BERN, SWITZERLAND – Four specialists from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA) were dispatched to Thailand by the Swiss government, which is also supplying CHF100,000 to help Thailand and Cambodia organize their flood aid efforts.
The team of four experts is made up of a water specialist, microbiologist, and two experts on flood containment and coping measures, says Bern. “They will provide their expertise in the areas of water management, the measuring of water quality, and in evaluating the condition of the dams and embankments.”
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The ICRC (International Red Cross) said Wednesday 5 October that it has started to distribute food to help 1.1 million Somalis living in the areas hardest hit by war, in southern and central Somalia. Enough beans, rice and oil to survive for one month are already being given to 72,000 people in the Gedo region, says the ICRC, and several more distribution rounds are planned.
The distribution follows successful negotiations with the Al-Shabaab militants who have control of the region. The ICRC said Wednesday that Al-Shabaab is respecting its neutrality. It has been working in Somalia since 1978 and since 1982 has had local and Nairobi-based staff, some of whom can venture into areas closed to foreigners. It works closely with the Somali Red Crescent Society.
The region has been closed to foreign aid groups, adding to the woes of the estimated 750,000 people who may be close to starvation, according to the UN, and the 4 million who are considered by the UN to be in need of aid. The UN in September declared a famine in six regions in the country.
The US considers Al-Shabaab a terrorist organization with close ties to Al Qaeda.
“While food distributions are needed to relieve immediate suffering, the ICRC also aims over the medium term to give the population the means to sustain their own livelihoods,” the Geneva-based group says in a Wednesday press release.
Situation becoming desperate as funds to evacuate dry up, human smugglers find victims
Some 84,000 migrants evacuated from Libya have been sent home, but another 75,000 will need help
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The International Organization for Migration, at its weekly Friday briefing in Geneva, has asked for “donor stamina” in the face of fresh appeals for funding to help thousands of migrant workers to escape the conflict in Libya.
The group is making a fresh appeal for $160 million to ensure that evacuations can continue. The $44 million pledged until now falls “far short” of what is needed, says the IOM, and human smugglers are starting to take advantage of the situation to offer to take those fleeing the fighting to Europe.
Some 84,000 migrants have been helped by the IOM, the UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) and other humanitarian groups, to reach their homes after fleeing the fighting.
In total, more than 410,ooo people have fled Libya in the past month.
Another 75,000 migrants are expected to need help getting home in coming days, according to the IOM. Caring for and organizing their repatriation will cost an additional $160,000, says the Geneva organization.
The IOM notes in a statement 1 April:
“[New funds] would also enable the continued provision of humanitarian assistance such as food and medical attention at the border areas, travel health checks for all those being evacuated and health referrals for particularly vulnerable people in addition to providing reintegration assistance to some of the returning Tunisian and Egyptian migrants.
“This is the third IOM appeal since the Libyan crisis began. So far, the Organization has either been pledged or received US$44 million, far short of what is required.
“As a result, funding for IOM operations have now dried up. IOM has been forced to dramatically reduce the number of people it can evacuate on a daily basis from more than 6,000 a day at the height of its operations to a bare minimum.
“This is despite the fact that at least 6,000 people are fleeing Libya each day towards Egypt and Tunisia alone and thousands more towards Chad and Niger.”
More than 12,000 migrants still remain stranded on Libya’s border with Tunisia and Egypt with more migrants in need of help in Niger, Algeria and Chad.
Those waiting for help in Tunisia and Egypt have become increasingly impatient to return home and are now looking to alternatives out of their situation.
Update 15:15 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The International Federations of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has given indications of how its societies in the tsunami-affected areas, mainly Japan but also Indonesia and the Philippines are responding to the emergency. The 8.8 earthquake (some reports say 8.9), it notes, struck at 14:46 local time 11 March.
“A number of severe 6.4-magnitude aftershocks have followed.
Within minutes, the quake had triggered a tsunami that hit the eastern coast of Japan with 7-metre-high waves, which pushed inland and left a trail of destruction.
So far, at least 28 people are reported to have died, with many more injured or missing. The earthquake triggered fires and caused severe damage to buildings, leaving 4.4 million households without electricity.
The Japanese Red Cross immediately began an assessment exercise from its national headquarters and at branch level, mobilizing its staff and volunteers. The National Society deployed 11 national disaster response teams to carry out assessments and provide first aid and healthcare in the affected areas. Emergency relief planning is underway.”
Region on tsunami alert
An earthquake of this size, with the potential to trigger a tsunami, can cause waves to strike coastlines within a few minutes or even hours later. After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, early-warning and disaster preparedness programmes were stepped up in Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies and it is these early-warning measures that have been put into full operation across the region today.”
The Swiss government announced Friday afternoon that it has offered rapid assistance to the Japanese government following the large (8.9) earthquake and massive tsunami that came in its wake Friday 11 March. It is waiting for clarification of needs from Japan before sending an emergency team of experts from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA).
Telephone links with Japan are under pressure from heavy use, the Swiss government confirms, and it is difficult to establish contact with Swiss citizens who have been in the regions hit by the quake and tsunami.
The SHA is also watching developments in neighbouring countries that are affected by the tsunami, particularly Indonesia and the Philippines, Bern says.
Estimates for the death toll are now in the hundreds, but with few official figures available.
Images of the tsunami that hit Japan Friday afternoon local time are daunting for the scale of the flooding and the speed with which it has swept large areas. Reporters in Japan say telephone lines are overwhelmed by people all trying to call at the same time, making it difficult to get a clear sense of what it happening. In Switzerland, TSR is providing images. (Ed. note: if you are outside Switzerland you are likely to have trouble viewing this)
The entire Pacific Bassin is under a tsunami warning except the US and Canadian continental shorelines. Hawaii has ordered a coastline evacuation and governments are now voicing fears that entire islands may have been washed over by massive waves.
The tsunami is the largest in Japan in 140 years, since records have been kept, Reuters reports.
In Geneva, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is organizing relief efforts with regional Asia/Pacific offices.
The Swiss Humanitarian Aid Office is holding its first meetings to assess the needs, in contact with Japanese authorities, GenevaLunch has been told, and the Military Disaster Relief team is on standby to work with the SHA if requested.
Videos that be can viewed outside Switzerland follow the images from TSR.
Flooding in the Province of Punjab, near the city of Multan, in Pakistan, August 15, 2010. UN chief Ban Ki-moon pledged to speed up international aid for as many as 20 million people hit by Pakistan's floods, warning the "heart-wrenching" disaster was far from over. The United Nations has appealed for 460 million dollars to deal with the immediate aftermath of the floods, but has warned that billions will be needed in the long term as villages, businesses, crops and infrastructure have been wiped out. Image: AFP photo / UN photo / Evan Schneider / (Newscom TagID: afplivethree490607)
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) - The Swiss Solidarity Foundation (La Chaîne de Bonheur in French) is heading a national fundraising drive Wednesday 18 August in Switzerland to raise money for flood victims in Pakistan and bordering regions.
The money goes to eight non-profit organizations which are already working in the flood-hit regions, with national partners, to provide emergency relief: Caritas Switzerland, the Christoffel Mission for the Blind (CMB), HEKS, Terre des hommes Child Relief, the Swiss Red Cross (SRC), Handicap International, the Salvation Army and Swiss Labour Assistance (SAH).
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon 15 August warned that nearly 20 million people are at risk from the flood, just as Pakistan’s weather forecasters announced that more heavy rains are on the way.
The group has received CHF2.09 million in pledges since 3 August, for Pakistan flood relief. It raised more than CHF65 m to help after the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010.
The foundation is the country’s humanitarian solidarity and fundraising platform, led by the Swiss Public Broadcasting company; it works closely with national media and some 30 Swiss-based aid organizations.
Pledges can be made by phone (no calling charge) starting at 06:00 Wednesday: 0800 87 07 07.
Donations can also be made at any time, either online or to postal account 10-15000-6 (marked “Asian floods”). Swiss Solidarity paying-in slips are carried by every post office.
The UN and Pakistan have launched an appeal for $459.7 million over the coming weeks, to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of some 13 million people affected by the floods and to help rebuild the devastated country.
“This is a major catastrophe said John Holmes UN Humanitarian Chief speaking about Pakistan.
According to the UN at least six million flood victims require immediate humanitarian assistance including shelter, food, clean water, sanitation and medical care.
Video appeal – UN
The death toll reportedly rose to 170 in Kyrgystan Tuesday 15 June, and the number of injured is over 1,200, as ethnic unrest continues. Uzbekistan closed its border. The ICRC (International Red Cross) says that some 80,000 refugees have now fled the area around Osh, in the south of the country. The fighting is the worst since 1990, reports CNN, when clashes killed several hundred people.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – The UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) in Geneva is sending emergency aid teams to 75,000 Uzbeks who have crossed the border from Kyrgyzstan into Uzbekistan since Friday.
“We have agreed with the Uzbek government to support their efforts and assist tens of thousands, mostly women and children seeking safety in Uzbekistan,” notes UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres. The UNHCR emergency team includes experts on operations, field officers and logistics. It is scheduled to deploy immediately, the organization says in a news release Monday afternoon. The UNHCR is also preparing an airlift from its emergency stockpile in Dubai.
The refugees continue to flee from violence, including men on the loose with hatchets, as ethnic unrest in the area flairs. Georgia’s minister for re-integration, Temur Iakobashvili, called the violence Russian-inspired “ethnic cleansing” of Uzbeks, according to Civil.Ge, a Georgian news media. Aljazeera’s reporter on the border says the fleeing Uzbeks are making claims that are difficult to substantiate, that Kyrgystan’s military are joining in some of the attacks. The country’s interim leader, Roza Otunbayeva, in place since early April, says an outside third party is needed to calm the situation and that she has contacted Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to ask for help.
Al Jazeera video
An Irish ship, the MV Rachel Corrie, is heading towards Gaza with 11 people and a load of cememt, part of a humanitarian aid delivery. The group on board includes former UN Assistant Secretary General Denis Halliday, who says they will not stop unless forced to by Israel, but that they are not armed and do not plan to put up a fight, reports CNN.
International condemnation but Israel says, a bit late, it was ambushed
Update 15:40, video International condemnation has been swift, following an attack by Israeli commandoes on a convoy of six humanitarian aid boat taking supplies to Gaza, despite an Israeli sea blockade. Reports vary that anywhere from 10-19 activists were killed, with four Israeli soldiers injured.
In the wake of foreign outrage, Israel has scrambled to show what happened, saying the ship carried “peace activists” who had terrorist ties and that the attack took place after warnings were issued – and that the peace activists attacked its forces with weapons. So far, the Israeli version of events has done little to soften the criticism of other governments, although there is widespread recognition that Israel did not expect a confrontation, given its handling of previous, similar ships.
The attack has increased tensions with Turkey, whose flag the ships were carrying.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, BBC, CBS, Jerusalem Post, Reuters
Video, Reuters
Homeless Haitians, post-earthquake, have set up tents on a golf course (photo: ©2010 Marco Dormino/UN)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in Geneva Tuesday 9 February made an urgent plea for another kind of aid for Haiti: weather services. The organization points out that “the rainy season with flood risk is due in early April and the hurricane season begins in early June. In order to prevent potential disasters related to natural hazards, which the country is prone to, the capacity of Haiti to produce and disseminate weather information and warnings needs to be developed without delay.”
More than 90 percent of the disasters in Haiti “are linked to frequently occurring meteorological, hydrological and climate-related hazards,” says the WMO.
The country’s meteorological services have operated only partially since the 12 January earthquake, so other WMO member countries have been providing weather information.
A 5.9 earthquake in Haiti Wednesday 20 January, the largest to date, frightened people but does not appear to have caused major damage. An earthquake of 6 would be one-tenth the strength of the one that hit the country 12 January, since the Richter scale is a base-10 logarithmic calculation. Supplies are reportedly finally moving, although still slowly, aid agencies report.
Links to other sites: CNN, Reuters AlertNet
Haitian Red Cross volunteer with child (image: IFRC on flickr)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Several Geneva-based organizations have rushed to help Haitians following the 12 January earthquake there, and they are now publishing striking images that show the scope of the disaster the work they are involved in.
Among them:
- Doctors Without Borders
- ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross)
- IFRC (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies)
- OCHA (UN disaster relief coordinating office)
Violent clashes broke out along the Gaza-Egyptian border Wednesday 6 January when an aid delivery from the movement Viva Palestina was delayed in an Egyptian port. An Egyptian soldier died and scores of people were reportedly wounded, with CNN being told by one official that at least two people were in critical condition. The convoy of sedan cars was led by British Parliament Member George Galloway and has sparked some controversy.
Links to other sites: CNN, CS Monitor
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland is demanding that Israel end its nearly total blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has forced most humanitarian aid to the region to be stopped, it says. The work has come to a virtual standstill of two United Nations agencies, the WFP, UNRWA, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, all of whom work closely with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
