Greater Investment in Disaster Risk Reduction in South East Asia

The torrential floods that occurred across South-East Asia last year left an imprint on both the region and its people. Over 1,000 people were killed. Moreover, the floods caused billions of dollars in damage. Last year's floods were the worst seen in generations. Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam were hit hardest by the floods.

This past Monday, delegates from nine countries attended a forum, in Bangkok, that focused on greater investment in disaster risk reduction. Noeleen Heyzer, the Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has said that, "Hazards become disasters in the absences of development and with inadequate investment in risk reduction."

Delegates, having seen with their own eyes the importance of disaster risk reduction, are calling for increased investment in order to protect key social and economic assets.

-Akshika Patel


SOURCE: UN News Centre

Swift Help for Madagascar

On Tuesday, a category 4 cyclone hit Madagascar. UNICEF, alongside NGO partners, were quick to assist victims with clean sanitation, child protection and education. An example of NGO activity in the region is Frere St.Gabriel, a UNICEF partner NGO, activating a water purification plant.

UNICEF is moving swiftly to assess and understand the exact damage of the region. The organization hopes to provide basic necessities to help the 66,000 people through the first few days. UNICEF's involvement is critical to the survival of the vulnerable populations affected by the cyclone.

UNCIF is a great example of an NGO that does good work post-natural disaster. They support and establish programs that address child health, clean sanitation, education, child protection, and AID. The organization works in 189 other countries besides Madagascar.

-Akshika Patel

SOURCE:UNICEF

Funds for Washi

Last year's tropical storm Washi continues to effect over 300,000 Filipino people. When Washi hit the island of Mindanao almost 48,000 houses were damaged and more than 550,000 had to leave their homes.

Seven weeks following storm Washi, 21,900 environmental refugees had overcrowded the evacuation centers of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan. More than 400,000 are now residing in makeshift shelters.

The United Nations has revised its prior humanitarian action plan, which had previously asked for $28.4million, and is now seeking $39 million. So far, $9.6 million has been received. The Central Emergency Fund, managed by OCHA, has contributed $3 million to disaster relief efforts.

-Akshika Patel


SOURCE:UN News Centre

Kuwait Gives Aid to the Children in Turkey

Photo courtesy of Kyodo News

On 23 October 2011, a earthquake occurred in Van, Turkey. This earthquake killed 604 people and injured over 4,000 others. Given that most of the area's infrastructure was heavily damaged, a large proportion of 600,000 plus population has been left homeless. Half of those left homeless are children. Those who decided to stay reside in make shift refugee camps in the area.

Earlier this week, the State of Kuwait donated $250,000 to UNICEF towards humanitarian efforts in response to this natural disaster. With children proving to be heavily effected by the earthquake, UNICEF has focused on education and child protection. UNICEF has established emergency schooling facilities: 40 classrooms, eight living units for 24 counsellors, and 190 early childhood development kits. Moreover, UNICEF is training social workers to provide psychosocial support to children who have suffered from the earthquake. The Kuwaiti contribution will go a long way to improving actions already taken by UNICEF.

-Akshika Patel


SOURCE: UNICEF

New Development In Fighting Against Disasters

The World Risk Report 2011 created by the U.N. University Institute for Environment and Human Security along with five German NGOs has launched a risk index that could help donors and aid agencies to have a better idea about the vulnerability of different countries to natural calamities. This index could help donors to effectively respond to disasters and come up with resilience-building initiatives to disaster-prone countries.

According to Jörn Birkmann, the scientific head of the team in charge of developing the index, “The index gives you all that information at a glance — showing the strength of a particular area’s capacity to adapt or cope in percentages, which is useful to communicate the strengths and weakness of a particular area when you are seeking funding from donors.”

The index focuses on a country’s economic, political and ecological factors in determining its response-capacity, and examines four key components: exposure to hazards, susceptibility to damage caused by potential disasters, capacity to cope, and existing adaptation strategies. The index identifies that the Vanuatu, Tonga, the Philippines, Solomon Islands and Guatemala are the top five counties that are most at risk of disasters.

-Nisha Noor

SOURCE: DEVEX