Tropical storm “Nate” formed on Thursday the 5th of October off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. The storm caused heavy rains and landslides throughout several countries in Central America. According to the report of SINAPRED (National System for Disaster Prevention), 73 municipalities from 11 departments were affected by heavy rains and winds (Chontales, Madriz, Boaco, Rio San Juan, Nueva Segovia, Triangulo Minero, Carazo, Rivas, Granada and the North Caribbean.). There are varying degrees damage throughout the 124 neighbourhoods and communities. 8236 houses were reported to have incurred some type of damage, of which 33 are totally destroyed; moreover, 6185 houses were flooded, and 27 remain at risk. 425 people were evacuated to solidarity homes. The Nicaraguan authorities have registered 16 fatalities as direct result of the storm. The government of Nicaragua has provided food supplies for more than 1600 affected households. The Ministry of Health has deployed 56 medical brigades composed of 544 health workers to the affected areas. Protection measures are being taken for vulnerable people in affected villages.

Data collected by the National System for Disaster Prevention in the affected communities indicates, that tropical storm Nate has critically damaged main livelihoods and food stocks. The population affected by Tropical Storm Nate in Nicaragua are in dire need of food, shelter, health services, access to safe water and restoration of livelihood. For this response the requesting member has identified gaps in food security. The Council of Protestant Churches of Nicaragua (CEPAD) is the requesting member for this response in coordination with Interchurch Center for Theological and Social Studies (CIEETS), to attend 700 households with food security. ACT Secretariat have approved 58,676.00 USD towards the budget from its Rapid Response Funds to attend the emergency.

Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest nations, has seen a massive influx of Rohingya people fleeing violence and persecution in Myanmar. As of 21 Oct 2017, at least 815,000 Rohingyas are estimated to be sheltering in Bangladesh. Violence which began on 25 August has triggered a massive and swift influx and resulted in a critical humanitarian emergency. 603,000 new arrivals are reported, according to IOM Needs and Population Monitoring, UNHCR and other field reports. Population movements within Cox’s Bazar remain fluid, with increasing concentration in Ukhia, where the Government has allocated 3,000 acres for a new camp. Over half of the new arrivals are living in spontaneous settlements with little access to aid.

As this is a cross-border crisis which impacts Myanmar and Bangladesh, a coordinated and complementary humanitarian response among ACT Alliance members in the countries is necessary. Consequently, ACT Bangladesh Forum (Christian Aid, DanChurchAid, Diakonia, ICCO Cooperation) will assist over 60,000 households and 112,600 individuals in Bangladesh by providing Shelter/NFI s, Food Security, Protection/Psychosocial,  Health/ Nutrition, WASH, and advocacy programs. The ACT Bangladesh Forum is requesting for 3,578,740 USD to run the activities. Any indication of funding or other support is encouraged to be made in the name of the ACT Bangladesh Forum, and allocations will be made according to agreed mechanisms among requesting members.

While ACT Myanmar Forum members (Christian Aid and LWF) will respond to this crisis in Myanmar by providing Shelter/NFI s, Food Security, Protection/Psychosocial, Early Recovery/ Livelihoods, Unconditional Cash ,Education, and Advocacy programs. Over 21,000 households and 15,000 individuals will be benefited by this intervention.

In Liberia, since the beginning of this year, there have been constant storms and floods resulting in significant damages and losses. On Tuesday, August 31^st, it was reported on the National Radio Station (ELBC Super Morning Show) that a heavy storm had occurred in Bong County (Central Liberia) which caused the destruction of houses thereby leading to the displacement of hundreds of local community dwellers.

There are presently 5,244 people who are affected and 118 houses destroyed in Suakoko Town. 560 persons are without shelters, according to reports received from the National Disaster Committee based Gbarnga, Bong County.Other impacts of the storm and floods include the destruction of school buildings, offices, etc. Other parts of the country including Grand Cape Mount County and Margibi County have also been affected by heavy flooding which subsequently damaged individual houses. As the rainy season is at its peak in Liberia, more storms and potential flooding are expected.

The ACT Liberia Forum through Lutheran Development Services is planning to support the affected communities through the provision of food, non-food items and safe drinking water to restore their dignity and livelihoods.

The conflict in Rakhine started in 2012 and displaced about 140,000 individuals. During the period 2015-16, about 25,000 IDPs were resettled near their original home by the government. On 9 October 2016 an armed group attack on border guards in Northern Rakhine and the retaliation by the Myanmar army caused severe unrest and affected the lives of thousands of people especially in Northern Rakhine. The violence intensified further on 25 August 2017. According to the Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) of the UN, 500,000 people are reported to have crossed the border since 25 August 2017.

As this is a cross-border crisis which impacts Myanmar and Bangladesh, a coordinated and complementary humanitarian response among ACT Alliance members in the countries is necessary. Consequently, ACT Myanmar Forum members (Christian Aid and LWF) will respond to this crisis in Myanmar by providing Shelter/NFI s, Food Security, Protection/Psychosocial, Early Recovery/ Livelihoods, Unconditional Cash ,Education, and Advocacy programs. The ACT Myanmar Forum is now requesting for 1,512,360 USD to run the program. Over 21,000 households and 15,000 individuals will be benefited by this intervention. Any indication of funding or other support is encouraged to be made in the name of the ACT Myanmar Forum, and allocations will be made according to agreed mechanisms among requesting members. ACT Bangladesh Forum (Christian Aid, DanChurchAid, Diakonia Sweden, ICCO Cooperation) will assist over 6,600 households or 39,600 individuals in Bangladesh.

On September 6^th, 2017, Hurricane Irma, a category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 295 km/hour, became one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic. This highly destructive hurricane approached the eastern coast of Cuba (in Guantánamo) on Thursday, September 7^th. Hurricane Irma battered the entire north coast for 4 days. At 8:00 p.m. on Monday, September 11^th, the hurricane finally left Cuban territory leaving a huge amount of devastation in its wake. Approximately 2,000,000 persons were evacuated from their homes and sought refuge with their relatives, neighbors, in emergency shelters or in local churches. Tidal surges measuring up to 9 meters in height came crashing down on the coastline.  10 human casualties were reported as direct result of the hurricane.  Irma has caused considerable environmental, economic and social damage throughout the country; more specifically, there is inadequate supply of safe water for human consumption; significant loss of coastal dunes, forests, fruit trees, as well as seed granaries, banana and other crops; total or partial destruction of houses, health and educational centers, markets, bridges and access roads to those communities. Widespread flooding promoted unsanitary conditions which have resulted in health issues. Many communities remain without electricity and telecommunications, due to extensive infrastructural damage to the national network. The tourism industry, the main source of income for the Cuban economy, was seriously impacted, due to the destruction of hotel infrastructure. All this has seriously affected the psychosocial well-being of vulnerable groups, especially elderly persons, children, teenagers, youth, women, persons with disability and persons with chronic illnesses.

The Cuba Council of Churches (CIC) an ACT Alliance local member in the Cuban Forum are supporting the Hurricane affected households to have sufficient food, access to safe water and sanitation, Psychosocial support, shelter rehabilitation, and livelihoods recovery. Over 20,000 households in 75 communities will be benefited by this intervention, the requested budget for this intervention is  1, 395,795.00 USD.

The volcanic activity from seismicity of Mt. Agung in Karangasem Regency, Bali Province, has kept increasing over the last weeks. On 22 September 2017 at 20.30 WITA,  the status was raised from orange alert (level 3) to red alert (level 4, the highest), by the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (CVGHM). The high volcanic activity has put some districts in a state of emergency with any potential eruption in the future. National and provincial authorities reported the significant increase of volcanic activity and by 23 September 2017, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) deployed initial team to assess and set up the command post. On 5 October 2017, the total numbers of IDPs at 427 points in 9 districts is 146,797.

Yakkum Emergency Unit (YEU), a national member from the ACT Indonesia Forum is the ACT requesting member for this response,  and had identify the following sectors as priorities: Shelter, non-food items, Health/ Nutrition, and WASH.  Although, YEU is requesting for USD 59,998  but considering the current funding level of the global RRF pot at ACT Alliance Secretariat,  ACT Secretariat has approved the use of USD 40,000 to the ACT Indonesia Forum in implementing the activities under this RRF.  However,  YEU remains positioned to receive additional contributions especially if a huge eruption occurs. .

Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest nations, has seen a massive influx of Rohingya people fleeing violence in Myanmar in the last 4 weeks. The extent and implications remain uncertain. Close to half-a-million (429,000) Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh since Aug 25, escaping violent attacks carried out by Myanmar troops and Buddhist vigilantes.  There is very high fluidity and internal mobility, the majority of arrivals are still on the move, with more than 15,000 people coming in everyday.

As this is a cross-border crisis which impacts Myanmar and Bangladesh, a coordinated and complementary humanitarian response among ACT Alliance members in the countries is necessary. Consequently, ACTBangladesh Forum (Christian Aid, DanChurchAid, Diakonia Sweden, ICCO Cooperation) will assist over 6,600 households or 39,600 individuals in Bangladesh by providing Shelter/NFI s, Food Security, Protection/Psychosocial, Early Recovery/ Livelihoods, Unconditional Cash, Health/ Nutrition, and WASHprograms. The ACT Bangladesh Forum is requesting for 3,541,249 USD to run the activities. Any indication of funding or other support is encouraged to be made in the name of the ACT Bangladesh Forum, and allocations will be made according to agreed mechanisms among requesting members.

While in Myanmar side, ACT Myanmar Forum members (Christian Aid and LWF) will respond to this crisis by providing Shelter/NFI s, Food Security, Protection/Psychosocial, Early Recovery/ Livelihoods, Unconditional Cash and Community Resilience programs to over19,000 households and 12,500 individuals.

As part of the revision of the ACT Alliance Humanitarian Response Mechanism, the “Preliminary Appeal” is replaced by the “Concept Note”, a shorter more concise document which summarizes the proposed ACT response and emphasizes collaboration amongst the ACT members. For further information on the Revised Humanitarian Response Mechanism, please refer to its online toolkit : https://actlearn.org/course/view.php?id=236

Four countries (Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad) in the Lake Chad region are affected by the on-going, Boko Haram conflict. As the needs continue to increase, this slow-onset “forgotten” crisis is urgently requiring attention to save lives and maintain human dignity. Approximately 21 million people live in the conflict-affected areas, of which 2.6 million are displaced and in dire need of support. The conflict has had devastating effects on the region; visible not only through the widespread destruction of homes, livelihoods, infrastructure and large-scale displacements, but also in the conflict-induced trauma and fear in the affected communities. The situation in the region is deteriorating as humanitarian funding is decreasing as result of donor fatigue and States are unable to provide adequate services to the affected communities.

The ACT forum members in Nigeria (Christian Aid and Norwegian Church Aid), Chad( Lutheran World Federation) and Cameroon( Lutheran World Federation) are planning to respond to the crisis through the ACT Appeal by providing support to in Food Security, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Protection/ Gender Based Violence, Early recovery and Livelihoods restoration, Peace and Psychosocial Support sectors to the conflict affected population in the Lake Chad Region. The overall appeal target budget is US$2.6Million.

The conflict in Rakhine started in 2012 and displaced about 140,000 individuals. During the period 2015-16, about 25,000 IDPs were resettled near their original home by the government. On 9 October 2016 an armed group attack on border guards in Northern Rakhine and the retaliation by the Myanmar army caused severe unrest and affected the lives of thousands of people especially in Northern Rakhine. The violence intensified further on 25 August 2017. According to the Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) of the UN, 427,000 people are reported to have crossed the border since 25 August.

As this is a cross-border crisis which impacts Myanmar and Bangladesh, a coordinated and complementary humanitarian response among ACT Alliance members in the countries is necessary. Consequently, ACT Myanmar Forum members (Christian Aid and LWF) will respond to this crisis in Myanmar by providing Shelter/NFI s, Food Security, Protection/Psychosocial, Early Recovery/ Livelihoods, Unconditional Cash and Community Resilience programs. The ACT Myanmar Forum is now requesting for 1,500,000 USD to run the program. Over 19,000 households and 12,500 individuals will be benefited by this intervention. Any indication of funding or other support is encouraged to be made in the name of the ACT Myanmar Forum, and allocations will be made according to agreed mechanisms among requesting members.

ACT Bangladesh Forum (Christian Aid, DanChurchAid, Diakonia Sweden, ICCO Cooperation) will assist over 6,600 households or 39,600 individuals in Bangladesh.  ACT Secretariat will share the detailed Concept Note (Emergency Assistance to the Rohingya Community) from ACT Bangladesh Forum in the next email.

As part of the revision of the ACT Alliance Humanitarian Response Mechanism, the “Preliminary Appeal” is replaced by the “Concept Note”, a shorter more concise document which summarizes the proposed ACT response and emphasizes collaboration amongst the ACT members. For further information on the Revised Humanitarian Response Mechanism, please refer to its online toolkit : https://actlearn.org/course/view.php?id=236

Hurricane Irma, a category 5 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 295 km/hour, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic, made landfall in Haiti´s northern coastline on September 7, 2017.  The eye of the storm passed north of Haiti, yet heavy rains, winds and flooding have cause significant damages in the Nord-Est, Nord-Ouest, Nord, Artibonite and Centre departments, damaging homes, fruit trees, flooding crops such as rice, banana, corn, sweet potato, cassava, and peanut and killing livestock. On the night of the hurricane, 12,539 persons were evacuated to 81 shelters. To date, 6,494 persons remain in the 21 centers. One life was lost and a person was recorded missing in the Centre Department, while 17 people were injured in the Nord, Nord-Ouest and Ouest departments.   Flooding of rivers caused partial flooding in 22 communes in the departments of Artibonite, Centre, Nord, Nord-Est, Nord-Ouest and Ouest. 4,903 houses were flooded, 2,646 houses were badly damaged, while 466 houses were severely destroyed. Significant losses were also recorded in the agricultural sector in the departments of Centre, Nord-Est and Nord-Ouest.    In the commune of Bassin-Bleu, a church was reported to have been completely destroyed. The Institute of Social Welfare and Research and its partners supported 1,661 children from orphanages in the Nord and the Ouest, of whom 1,226 were moved to other non-flooding homes; In the Sud Department, approximately 300 people, the total population of the Dumont neighborhood, were moved to a temporary shelter in Port-Salut. They have returned home since the warning has been lifted.

SCH, a national member from the Haiti ACT Forum is the ACT requesting member for this response,  and had identify the following sectors as priorities: Food Security, non-food items and WASH. The ACT Secretariat has approved the use of USD 79,314.00 towards the budget from its Rapid Response Fund.