HUMANITARIAN ISSUES:
There are countless disasters worldwide that require the attention of humanitarian workers, however some of these issues are far greater in scope than others and demand immediate aid in order to prevent the crisis from escalating. One such crisis is the food insecurity affecting the Sahel region of Africa. Nine countries in the region are at risk due to a range of factors such as a 2011 drought, rising costs of food, decreased agricultural output and household’s failure to recover from the 2010 food and nutrition crisis has led to widespread vulnerability in the Sahel. In addition to these factors the continuing conflict in Mali has resulted in nearly 200,000 internally displaced persons and roughly 150,000 refugees that have fled to the neighboring countries of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mauritania, placing an even higher demand on aid service that is already being stretched thin. Another major crisis was in Sudan, when in October of 2012 there was a Yellow Fever outbreak in seven different locations in central and south Darfur. There were 849 suspected cases of yellow fever as reported by the World Health Organization, which resulted in 171 deaths. A vaccination campaign was quickly enacted and over five million people received vaccination. An outbreak such as this if not stopped in its infancy could have had devastating consequences for the entire region.
Another outbreak of a dangerous disease was reported in the Congo this past April when a heavy downpour resulted in large-scale destruction of drainage systems that in turn overflowed wells and latrines. The stagnant pools proved to be a breeding ground for Cholera that has killed 15 people as of April 6, 2013. There have been 656 reported cases so far. Another major crisis occurred in Pakistan in August of 2012; intense monsoon rains resulted in extensive loss of life and damage to infrastructure across the country. Five million people, 14,270 villages and 1.1 million acres of crops were affected by flooding. As late as the following November more than 1.3 million people still required safe drinking water, sanitation, health services and food and agriculture assistance. Another major crises is the food insecurity occurring in Lesotho as of August of 2012. At that time almost three quarters of a million people were describes as food insecure. Lesotho’s government along with humanitarian partners prepared an appeal seeking almost 40 million in aid however as of last October it was only 22% funded. Food insecurity in Lesotho continued through to March of 2013.
A major humanitarian crisis is the Cholera outbreak in Haiti, which has been persisting since October of 2010. Thought to have been brought to Haiti by peacekeepers from Nepal, this issue has turned into the worst cholera epidemic in recent history. Central to this problem is the UN’s refusal to take part in a comprehensive effort to remove cholera from Haiti. Another crisis is the drought affecting the northern Marshall Islands, which has occurred this very month. The government has declared a state of emergency as the drought has affected drinking water supplies, salinity of groundwater and agricultural production. This disaster requires immediate as well as long term response from aid agencies in order to ensure the future of the Atoll Islands.
A crisis of a different nature has resulted from war in Syria, which is that of over one million refugees have left the country to escape the violence. Taking refuge in neighboring countries such as Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, these massive influxes of people are placing a huge strain on the countries taking them in. Lebanon’s population has increased by 10% due to the refugees and has begun to threaten the country’s internal stability. An additional major crisis of the 2012-13 time frame is the escalating violence in the Central African Republic, which was already struggling before the onset of the conflict. Ellen van der Velden of Doctors without Boarders stated that “…There is, even before the current crisis broke out, already very few development NGOs or support or business, and this country already – at the best of times, many people could have done with a lot of help, and that situation has only become more complicated.” A final conflict that I will discuss is that of the lead poisoning of thousands of children in Nigeria. Illegal gold mines across the country have employed children to do the digging for them which has resulted in over 400 deaths and many more have been mentally handicapped for life.
There are countless disasters worldwide that require the attention of humanitarian workers, however some of these issues are far greater in scope than others and demand immediate aid in order to prevent the crisis from escalating. One such crisis is the food insecurity affecting the Sahel region of Africa. Nine countries in the region are at risk due to a range of factors such as a 2011 drought, rising costs of food, decreased agricultural output and household’s failure to recover from the 2010 food and nutrition crisis has led to widespread vulnerability in the Sahel. In addition to these factors the continuing conflict in Mali has resulted in nearly 200,000 internally displaced persons and roughly 150,000 refugees that have fled to the neighboring countries of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mauritania, placing an even higher demand on aid service that is already being stretched thin. Another major crisis was in Sudan, when in October of 2012 there was a Yellow Fever outbreak in seven different locations in central and south Darfur. There were 849 suspected cases of yellow fever as reported by the World Health Organization, which resulted in 171 deaths. A vaccination campaign was quickly enacted and over five million people received vaccination. An outbreak such as this if not stopped in its infancy could have had devastating consequences for the entire region.
Another outbreak of a dangerous disease was reported in the Congo this past April when a heavy downpour resulted in large-scale destruction of drainage systems that in turn overflowed wells and latrines. The stagnant pools proved to be a breeding ground for Cholera that has killed 15 people as of April 6, 2013. There have been 656 reported cases so far. Another major crisis occurred in Pakistan in August of 2012; intense monsoon rains resulted in extensive loss of life and damage to infrastructure across the country. Five million people, 14,270 villages and 1.1 million acres of crops were affected by flooding. As late as the following November more than 1.3 million people still required safe drinking water, sanitation, health services and food and agriculture assistance. Another major crises is the food insecurity occurring in Lesotho as of August of 2012. At that time almost three quarters of a million people were describes as food insecure. Lesotho’s government along with humanitarian partners prepared an appeal seeking almost 40 million in aid however as of last October it was only 22% funded. Food insecurity in Lesotho continued through to March of 2013.
A major humanitarian crisis is the Cholera outbreak in Haiti, which has been persisting since October of 2010. Thought to have been brought to Haiti by peacekeepers from Nepal, this issue has turned into the worst cholera epidemic in recent history. Central to this problem is the UN’s refusal to take part in a comprehensive effort to remove cholera from Haiti. Another crisis is the drought affecting the northern Marshall Islands, which has occurred this very month. The government has declared a state of emergency as the drought has affected drinking water supplies, salinity of groundwater and agricultural production. This disaster requires immediate as well as long term response from aid agencies in order to ensure the future of the Atoll Islands.
A crisis of a different nature has resulted from war in Syria, which is that of over one million refugees have left the country to escape the violence. Taking refuge in neighboring countries such as Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, these massive influxes of people are placing a huge strain on the countries taking them in. Lebanon’s population has increased by 10% due to the refugees and has begun to threaten the country’s internal stability. An additional major crisis of the 2012-13 time frame is the escalating violence in the Central African Republic, which was already struggling before the onset of the conflict. Ellen van der Velden of Doctors without Boarders stated that “…There is, even before the current crisis broke out, already very few development NGOs or support or business, and this country already – at the best of times, many people could have done with a lot of help, and that situation has only become more complicated.” A final conflict that I will discuss is that of the lead poisoning of thousands of children in Nigeria. Illegal gold mines across the country have employed children to do the digging for them which has resulted in over 400 deaths and many more have been mentally handicapped for life.