Full Coverage: Emergency relief

29.07.2005 Le 27 juin, MSF a ouvert à Aguié son cinquième centre de nutrition thérapeutique au Niger, d'une capacité de 150 lits d'hospitalisation. Mais quinze jours après l'ouverture, le centre affiche déjà complet. Pour faire face à l'afflux d'enfants souffrant de malnutrition grave, il faut doubler le nombre de lits.

28.07.2005 In 50 days time, world leaders have the opportunity to prevent food crises like Niger ever happening again by setting up a UN emergency fund, says Oxfam.

26.07.2005 Last December's tsunami was merciless to farming communities, poisoning thousands of acres with salt and sand. But the tiny Indian village of Piryakootai--where villagers scrape off up to three feet of the salted top soil--is determined to reclaim their land and their lives.

22.07.2005 Pour éviter une surmortalité dans les semaines à venir, des mesures exceptionnelles doivent être prises en urgence. C’est pourquoi Médecins Sans Frontières appelle à des distributions de nourriture dans les villages les plus touchés par la malnutrition.

Aujourd’hui, trois mois après de multiples appels à une aide d’urgence lancés par Médecins Sans Frontières ou d’autres acteurs, la réponse à la crise nutritionnelle au Niger reste très insuffisante par rapport à la gravité de la situation.

22.07.2005 "There is late and there is too late. We are now racing so that our relief is not too late for Niger's children", a leading children's charity has warned, joining the growing criticisms of the poor international response to the west African country's food crisis.

21.07.2005 Less than a month after G8 leaders promised more and better aid for Africa, the international community has failed to respond adequately to the food crisis in Niger, said World Vision.

21.07.2005 With more than three million people, including almost a million children, facing starvation in Niger, Oxfam today launched a £1 million appeal for the West African food crisis.

21.07.2005 Warnings of an impending food crisis in Niger, sounded by the U.N. and other aid agencies late last year, met with little response from the international donor community. Contributions are starting to trickle in at the U.N., but by the time enough aid gets through it will have come too late for many, most of them babies and young children, says U.N. Humanitarian Affairs chief, Jan Egeland.

20.07.2005 Millions of people are facing food shortages in several west African countries following a devastating locust invasion last year and localised drought.

19.07.2005 KUPANG, Indonesia, Jul 19 (IPS) - Devastating though it was, the Asian Tsunami brought the proverbial winds of change to Indonesia by focusing international attention on the festering conflict in Aceh province and creating conditions for a political settlement that may yet instruct other ethnic groups.

19.07.2005 Some 3 million Colombians are estimated to have been displaced by the country's long-running conflict--comparable to the numbers in the Democratic Republic of Congo or Sudan--yet little is heard about their plight, and still less is being done. It is unacceptable that the issue is not on international agendas, says Médecins Sans Frontières.

19.07.2005 Efforts to save lives and treat injuries and illnesses caused by Hurricane Dennis have been badly hampered by the Bush administration's decision to tighten the U.S. embargo, which denies Cuba access to critical medications and medical supplies, says the international aid group MADRE, which is preparing a shipment of medicines to the country.

18.07.2005

© Action Against Hunger-USA

As a result of severe drought and a recent plague of locusts, the rates of malnutrition and lack of access to grazing land and clean water have reached dangerously high levels in the Mali and Niger. Action Against Hunger is calling on the United States, as well as the other Group of 8 countries, to intervene in an emergency in northern Mali and Niger.

18.07.2005 After 29 years of fighting, Acehenese separatists and Indonesian forces signed a peace deal Sunday, in part "to give the people of Aceh a chance to rebuild after the devastating tsunami," according to one rebel leader. But will this peace hold?

15.07.2005 Face à l’intensification et la propagation de la violence à Port-au-Prince, la capitale d’Haïti, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) appelle aujourd’hui tous les acteurs armés de la ville à respecter la sécurité des populations civiles et de permettre un accès immédiat aux soins médicaux d’urgence aux personnes blessées lors de combats.

14.07.2005 Violence against civilians is escalating, reports Medecins Sans Frontieres in Haiti, despite the U.N.'s bolstering of its "Stabilization" Mission in the country by 1,000 soldiers. The group is calling on all armed groups in the city to respect the safety of civilians and allow immediate access to emergency medical care for those wounded in clashes.

13.07.2005 The decade-long conflict in Nepal has displaced thousands of civilians and the difficulties in accessing rural areas have stalled an effective response. Cooperation between organizations and with the government is necessary to ensure the current situation does not devolve into a humanitarian crisis, explains Refugees International.

09.07.2005 An exhibition - We Will Wipe the Tears Caused by the Tsunami - by Oxfam and its local partners in a government school in Vakarai in Sri Lanka drew a massive response from the people. The exhibition was organized on June 26 to mark the six months of the tsunami devastation that left nearly 31,000 dead and thousands homeless.

08.07.2005 The UN WFP on Monday suspended all shipments of humanitarian assistance to Somalia after pirates hijacked a ship carrying 850 tons of food relief meant for the country's tsunami survivors. The UN agency said it would "review" the suspension depending on the release of the detained relief food and crew.

07.07.2005 With the G8 summit's focus on African development, Jan Egeland, U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, proposed each G8 nation take the lead in highlighting 8 African countries experiencing forgotten emergencies. In this photo essay, Refugees International invites you to learn more about the emergencies spotlighted by Egeland.