Since the 22nd of September, hurricane Ian (Category 3) has been impacting Cuba, particularly the provinces of Pinar del Rios, Artemisa, Mayabeque, the Special Municipality Isla de la Juventud, and La Habana, causing landfalls, floods, damages to the infrastructure, housing, electricity and telecommunications services, crops, and the disruption of the provision of critical public and social services.

• Approximately 3 million people have been affected, 4 casualties have been reported, and 116,000 people were evacuated from their homes and sought refuge with their relatives, and neighbors, in emergency shelters or in local churches.
• Around 100,000 houses, 11 hospitals, and 992 schools were severely affected.
  Electricity service remains intermittent: In the province of Pinar del Rio 144 out of 150 circuits are without electricity, and in the province of Artemisa, the electricity service is only working at 46% of its capacity.
• Water supply deficit: in Pinar del Río, the population is heavily dependent on tank truckers and generator sets.
• Damages in the food sector increase, with acute damages in agriculture, and wide losses in livestock. Food distribution has been interrupted by damages suffered, which directly and negatively impacts the Family Welfare System and the most vulnerable population who heavily depend on food rations distributed by the government.
• The complex situation has seriously affected the psychosocial well-being of vulnerable groups, especially elderly persons, children, women, persons with disability, and persons with chronic illnesses.
• Health authorities warn about the need to increase epidemiological surveillance of the most affected territories, in a context of a high incidence of dengue.

The Consejo de Iglesias de Cuba (CIC) is seeking to provide humanitarian relief in the sectors of WASH, Psychosocial support, and Emergency Preparedness & Forum Capacity strengthening to 3,750 people (1,290 girls, 1,090 boys, 540 women, and 367 men), and 750 households through a RRF of 72,600 USD.

RRF 14 2022 Cuba Hurricane Ian

On September 25, 2022, powerful Typhoon Noru or known locally as Karding, packing a maximum sustained winds of 195 kph and gustiness of up to 240 kph, caused major damages to various communities in seven regions affecting 366,483 families or more than 1.3 million persons. Heavy rain and violent winds inundated farm lands, massive flooding submerged various towns, storm surges ravaged through low-lying and coastal areas, while some mountainous areas were further isolated. A total of 44 cities/municipalities were declared under the State of Calamity.

Although flooding in most affected areas have subsided, significant damage to infrastructures was recorded. Government reports indicate at least 101,251 houses were partially or totally destroyed, while damage to infrastructure such as school buildings and roads is estimated to reach Php 304 million. Classes and work were suspended in at least 700 cities/municipalities.

Initial assessment findings from the UN OCHA Philippines state that immediate priority needs include food, temporary shelter, agricultural inputs, water and hygiene kits, livelihood/cash for work as well as protection services. Health and psychosocial services were likewise critical for the affected communities. Food security, livelihood recovery, some health services and access to safer WASH is expected to be challenging for the next few weeks until the coming months.

The National Council of Churches in the Philippines will respond to the crisis through ACT’s Rapid Response Fund.

RRF 15 2022 Philippines Typhoon Noru

The current emergency in Honduras is caused by two weather phenomena: the rainy season (which starts in July and lasts until October-November each year) and La Niña, which is expected to last until February 2023.

Since July, several yellow alerts have been issued by COPECO (Secretary of State in the Offices of Risk Management), which led to the issuance of the national declaration of a state of emergency on the 24th of September.

The heavy rains caused overflows of rivers, landslides, mudslides, and floods, which subsequently brought the destruction of homes, losses in crops and livestock, confinement of several communities, and severe damage to the road network (primary, secondary, and tertiary).

So far, 14 departments have been affected: Santa Bárbara, Copán, Cortes, Yoro, Francisco Morazán, Colón, Lempira, Ocotepeque, Comayagua, La Paz, Intibuca, Valle, Choluteca, and El Paraíso.

According to official data released by COPECO and SINAGER (Governing Body of the National Risk Management System), 73,094 people were affected, 16,254 people evacuated, 144 shelters have been enabled (in 7 departments), 9,403 people sheltered, and 742 affected communities in the national territory.

RRF 13 2022 Honduras Floods

Last year in September 2022 heavy monsoon caused widespread flooding and landslides with severe ramifications for human lives, property, and infrastructure.  81 districts (Baluchistan 32, Sindh 23, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 17, Gilgit Baltistan 6, and Punjab 3) were declared ‘calamity hit’ by the Government— a one-third area (70% districts) across Pakistan was affected.

ACT Alliance members Community World Service Asia and Norwegian Church Aid launched an appeal to respond to the urgent needs of the affected population through provision of essential needs, ash assistance, shelter kits, mobile clinics for primary health care services in remote areas, and WASH interventions. With the support from Funding Members, more than 50,000 affected people have been reached. Targeted people are provided with safe drinking water by rehabilitation of existing and installation of new water facilities, Provision of water storage containers. Moreover, sanitation facilities are provided in the targeted area, Multipurpose cash assistance were provided to around 800 families which helped them in rehabilitation of their shelters.

The main purpose of the appeal revision is that the Pakistan Meteorological Department predicted heavy Monsoon rains in the country which already have started impacting the northern parts of the country. These rains will aggravate the situation of people who are already affected by floods in 2022. On these grounds NCA has decided to revise the current ACT Appeal (PAK221) so that we are able to adequately scale up and address the impact of 2023 Monsoon rains with a concentration in Sindh province.   

Much of the infrastructure destroyed by the floods remains to be rebuilt. More than 10 million people in flood-affected areas still lack access to safe drinking water, according to UNICEF.  Due to insufficient support and livelihood about 1.1 million people are at risk of sliding of becoming food insecure. The continued inflation that is being experienced by Pakistan in the last year has resulted in food inflation. Food inflation in May 2023 surged to 48.7 percent. This situation has resulted in a significant increase in the challenges for flood-affected communities to access adequate shelter, water, sanitation, re-construction of houses and agricultural livelihoods.

In Sindh province, people are still displaced with some areas having land still waterlogged. According to Pakistan Contingency Plan for 2023, it is estimated that around 10 million people will be affected from Monsoon rains this year 2023 in Pakistan. The majority of affected people will be in Sindh province.

Moreover, assessments in June 2023, by the Sindh Govt indicate that a total of 2.1 million houses still require reconstruction or repairs however, Govt. resources will only cover 350,000 households.

Due to insufficient support and reduced livelihood opportunities about 1.1 million people are at risk of becoming food insecure. The continued inflation that is being experienced by Pakistan in the last year has exasperated food inflation.

ACT Alliance members Community World Service Asia and Norwegian Church Aid is raising an appeal for USD 4,272,493. Since the appeal raised in October 2022 around USD 1.2 million has been mobilized.  

PAK221 – Pakistan Flood Response – Revised Appeal

PAK221 – Pakistan Flood Response – Revised Results Framework

The two waves of floods in Assam which started in June 2022 caused massive inundation and damages to lives and property. The floods affected around 5,542,053 people in 5,577 villages under 121 revenue circles in 32 districts. People have taken shelter on roadside as rains and water levels have gradually receded leaving their agricultural land unfit for cultivation. The Gratuitous Relief (GR) supplied by the local administration is insufficient to meet the basic needs of the communities. Thirty-two districts in Assam were affected by the floods with minimal government support. 

ACT India Forum through CASA, CNI-SBSS, UELCI, and LWSIT will be responding in six districts of Assam through the Rapid Response Fund to provide food and non-food items.

RRF 10 2022 India Assam Floods

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 situation in the Palestinian Territories can be best described as a protracted protection crisis. The humanitarian conditions have continued to deteriorate as hostilities, heightened tensions and violence in recent times have exacerbated an already dire situation. 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.

On 5 August, Israeli airstrikes were conducted in multiple locations in Gaza, including Gaza city, Beit Hanoun and Khan Younis. Subsequently, several rockets were fired from multiple locations across Gaza towards Israel. Exchanges of fire continued throughout 6 August. The Gaza Power Plant (GPP) shut down at noon on 6 August due to lack of fuel, causing rolling power cuts exceeding 20 hours per day. This places at severe risk the continuation of basic essential services.

According to a UNOCHA, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has experienced a disturbing increase in armed incursions into refugee camps, use of live ammunition against civilians and settler violence in the past twelve months. Displacement and demolition remain constant threats in East Jerusalem and Area C of  the West Bank.

The Appeal response members, Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR) and East Jerusalem YMCA (EJ-YMCA) will respond to the humanitarian crisis in the oPt  targeting around 17,000 individual with an appeal to raise 853,713 USD to address multiple sectors, MHPSS/Protection, Health and nutrition,  and Early recovery / livelihood restoration.

APF_Appeal_PSE221

 A devastating earthquake of 5.9 magnitude struck eastern Afghanistan in the early hours of Wednesday, 22 June 2022, killing over 1,000 people, leaving 1,455 wounded and over 1,900 homes damaged. Two days later, another earthquake of 4.2 magnitude struck Giyan district in Paktika Province, killing another 5 people and leaving 11 injured. According to the aggregated numbers reported by the Ministry of Public Health, 1,036 people have been killed and 2,949 injured in the provinces of Paktika and Khost.

According to recent estimates, over 362,000 people have been affected by the earthquake and are in urgent need of USD 110.3 million in assistance over the course of next three months (July – September 2022). Preliminary analysis shows that the worst impacted districts are Barmal, Ziruk, Nika and Giyan located in Paktika Province and Spera and Shamal districts in the Khost Province.  Crucial infrastructures, includes homes, health facilities, schools and water networks, have been severely damaged which left people, specifically children, women, elderly and persons with disabilities even more vulnerable. NFIs, food, healthcare, WASH and cash assistance are some of the immediate needs of the population.

Community World Service Asia (CWSA) has accessed ACT Alliance’s Rapid Response Fund to provide cash assistance to people who have been affected.

RRF09 2022 Afghanistan Earthquake