Since mid-September, Honduras is facing a heavy rainy season that has created havoc and damage due to the excess rainfall, affecting the population and families from the different departments of the country, leaving their households destroyed, with no food, water, or refuge, and with their crops lost, unable to fulfill their basic needs. The Government of Honduras issued a national declaration of a state of emergency on the 24th of September due to the damages and losses caused by the heavy rainy season. At the moment, this emergency has been considered of medium scale. However, if the rain continues, it could aggravate the situation further. To date, 18 departments of the country have been affected. According to data provided by COPECO (Secretary of State in the Offices of Risk Management) and CODEM (Municipal Emergency Committee), 9 casualties and 51 wounded people have been reported, while 6,792 families have been confined. Overall, 14,320 families and 56,763 people have been affected. The ACT Forum Honduras, through its members CASM and OCDIH, is foreseeing applying for an RRF to provide joint humanitarian assistance to alleviate the humanitarian needs of the affected population in the sectors of Psychosocial support, WASH, Cash/Vouchers, Food Security/Nutrition, Household items, and Livelihoods.
ACT_Alert_Honduras_floods_2022
Pakistan is experiencing abnormal monsoon rainfall since mid-June 2022, resulting in flash floods, and landslides across the country. The torrential rains continue to ravage many parts of the country. As of 31 August 2022, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has reported that 1,191 people, including over 350 children have lost their lives, 3,641 people have been injured, over 287,000 houses have been fully and 662,000 partially destroyed, and over 735,000 livestock have perished and 2 million acres of crops have been adversely impacted, besides severe damage to communications infrastructure. The number of the affected population is expected to increase as there is still a substantial number of populations who are not yet reachable.
The priority needs for people are emergency shelter, food and other basic necessities, safe drinking water, and access to sanitation, hygiene, and health care. People will also need support in recovering their livelihoods lost due to the floods.
Community World Service Asia (CWSA) and Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) have indicated that they plan to provide support to the people most affected, the Emergency Steering Committee has been activated to support members to determine the most appropriate ACT response
ACT Alert_Pakistan Floods 2022
Located in the northeast of Uganda, Karamoja is one of the poorest regions in Uganda, with income poverty at 66% (having increased from 61% in 2017) and food poverty at 75% has increased from 70% in 2017 (UBOS: UNHS 2019/20).
This year, the Karamoja region has suffered widespread crop losses and harvest failure due to delayed rains resulting in hunger. The area is suffering a prolonged drought since 2020. The hunger situation is made worse by attacks from plagues of locusts and armyworms all of which have affected crop production in the region during the past 2 years.
ACT Uganda national forum member Church of Uganda (CoU) is proposing to provide food initially, then support affected communities to reduce Gender Based Violence and increase protection. In the medium to long term, CoU plans to support farmers in farming (conservation farming) and environment protection.
Uganda_Hunger crisis
Uganda: DRC Refugee Influx
Thousands have fled from DR Congo to Uganda due to violent clashes that started on 28th March 2022. To date, the conflict in North Kivu and Ituri provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues. The situation remains unpredictable as there are reports of continued fighting near the border on the DRC side. Congolese nationals are still camped within Bunagana and surrounding areas on the Ugandan side of the border.
The new influx of refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo is stretching Uganda’s resources to the breaking point.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, alongside the Government of Uganda and humanitarian partners, is assisting some refugees in the country’s southwest districts.
ACT Forum Uganda 3W Matrix
Uganda_Response to DRC Refugees
In May 2022, rains started in the state of Assam and resulted in flooding in 27 districts of the state. Approximately 670,000 people were affected by the floods during this first wave. Continued rainfall due to monsoon season in the catchment areas of the main rivers of Assam (Brahmaputra, Barak and their tributaries) since the second week of June resulted in an increase in water levels in all the major rivers in the state and also landslides.
The flood situation remains to be grim on 4 July with the total death toll to 179. Local government stated a total of 17 embankments, 486 roads and 14 bridges were damaged. 1,618 villages were under water and 47,198.87 hectares of crop areas were damaged across Assam. Damage to infrastructure is feared to cause long-term impacts, such as disruptions to supplies of clean water, wastewater treatment, electricity, transport, communication, education and health care.
ACT India Forum members plan to respond to the needs of the affected people through the Rapid Response Fund.
ACT Alert India Assam Floods
An earthquake of 5.9 magnitude have struck southeastern Afghanistan on June 22, 2022, leading to wide-scale destruction across already vulnerable districts in Paktika and Khost provinces.
The event is categorized as medium level emergency as it has badly impacted Barmal, Ziruk, Nikka and Giyan districts of Paktika province, and Spera and Shamal districts in Khost province. Provincial officials initially reported that nearly 1,000 people had been killed, while the UN OCHA has estimated that at least 770 people have been killed and 1,500 people have been wounded. Some 1,500 houses have been damaged in district Giyan only. It is estimated that at least 70% of the houses in the high impact areas have been damaged or destroyed, leaving families without shelter and sleeping outdoor due to damage to houses and fear of aftershocks. In addition to loss of life and devastating injury, the earthquake has resulted in the destruction of critical infrastructures, including health facilities, schools and water sources. It is estimated that a total of 361,634 people is in need of humanitarian assistance across 17 districts in Paktika, Khost and Paktya provinces.
The earthquake affected provinces were already under the crisis level and acute food insecurity. The lean season is underway at the moment when the food resources are already at the borderline of consumption. A rapid onset of the Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD) has been reported across most of the earthquake affected areas. Immediate attention is required to this issue to curtail the spread of the outbreak.
Community World Service Asia plans to respond to the affected communities through Rapid Response Fund.
ACT Alert Afghanistan Earthquake
Palestine: Gaza and West Bank Crisis
The situation in the Palestinian Territories can be best described as a protracted protection crisis. The humanitarian conditions continued to deteriorate in 2021 as hostilities, heightened tensions and violence exacerbated an already dire situation.
The Gaza Strip continues to face critical conditions. The entire population has endured for the last 15 years a blockade of land, air, and sea blockade. The already severe strain on the population of having to live through four conflicts in the last 14 years have had devastating consequences for mental health with many across the Gaza Strip struggling to cope with complex trauma.
According to a UN organization, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has experienced a disturbing increase in armed incursions in the past twelve months. These incursion into refugee camps, use of live ammunition against civilians and settler violence, while displacement and demolition remain constant threats.
At the peak of the lockdown and economic restrictions, around 110,000 additional Palestinians entered poverty. The new poor were concentrated in rural areas of the West Bank and were more likely to be living in female-headed households. With 20% of previously employed main income earners losing their jobs, income fell in more than 60% of Palestinian households during the height of the pandemic.
DSPR and EJ YMCA plan to continue their response providing assistance to the Palestinians.
Alert Palestine Protracted Crisis
A heatwave emergency has gripped the country for the last two months and still continues. The heat level peaked on 1 May 2022 when one of the districts in Sindh province hit 49.5 degree Celsius, the hottest temperature recorded in 2022. Another district hit the temperature half of the boiling point. It is estimated that about 3.4 million people who are living below poverty line in Karachi and Umerkot, are vulnerable to the effects of the heatwave.
Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has informed that day temperature in certain parts of Sindh province is likely to increase gradually and shall remain between 46-48 degrees. The summer months usually begin from April and last till September . The weather gets extremely harsh from May to July while August and September are more humid which can cause dehydration, heat exhaustion and heatstroke. The prevailing hot and dry weather could cause stress on water reservoirs, crops, vegetables, and orchards as well as increase energy and water demand that in current crisis is difficult to manage.
Community World Service Asia plans to provide support to the people most affected through the Rapid Response Fund.
ACT Alert Pakistan Heatwave
Horn and East Africa: Drought
The Horn and East Africa region has been hit by a severe drought affecting Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya.
The rains in October -December 2020 were below average in addition the rains in March-May and October to December of 2021 were also below average while the current rains March-May 2022 are scanty and below average. The situation is now moving to a critical stage.
With drought being cyclic in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia, there have been close to three and in some areas, four failed rainy seasons.
In Ethiopia, 5.5-6.5million people are affected, in Kenya 2.8million are affected and in Somalia, 6 million people are affected[1]. The food security situation of these populations falls between integrated phased classification (IPC) of 3-4 bordering on catastrophic phase. The populations in phase 3 are rapidly moving into an emergency and crisis phase of IPC 4 due to the livestock losses and stretched coping mechanisms.
Country forums from Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya are submitting a regional appeal to respond to the drought.
Horn and Eastern Africa_Drought
Due to persistent rains from Friday, the 8th of April 2022, with the heaviest rainfall experienced on Monday and Tuesday (11th and 12th April). In the Durban area, over 300 mm of rain was recorded in the 24-hour period.
Many roads and bridges were washed away, leaving many communities cut off. Houses and buildings were washed away or damaged by mudslides. Many rivers burst their banks. Trucks and cars were washed away. At a shipping container depot, several containers were washed away.
According to the initial assessment done by the Disaster Management Centre, about 2000 RDP houses (low income) and 4000 shacks (informal) have been damaged. The number of formal houses damaged is unknown now. Several Business properties were also damaged forcing them to shut down until clean-up is completed. The water and electricity infrastructure was damaged. Parts of the electricity network have been restored and the Company responsible for the water treatment plant is busy trying to repair the damage.
This is a small to medium-scale emergency in the Province of KwaZulu Natal, which lies to the east of South Africa, along the Indian Ocean. To the north lies the border with Mozambique and Eswatini (Swaziland).
At present ELCSA cannot give a breakdown by gender, and age as people are still streaming into temporary shelters. All race groups have been affected but most that have gone to temporary shelters are black South Africans who were the worst affected.
The immediate need is housing, food, clothes, and blankets. In the medium term to long term, people would need assistance with rebuilding their homes. All the owners that lived in the RPD houses and shacks would not have insurance. It is not sure how many of the formal houses have insurance to assist with rebuilding. Businesses would claim from their insurances but the length of time that they will be paid out or start the rebuilding is not known.
ACT South Africa member, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in South Africa (ELCSA) is planning to launch a rapid response fund to respond to those who have been severely affected.
South Africa_Flooding
