live below the poverty line in Jordan. Most Syrian families are relying on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs.

The impact of Syrian’s refugee crisis on the Jordan’s economy is high. There are significant structural issues facing the Jordanian economy: insufficient revenue, costly subsidies and a large public sector, water scarcity, and dependence on energy imports. These continue to impact growth, and the situation of Jordanians, particularly in the hosting communities, is becoming more difficult. The crisis also has its huge impact on the socio-economic situation of Jordanians and other population segments such as Palestinian refugees and other refugee population. The crisis has incredible cost for Jordanian families, specifically the younger Jordanian workforce.

The crisis added increasing competition on natural resources and added more pressure on protected areas especially in the northern and eastern parts of the country. It has created more pressure on ecosystem goods and services and had very negative impact on waste management that increased by 30% which was generated because of receiving more than a million of Syrian refugees.

ACT Jordan forum is preparing an appeal to respond to the needs of the affected communities. ACT members: DSPR, ELCJHL, and MECC are getting ready to respond to the protracted humanitarian crisis with focus on sectors of Livelihoods, Food security, Health, Education, and Protection.

Alert-Humanitarian Protracted Crisis- Jordan

ACT-Alert-Tanzania Forum 5 Dec 2022 – Final

Tanzania for the past two years 2021-2022 have been characterized by a below average rainfall during the rainy seasons (March- May and October-December) the lowest ever experienced since 1970 causing a severe drought. The most affected regions are the northern-eastern coastlands/highlands. Drought condition is observed more frequently in parts of the northern and central regions.
The Ministry of livestock has reported at least 157,695 cattle, 48,290 goats,94,230 sheep’s, 6,135 donkeys and 8 camels have died in Coast, Tanga, Kilimanjaro, Arusha and Manyara regions between September 2021 to January 2022 and recently at least 320 cattle and 250 goats have died due to drought in Tanzania’s northern region of Kilimanjaro between July and September 2022 .

The drought has affected harvest of major crops, increased crop pests, reduced availability of water and reduced pasture for livestock. Food prices have increased significantly, thus affecting the purchasing power of vulnerable members of the affected communities.
The Government of Tanzania identified gaps in response to the drought and developed the 2022-2023 Drought Contingency Plan (DCP). These gaps based on three hazards: Drought; Disease outbreak and pest outbreak.
The 2022-2023 planning envisions Drought in the following:
• Above 120,000 households require food assistance.
• Immediate agricultural response will be required to assist affected households with drought tolerant crops
• Government Strategic Grain Reserves (SGR) will not be sufficient to cater for the population due to the huge numbers of affected population.
• Response may be in form of food aid and cash transfers
• Protection services will be required to prevent and respond to violence in the home and abuse related to accessing food assistance and social support services; ensure equitable access to humanitarian services by vulnerable household

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 at a depth of 10.0 KM(6.21 miles) has occurred at Southwest
Cianjur District – West Java, Indonesia, as reported by Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and
Geophysical Agency (BMKG) on November 21, 2022, 13:21:10 (GMT+7). The earthquake are not tsunami
potential, with epicentrum latitude 6,84 and longitude 107,05 and impacted several location in: 10 km
Southwest Cianjur District; 15 km Northeast Sukabumi city; 39 km Southeast Bogor City; 63 km
Northwest Bandung; and 78 km Southeast Jakarta. Until Tuesday, November 22, 2022, 06:30:00
(GMT+7), around 118 aftershocks were recorded with magnitudes ranging from 1,5 to 4,2. According to
BMKG, the earthquake is the shallow-type quake caused by Cimandiri Fault activity.
The Government of Indonesia has declared this disaster as an Emergency Response Status and is
requesting the involvement of many parties for managing the disaster.

The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Cianjur District on Tuesday (22/11) at 16:00:00
(GMT+7) reported that there were 268 casualties, mostly because they were hit by collapsed building
materials when the quake happened. The Indonesian Red Cross declared that some casualties were
children. As many as 151 persons are declared missing and the search is still ongoing, while as many as
1.083 persons are injured. The total affected community in Cianjur District are 169.124 persons while
around 58.362 people took refuge in other areas as IDPs. As for now, the total affected population which
are reported to evacuate are increasing to 7.060 persons, divided in some evacuation points.
The earthquake has caused infrastructure damages in Cianjur District, whether houses or public facilities.
It is recorded that 12.641 houses are minorly damaged, 2.071 houses are mildly damaged, 6.570 houses
are heavily damaged, 1 unit of Islamic boarding school is heavily damaged, 4 unit of government
buildings are damaged, 3 unit of educational structures are damaged, 1 unit of worship place are
damaged, and 1 regional public hospital (Cianjur Regional Public Hospital) are mildly damaged.
Other than Cianjur District, infrastructure damages are also reported in Bogor Districts (46 houses with
mild damage), Sukabumi District (443 houses with heavy damage), and in Sukabumi city (14 houses with
minor damage). The earthquake also caused landslides that blocked provincial roads in Cianjur District.

ACT Alliance is considering to support the earthquake emergency support by mobilizing funds from the RRF

Indonesia_Alert_Cianjur Earthquake.  

Clashes across the Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan border, in the Bulak-Bashi area of the Batken region (Kyrgyzstan) erupted on 14 September 2022 between the troops of Kyrgyzstan and of Tajikistan, which escalated into an International Armed Conflict, each accusing one another of using tanks, mortars, rocket artillery and assault drones to attack the outpost.

A ceasefire was instigated, yet intermittent heavy artillery and gunfire continued in several border villages during 16-20 September. A renewed ceasefire prevails, yet the situation remains tense. A state of emergency was declared on 16 September 2022 in the Batken region of Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan share 984 km of border, 30% of which is still disputed and leads to tensions due to lack of access to water, roads and pastures and nearby settlements.

The surroundings of Batken airport and objects on the outskirts of the city were also shelled. As per official data, the total death toll was 39 and 135 people were injured on the Tajik side, 59 people were killed, among them women and children and more than 100 were injured on the Kyrgyz side. Over 140 thousand civilians evacuated the conflict zone to the safer region (Kadamjai and Razzakov cities) of Batken and have become IDPs.

ACT Europe Forum through Hungarian Interchurch Aid working with local partners will access ACT’s Rapid Response Fund to provide assistance to affected population.

Alert_Batken_Border_Clashes

Iraq is facing a protracted humanitarian crises caused by the ISIS conflict that occurred from 2014-2018 and the subsequent forced displacement of over 6 million people. While it has now been four years since the liberation from ISIS, the impacts of the conflict remain significant across the country, with continued displacement, destruction in basic infrastructure, continued violent conflict and insecurity, protection violations, and lack of livelihoods opportunities which has been further exacerbated by the political and economic crisis in Iraq. Moreover, according to the UNEP (2022), Iraq has been ranked at the 5^th most affected country by climate change in the world. Temperatures are soaring to new extremes as degrees above 50°C are becoming common, compounding the situation further into a complex humanitarian crisis.

ACT Iraq forum is preparing an appeal to respond to the needs of the affected communities. ACT members: HIA and LWF are getting ready for a response to provide durable solutions to the protracted humanitarian crisis in this complex environment with focus on sectors of WASH, Livelihoods (food security and agriculture), Protection and Social Cohesion.

Alert- Iraq Protracted Crisis

In the early hours of September 13, 2022, the Azerbaijani military forces launched a large-scale coordinated attack against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia targeting the peaceful borderline communities in the regions of Gegharkunik, Vayots Dzor and Syunik of Armenia. The Azerbaijani armed forces used different weapons, including heavy artillery, mortars of various calibres, UAVs, and large-calibre guns.

The emergency is small scale, however, there is a concern for a large-scale offensive.

The primary geographical focus of the attack is 3 regions of Armenia (Gegharkunik, Vayots Dzor and Syunik) including the cities and villages of Kapan, Goris, Jermuk, Vardenis, Sotk, Norabak, Kut, Geghamasar and other borderline communities. According to the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia, by the beginning of the 2020 year population in these 3 regions are as follows։ Gegharkunik region – a total of 222.7 thousand persons (66.6 urban and 161.1 rural), Vayots Dzor region – a total of 48.5 thousand persons (48.5 urban and 31.4 rural), Syunik region – total 137.3 thousand persons (93.2 urban and 44.1 rural).

ACT Armenia Forum through the Armenian Round Table will access ACT’s Rapid Response Fund to provide assistance in affected regions.

Alert_Armenia_Armed Conflict

Reaching its twelfth year of war, Syria remains a complex humanitarian and protection emergency characterized by ongoing hostilities and their long-term consequences, including widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure, economic collapse, explosive ordnance contamination and one of the largest numbers of internally displaced people in the world. In many ways, the humanitarian needs across the whole of Syria are currently at their highest since the start of the conflict, and households are reverting to negative coping mechanisms more frequently than before. This includes child labour and child marriage and the sale of productive assets – all of which increase protection needs and/or reduce households’ capacity for self-sustenance in the future. As household resilience decreases, humanitarian needs increase. Over 14.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria, including approximately 9.6 million in severe need. The total number of IDPs is 5.38M, including 4.3M in need of humanitarian assistance.

Act Syria forum is preparing an appeal to respond to the needs of the affected communities. Act members: CA, GOPA-DERD, HEKS-EPER and MECC are getting ready for a response to provide humanitarian assistance in this complex environment targeting Food security, health, WASH, Education, Basic needs, NFIs, livelihoods & early recovery, child & youth forums, SGBV and psychosocial sectors.

ACT Syria forum Alert 2023 – Protracted Crisis

Hurricane Julia affected the Central American region with the greatest impact on Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. In El Salvador, the effects of the tropical storm started on October 7th, but it officially entered in the early morning of October 10th. Up to date, the following impact and losses have been reported:

• 397 rescues have been carried out, 162 obstructed roads are reported, 256 fallen trees, 112 landslides, 193 homes, and 10 vehicles affected, 15 floods, 134 river overflows, 1,110 evacuated, 10 deceased and 83 shelters have been activated.-
• 90 shelters are available to the population, 83 are in use and, 678 families are sheltered, which is equivalent to 2,097 people.
• Food insecurity due to the loss of all corn, beans, vegetables, and sorghum crops:
  • Lack of economic income due to the loss of small businesses.
  • Increased migration due to loss of jobs and housing.
  • Difficulty in getting around the communities to carry out their daily work activities due to the destruction of roads.

The ACT Forum El Salvador plan focuses on the recovery of the livelihoods of the most affected population, since there are considerable losses that if not addressed may cause food insecurity in many affected families, psychosocial support will also be provided to individuals and families that require it, based on the initial information obtained, the youth and child are the most affected population that needs to be addressed with CBCP. It is estimated that a budget of approximately 150,000.00 USD is required to develop and provide optimal care to the target population. To that extent, the ACT Forum El Salvador is foreseeing to apply for a RRF.

ACT_Alert_El_Salvador_Hurricane_Julia

As of October, hurricane Julia hit Nicaragua with rainfalls between 200mm to 250mm that have saturated soils, and wrought havoc across the country, especially in the North and South autonomous regions, where indigenous populations are still recovering from the 2020 hurricane season. The Hurricane has affected communities and populations throughout the national territory, especially in the center, west, and south of the country. About a million people are left without power and heavy rains and floods forced the evacuations of more than 13,000 families, while some 31,170 people lack access to drinking water. The central government has begun to respond at the level of urban areas and in shelters that were set up.

CIEETS, CEPAD, and ILFE, as members of the ACT Forum Nicaragua, are foreseen to provide a humanitarian response in the sectors of Food/Nutrition, Household items, Shelter, and WASH. To that end, a RRF of 150,000 USD is sought to be activated.

ACT_Alert_Nicaragua_Huracan_Julia_2022