Today's Top News: Myanmar, Sudan, Haiti, Colombia
Myanmar
Cyclone Mocha has been one of the strongest ever to hit Myanmar. It has struck Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state, especially hard.
The storm has moved inland, bringing wind, heavy rain and flooding to other states and regions in the northwest, where more than a million people have already been displaced by conflict.
The Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim, Ramanathan Balakrishnan, spoke to reporters this morning from Myanmar. He said although he does not yet have a full picture of the damage, 5.4 million people are expected to have been in the path of the cyclone in Rakhine and in the northwest.
He also said that we are facing a nightmare scenario, since people in the affected areas were already facing high humanitarian needs.
Health care, relief items, shelter, and water, sanitation and hygiene support are the top priorities, given the high risk of waterborne and communicable diseases.
We hope that humanitarian teams will get the access they need to start assessing needs as soon as possible.
To deliver aid, we will need access to people affected by the cyclone, as well as expedited travel authorizations and customs clearances for supplies.
We will also need a massive infusion of funds. The US$764 million Humanitarian Response Plan is less than 10 per cent funded.
Some 17.6 million people were already in need in Myanmar before this disaster.
Sudan
Our humanitarian partners continue working to scale up our response to spiraling needs around the country.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has delivered 30 tons of medical supplies to Aj Jazirah state. Yesterday, supplies of trauma kits to treat 2,400 people were delivered to five hospitals there and three others in the capital, Khartoum.
WHO is also supporting the delivery of critical items to its partners and has additional supplies in the pipeline. Those will be released as soon as the security and logistics situation will allow.
Meanwhile, our humanitarian partners are resuming operations in some states in the Darfur region.
For example, in North Darfur, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has helped deliver some 235,000 liters of clean water to eight health care facilities and one nutrition center. UNICEF is also distributing water, sanitation and health supplies for nearly 15,700 patients at more than a dozen healthcare facilities.
And in Eastern Darfur, UNICEF has provided clean water to some 40,000 people in the Elneem camp for internally displaced people.
Haiti
The Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, has allocated $9 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to support relief efforts in the country.
Haiti has seen a massive deterioration of the humanitarian situation due to exploding violence and insecurity.
Overall, the number of people who need humanitarian assistance in Haiti has doubled over the past five years, rising to 5.2 million people. This includes a 30 per cent jump in the number of children suffering severe acute malnutrition, compared to a year ago.
This year’s Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti is the largest since the devastating 2010 earthquake. Unfortunately, our $720 million appeal is less than 12 per cent funded so far.
Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Joyce Msuya in Colombia
The Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Joyce Msuya, is in Bogota for a five-day visit to Colombia.
Ms. Msuya is meeting with senior officials from the Government, representatives of aid organizations, and humanitarian donors.
While in Colombia, the Assistant Secretary-General will underscore the UN’s continued support for the Government’s efforts to end armed conflict and respond to humanitarian emergencies.