Since Friday, October 12, a caravan of approximately 6,000 Honduran migrants have been making their way north through Guatemala toward Mexico and the United States.  It is the latest and the largest iteration of big groups of Central Americans migrating North in an effort to escape their desperate circumstances, often experiencing additional human rights abuses along the way, and ending up in a cycle of detention and deportation that leads them back to the same situation.

Most people who joined the caravan have been ground down by low wages, unemployment and poor public services in Honduras and are looking for better opportunities elsewhere. Many are also escaping widespread violence associated with a breakdown of governance and the emergence of drug cartels. They fear for their lives and are seeking protection by applying for asylum in either Mexico or the United States. In their path, Guatemalan and Salvadorian people, affected by similar circumstances, are joining the caravan as well. Following the example of this spontaneous movement, other groups are starting to organize similar caravans, despite Mexican efforts to stop them at the border. Now growing throngs of Central American migrants have resumed their advance in southern Mexico toward the U.S. border, and their numbers have risen to about 6,000 overnight, walking toward the Mexican town of Tapachula.

The Government of Mexico will request the support of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner or Refugees (UNHCR), so that in coordination with the authorities of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, and in conjunction with the National Institute of Migration (INM) and the Mexican Commission for Assistance to Refugees (COMAR), proper attention can be given to those applying for refugee status at Mexico’s southern border. The purpose of taking this step is to contribute to a humanitarian solution, in accordance with legislation, that is respectful of human rights, transparent, and has the assistance of the international community through the pertinent bodies of the United Nations. In addition, this measure seeks to guarantee the safety and physical integrity of the migrants, especially minors, the elderly and women, and to prevent people from being exploited by international criminal organizations engaged in migrant smuggling, which endangers their lives.

Given the crisis, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala ACT Alliance Forums agreed to carry out a joint response and are requesting funds to provide food aid, hygiene kits, psychosocial support and protection to 2000 people, advocacy actions will be carried out as well.

Central America: humanitarian response to people on the move – RRF No. 17/2018

In the afternoon of Thursday the 11 October 2018, the mountainous eastern district of Bududa in Uganda was hit by a series of landslides which also caused massive flooding following torrential heavy rains.

As a result, 5 villages have been washed away in the district of Bududa and confirmed reports indicate that 40 bodies have been found. Rescue teams have been deployed to search for missing persons. The landslide in Bududa triggered boulders (huge rocks) to fall into River Suume which rolled to Bukalasi health Centre; in the process washing away buildings/structures; injuring many people and causing much damage. In addition, the boulders blocked the river channel; causing the river to burst its banks and cause flooding to occur in the nearby trading centre. Bududa district which lies on the foothills of Mount Elgon, at the Uganda and Kenya border is a high-risk area for landslides.

The landslides have put Bududa district in a state of crisis. The persons affected by the landslide find themselves in a desperate situation, with many unmet vital humanitarian needs such as access to food, shelter, need for health care as an effect of water-borne diseases, and other basic essentials.

The emergency response in Uganda is currently being coordinated by the Office of the Prime Minister. The government of Uganda immediately deployed a rescue and recovery team in the area and are currently working with the District Disaster Management Committee to carry out loss and damage assessments. The Government of Uganda is contributing of Uganda Shillings 500,000 ($132) each to the families of the deceased. The Red Cross and military are involved in first aid and rescue of affected individuals.

ACT Alliance member of Uganda forum, Church of Uganda has been working in Uganda since 1979 and is now helping/planning to help people affected by the landslide under its department (household and community transformation directorate). Church of Uganda has been a member of ACT Uganda Forum since ACT Uganda Forum was formed in 2010 and has submitted a funding proposal to support the affected in the areas of food, non-food and psycho-social support.

Uganda: Landslide Emergency – RRF No. 16/2018

On 27th of December 2017, the region of Paoua in the Central African Republic (CAR) was affected by fighting between armed groups, which signaled the start of a prolonged slow-onset crisis in this particular region.

At least 78,000 people from the villages of Bah-Bessar, Mia-Pendé, Nana-Barya and Banhin Ouham Pende were forced to flee their homes in search of refuge and protection mostly fleeing to the city of Paoua. Due to hosting IDPs over an extended period, the residents of Paoua city (the host population of around 40,000 people) have increasingly exhausted their family resources and are now also in need of support.

On June 2018, as the fighting started to decrease, IDPs from the city of Paoua (68,670), started returning to their villages only to find that as a result of conflict, several houses were burnt down, schools and livelihoods were destroyed. Because of this desperation, many preferred to return to the city of Paoua to seek humanitarian assistance or other means of support and continue to live as IDPs in the city of Paoua.

There is a necessity to save lives and alleviate the suffering of people including children and women affected by the conflict in Paoua city and the villages in Ouham Pendé prefecture.

The ACT CAR Forum, which was officially established in 2018, is issuing this Concept Note to raise support and respond to the plight of IDPs, returnees and host communities in Ouham Pende; more specifically IDPs in Paoua city who would wish to resettle back to their villages. This initiative by the CAR Forum is seen as a crucial initial undertaking to strengthen how ACT Forum members collaborate in responding to what has become a complex emergency.

ACT Alliance CAR Forum members LWF-WS, FCA and DCA are monitoring the situation and emergency teams are ready/preparing to respond while working closely with community/church structures and leaders to ensure their effective participation in all the implementation processes.

CAR_Response to IDPs in Paoua City (Concept Note).

An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 with the shallow epicentre (10 km) located at 27 km northeast of Donggala occurred at 17:02 WIB (Indonesian Western Time) on 28 September 2018 followed by a tsunami warning by BMKG (Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency). This earthquake triggered a tsunami that occurred around 17:22 WIB, and BMKG revoked the tsunami warning at 17:38 WIB. There are 2 provinces were directly affected by the earthquake and tsunami: 1. Central Sulawesi Province, there are 4 districts / city; Donggala District, Palu City, Sigi District and Parigi Moutong District; 2. West Sulawesi Province, there is 1 district; North Mamuju District.

Data obtained as of 8 October 2018, at 20:00 WIB, was as follows; 1.948 dead casualties. As many as 74,444 displaced persons are sheltered in 147 evacuation site. The death toll was caused by the rubble of the collapsed building due to the earthquake and there was also a tsunami damaging the coastal areas. In addition, there was also liquefaction phenomenon that submerged houses and buildings in Petobo Village, in Jl. Dewi Sartika – South Palu, in Biromaru village – Sigi, and in Sidera village – Sigi. The Governor of Central Sulawesi, Longki Djanggola, declared the state of emergency of response period for the next 14 days, valid from 28 September 2018 to 11 October 2018. The Governor appointed Commander of Korem (Resort Military Command) of 132 / Tadulako as commander of emergency response to earthquake and tsunami in Central Sulawesi. So the main command post on the ground is directed to Korem 132 / Tadulako.

Concept Note- Emergency Assistance in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia – IDN182 – approved final

Typhoon Mangkhut (locally named “Ompong”) entered the Philippines Area on September 12 at 3:00 in the afternoon, packing 205-kph winds and gusts of up to 255 kph. The 900 km-wide Typhoon Mangkhut made its landfall in Baggao, Cagayan on September 15 at 1:40 AM, carrying winds of up to 200 km per hour and heavy rainfall, causing power outages in some areas. Six provinces were placed under Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal (TWCS) #4 and ten provinces were placed under TCWS #3 in regions I, II and CAR.

As of September 18, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported a total of 510,151 families or 2,148,059 persons affected by Typhoon Mangkhut from 4,836 barangays in regions I, II, III, CALABARZON, MIMAROPA, NCR, and CAR. The typhoon left 402 areas flooded of which, only 190 have subsided. It also triggered 20 reported landslide incidents in CAR alone, which caused road closures, shelter damage, damage to livelihood, and loss of human lives. A total of 121,715 houses were reported damaged. While the death toll confirmed by the NDRRMC remains at 23, the number of confirmed injured has risen to 134. Meanwhile, recent media reports, citing regional officials, place the death toll at about 100 people, mostly in CAR due to landslides.

Appeals Response to the super typhoon Mangkut

On the morning of Tuesday 4th September 2018, the high density suburbs of Harare in Zimbabwe, were hit by a cholera outbreak. The Government of Zimbabwe has since declared the epidemic a state of emergency after cholera and typhoid spread fast killing 28 people in 2 weeks and infecting over 7,000.

Harare high-density suburbs have poor water access, poorly maintained drains and lack a proper sewage disposal. The situation is compounded by the fact that there is uncollected garbage and unsafe hygiene practices which continue to spread the disease. Zimbabwe’s Cholera epidemic has resulted in increased morbidity and mortality as its central and local government are short of funds to procure medication.

World Health Organization has also reported that the strain has proven to be resistant to the first line of antibiotics, further compounding the problem.

As a measure to access clean water, residents have dug shallow water wells and boreholes that unfortunately seem to also contain cholera.

As a result of the epidemic, there has been migration of people to the province of Manicaland and Masvingo where cholera cases are now being reported. To curb the spread, Zimbabwe government has set aside treatment centres as they seek to quarantine infected persons.

In 2008, Cholera occurred in Zimbabwe killing more than 4,000 people as reaction to curb the epidemic was slow.

The most urgent humanitarian needs are access to safe water, basic health services and properly maintained drains and sewage disposal.

The World Health Organisation, UNICEF and Oxfam are responding by providing basic health services and medication.

In collaboration with relevant stakeholders, Zimbabwe ACT forum has identified access to safe water as a gap. In addition, they intend to provide hand sanitisers, conduct water purification, plan to mobilize affected  communities to clear garbage while providing information on preventing and managing cholera.

The Methodist Development and Relief Agency (MEDRA) have submitted a Rapid Respond Fund (RRF) proposal. MEDRA will lead the response with support from Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) and Lutheran Development Service (LDS) who will assist in mobilizing communities and distribute education materials and non-food items. The two organizations (ZCC & LDS) will use their local community structures to reach intended beneficiaries.

The requesting member, MeDRA has been involved in health and hygiene intervention for more than 8 years. It works with more than 24 community health clubs in 2 districts on personal and environmental hygiene and water/food handling. During the epidemic in 2008, MeDRA partnered with the local city council and responded by distributing non-food items and conducting clean up campaigns.

MeDRA will be supported to identify the most affected by Zimbabwe ACT members present in affected communities.

ACT Zimbabwe Forum will be kept informed of the project  during Forum meetings by Zimbabwe ACT Forum Coordinator. The project will run for 3 months (September-December 2018) in the sectors of education, WASH and Protection/Psycho social support.

At least 70,000 beneficiaries will be targeted including school children (from 30 schools) and affected households (350) located within affected suburbs in Harare including Glen View, Budiriro, Mufakose, Gweru (Mkoba) and Masvingo (Mucheke).

Zimbabwe_Cholera emergency

The human rights situation in Nicaragua has deteriorated as observed by the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in relation to the violent events that have been taking place since the State repressed the protests on April 18, 2018, and subsequent events over the following weeks. According to figures gathered by the IACHR, the State’s repressive action has led to at least 295 deaths, 1,337 persons wounded as of June 19, and 507 persons deprived of liberty as of June 6, and hundreds of persons at risk of becoming victims of attacks, harassment, threats and other forms of intimidation.  The Nicaraguan Association for Human Rights (ANPDH)) in its report as of July 26 indicates that there are 448 deaths (383 were civilians, 40 paramilitaries, 24 polices and a soldier) 2,720 injured and 718 kidnapped.

Police and paramilitary forces continue their raids in a house-to-house search, arresting people who participated in the protests. Based on the new antiterrorist law, many of them appear in court without any legal defense. The Permanent Commission of Human Rights (CPDH) informed to receive every day at least 20 complaints of people arrested by police or by irregular armed groups. Costa Rica has opened two shelters for people fleeing the crisis in Nicaragua and asylum seekers, with a capacity for about 2000 people, one in the north and one in the south of the country, with support from IOM and UNHCR. Authorities report between 100 to 150 Nicaraguans entering daily to Costa Rica for the first time. The Dutch cooperation announced its decision to suspend for two months any cooperation with the government of Nicaragua, due to serious human rights violations.

During August 28-29, a delegation of the World Council of Churches and ACT Alliance visited Nicaragua with the intention to listen to the experiences of people in churches, civil society, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nicaragua, the government and with members of the ACT Alliance Nicaragua forum, to reaffirm and strengthen calls for justice and peace, and to advocate for the human rights of all people and respect for diverse ways of thinking in contemporary societies.

Appeals_Nicaragua_Socio-Political Crisis_NIC181

After a good start of the 2018 rainy season in April, a reduction in the quantity and distribution of rains has been observed and is likely to impact basic grains crops in Central America´s Dry Corridor. Specific areas in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras have reported more than 25 days without rain, yields reduction and crop losses, particularly affecting subsistence farmers.  Typically, there is little to no rainfall in August, which is called the canicula in Spanish. However, since the canicula arrived much earlier than usual this year, crops losses have been significantly higher in the affected areas due to the sustained drought conditions.

El Salvador’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) confirmed that the drought has affected approximately 57,000 hectares of land, of which around 22,000 hectares of cropland has been destroyed, resulting in the loss of 2.7 million quintals of corn and USD$37 million in damages. The Salvadorian Chamber of Small and Medium Agricultural Producers (CAMPO) estimates that the corn crop losses to date are even higher at 4.1 million quintals and that they could surpass 6 million quintals if the drought continues since 2.3 million quintals are at risk. The drought has affected 77,322 agricultural households in El Salvador. The General Direction of Civil protection declared a red alert for 143 municipalities in the central and eastern parts of the country on 24 July 2018 to provide humanitarian assistance to the affected households.

The ACT Alliance El Salvador forum through its local members ALFALIT and Lutheran Synod are going to provide cash transfer to 250 households.

El_Salvador_drought_No.RRF15_2018

Typhoon Mangkhut entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility and was locally named “Ompong” on September 12 at 3:00 in the afternoon, packing 205-kph winds and gusts of up to 255 kph. The 900 km-wide Typhoon Mangkhut made its landfall in Baggao, Cagayan on September 15 at 1:40 AM, carrying winds of up to 200 km per hour and heavy rainfall, causing power outages in some areas. Six provinces were placed under Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal #4 and ten provinces were placed under TCWS #3 in regions I, II and CAR.  As of September 18, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported a total of 218,492 families or 893,844 persons affected by Typhoon Mangkhut from 3,237 barangays in regions I, II, III, CALABARZON, MIMAROPA, NCR, and CAR. The typhoon left 266 areas flooded in the affected regions. Of which, only 35 have subsided. There were also 119 reported landslide incidents triggered by the typhoon in CAR alone, which caused road closures, shelter damage, damage to livelihood, and loss of human lives. As of writing, the Philippine National Police has reported 74 persons killed by Typhoon Mangkhut and 55 persons missing. Of which, 60 casualties and 52 missing persons were from CAR.

ACT Philippines Forum is planning to assist 6,300 families or 22,617 individuals belonging to the most vulnerable groups (i.e., poor/landless farmers) in Regions 1, 2, 3, and CAR, who are among the most severely affected by Typhoon Mangkhut and have very limited capacity and financial resources to recover from the recent devastation. Particular attention will be given to persons with special needs such as: female-headed households, women and widows, children, elderly, people living with disabilities, indigenous peoples. The proposed project is also targeting isolated and underserved communities in remote areas. The response targets a total of 19 communities for DRR-CCA awareness, capacity building and technical support.

Concept Notes- Response to Super Typhoon Mangkut in The Philippines

The monsoon has left the state of Kerala in turmoil. 322 deaths were reported of 28^th August 2018, with 15 people still missing. 14 districts and 776 villages have been affected namely Kannur, Kollam, Kasargode, Allapuzha, Thirssur, Kozhikode, Palakkad, Malapuram, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Idukki, Thiruvananthapuram and Wayanad. The hilly terrains of Wayanad and Idukki also bore the brunt of landslides during unprecedented rains and flooding. In total, around 5.5 million people (55 lakhs) were affected by the floods, with 1.4 million stationed across 5,640 camps. The impact has been so high, the process of enumeration and assessments is still ongoing. Livelihood sources were heavily hit, with thousands of cattle and millions of fowl reported dead. Agricultural lands were also hit, with 56,400 hectares reported as flooded.

ACT India forum developed the ACT Appeal  to respond to this disaster and ensure that the flood-affected people are able to meet the basic requirement for survival to initiate a process of recovery in the aftermath of the floods in the districts of Alapuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kollam, Wayanad and Iduki District of Kerala State.

Appeals: Emergency Response to Monsoon Floods in Kerala- IND181