“At this difficult time when people across many parts of South Sudan are struggling to cope with flooding, I want to express my appreciation to the humanitarian community and Government for the response efforts so far,” the Acting UN Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, Chris Nikoi, said.

Nikoi said the response will continue as new areas are accessed with partners overcoming massive challenges.  “Food, household materials, water and sanitation and medical assistance are being transported by any available means,” he stated, noting that 60 per cent of roads have become impassable, with many flooded areas only accessible by air, making humanitarian response expensive.

Media reports say that the Government estimates that about 37,000 households were affected by the floods, with Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei states reportedly worst hit.

“Humanitarians appreciate the Government’s leadership and proactive efforts in responding to the needs of flood-affected people across the country, including the establishment of a flood response fund and task force at national level,” said Nikoi.

“This commitment will help complement efforts to ease the suffering of flood-affected people.”

According to the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Palestine is highly vulnerable to natural hazards, mainly earthquakes, floods, landslides, droughts and desertification. The whole region frequently faces small to mid-scale disasters and is vulnerable to large-scale urban disasters, triggered by seismic activity and climate change.

In January, a winter storm struck the region and caused severe damage to the agriculture and infrastructure in the northern West Bank. About 12,000 people across 190 communities were affected by this storm.

The initiative was launched in Ramallah, and was presided over by various Palestinian officials as well as Margareta Wahlström, UNISDR chief and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, who began her visit to the region this week.

Ms. Wahlstrom met with the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Mohammad Abu-Rahmadan, who told her that the storm last month was an early warning to all sectors that “Palestine can be affected by weather-related events that are beyond the usual patterns.”

During her visit, Ms. Wahlström will also meet with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and other senior officials, as well as representatives from local government and members of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

“It’s an opportunity to pull together all the knowledge that exists here and strengthen the coordination to improve and enhance risk mitigation to be better prepared,” Ms. Wahlström said.

Over the next three days, 100 participants representing various Palestinian governmental and non-governmental entities, international organizations and UN agencies will attend a disaster inventory training as part of the initiative.

Heavy rains last month led to massive flooding in the southern part of the country, killing 105 people and displacing some 150,000. Hundreds of houses were destroyed and crops and infrastructure severely damaged.

In a news release, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the Government and its partners have already allocated $10 million to cope with the emergency. However, given the scale of the disaster, more resources are required for those who lost everything in the floods.

The funds, $5.13 million in total, will be distributed from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which is managed by OCHA, to various UN agencies to provide basic needs and services such as shelter, food, medical aid, water, sanitation and hygiene, and logistical protection to those in need.

“While much has been done, much more is needed. These CERF funds will go a long way in ensuring that assistance is provided to those who need it most,” said the UN Resident Coordinator in Mozambique, Jennifer Topping.

The World Food Programme (WFP) will receive $2.3 million, and more than $1 million will be allocated to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), respectively. A further $820,000 will be given to a joint UNICEF/UN Population Fund (UNFPA)/World Health Organization (WHO) project.

The CERF allocation will form part of the larger recovery proposal, which seeks $30.6 million from the international community to help those affected by the floods for the next six months. Approximately $5 million in pledges have already been received and OCHA is calling on donors to support these efforts to ensure a quick early recovery and increased community resilience.

Launched in 2006, CERF enables the fast delivery of life-saving assistance to people affected by natural disasters and other crises worldwide. It is funded by voluntary contributions from Member States, non-governmental organizations, regional governments, the private sector and individual donors. Donors have so far pledged more than $383 million for 2013, bringing the total amount contributed to CERF since March 2006 to more than $3.2 billion.

In 2003 and 2008, thousands of people from CAR were forced to flee their homes because of political instability and armed conflict. Many of them have since been living in camps in the Chadian cities of Yaroungou and Moula, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

“Our hope is that the relocation will be a welcome break for the refugees of Yaroungou and Moula where heavy seasonal rains have been causing extensive damage over the past three years,” UNHCR’s chief spokesperson, Melissa Fleming, said in a press briefing in Geneva.

“In the Moula camp, some 260 hectares of farmland are currently flooded. At Yaroungou, the floods have destroyed 85 per cent of the maize and rice crops,” she added. “Stockpiles of food and seeds have also been wiped out as most of Chad is affected by flooding.”

Since Monday, when the operation started, UNHCR has moved 1,687 refugees in seven convoys to a new site in Paris-Sara. Ms. Fleming said the refugee agency is organizing convoys twice a day and expects to complete the relocation by the end of the month, assuming new rainfalls do not hamper movement.

According to UNHCR, Chad currently hosts more than 300,000 refugees settled in 18 camps. Twelve of the camps are in the country’s east and host some 260,000 Sudanese refugees originating from Darfur. The other six camps, in the south, house some 60,000 Central Africans. In addition to the refugees, there are 83,000 internally displaced Chadians staying in camps in the east and also receiving UNHCR assistance.

“Despite the immense humanitarian needs in Chad, it is one of our least-funded operations with only 25 per cent of our budget of $177 million received so far,” Fleming said.

She noted that UNHCR estimates that $3.5 million are needed to rehabilitate damaged camp infrastructure such as shelters, schools, water points, health centres, playgrounds, latrines and drainage systems.

“Urgent action needs to be taken in critical areas to help stop the spread of this disease,” said the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Luis Sambo. “Governments need to declare an emergency early so as to benefit from the necessary technical and other support of partners. Just as crucial are better surveillance and cross-border collaboration between health authorities.”

Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by eating food or drinking water contaminated with the bacterium known as vibrio cholerae. The disease has a short incubation period and produces a toxin that causes continuous watery diarrhoea, a condition that can quickly lead to severe dehydration and death if treatment is not administered promptly. Vomiting also occurs in most patients.

In a news release, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that 55,289 cases of cholera have been reported just this year in 15 countries in the region, which have led to 1,109 deaths.

The disease, whose transmission is exacerbated by poor sanitation and hygiene practices, is spreading fast in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, as well as along the Congo River, affecting people in the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and western Niger.

Exceptionally heavy rains have contributed to its spread, as they flood shanty towns in urban centres, leaving many without access to latrines or a clean water supply.

WHO is currently working with governments in the affected countries to ensure an effective response, while UNICEF is supplying equipment, chlorine and medicines, the agencies said.

“Public health measures must become much more of a priority for governments,” said the Acting UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Manuel Fontaine. “We are now seeing children and their families falling prey to a disease that is avoidable.”

Fatality rates in the region can range up to eight per cent, which WHO and UNICEF described as “unacceptably high.” These rates are also 34 per cent higher compared to the same period last year.

The aid is expected to reach around 80,000 victims, and will especially target the most vulnerable, such as low caste groups and tribal and religious minorities.

Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, responsible for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response stated: “The floods came at a particularly bad time just before the harvest. And the monsoon season is not yet at its peak. Crops have been destroyed and in many cases people have also lost their homes and livestock, which further threatens their very survival. With this gesture of European solidarity we will be helping the most vulnerable families in the worst-affected districts to survive this dreadful blow.”

EU funded relief efforts will target the most affected districts of Assam – Barpata, Golaghat, Jorhat and Sonitpur. The funds will be channelled through the Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO) department, which will work through its partners (international non-government organisations, UN agencies and the Red Cross family) to undertake cash-for-work programmes. These will provide the most vulnerable families with extra income to buy food, improve their diet and get them back on their feet. The money will also provide emergency flood-resistant shelter, safe drinking water, sanitation and mosquito nets to prevent the spread of water-borne diseases.