El Niño conditions persisting during the 2015/16 planting season have caused the worst drought in 35 years in Southern Africa, resulting in a second consecutive failed harvest. This has created severe food shortages and compounded existing vulnerabilities. Since July 2016, Namibia and Botswana have... declared national drought emergencies, in addition to the declarations made earlier by Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. Madagascar issued a letter of solidarity with the SADC Appeal, and Mozambique has maintained a red alert in affected areas.
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The transformation of the humanitarian landscape has already made a significant impact on the operational security of INGOs and other humanitarian actors. This report serves to inform strategic policy priorities and approaches to security planning and coordination, and addresses three main questions...: 1. What are the emerging trends, developments and drivers of change that are likely to affect or change security issues and considerations in the humanitarian environment of the future? 2. How will the humanitarian sector need to adapt in order to continue to deliver programmes within this changing operational context? 3. How prepared are organisations for this future, and what might they need to do differently in order to be prepared?
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The report offers an analysis of the broader challenges to securing humanitarian action and recommends areas for improvement. This study will contribute to improving the way humanitarians ‘do business’ in complex
security environments. Document also available in French, Arabic and Spanish.
Looking forward, the 2019-2020 Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRRP) for the DRC situation aims at addressing the needs of new arrivals of Congolese refugees in the region, and those in protracted situations. By supporting livelihoods opportunities and through a resilience-based approach, refugees w...ill be able to contribute to the development of their host countries, and of their country of origin upon their return. Given the limited capacity of host communities to support the impact of massive numbers of refugees, the response strategy will also address the needs of local populations, strengthening peaceful co-existence and building social cohesion.
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The Cost of Security Risk Management for NGOs explores the costs related to safety and security management for aid programmes. It aims to assist all aid practitioners to determine their risk management expenditure more accurately, and demonstrate an evidence-based approach when presenting this infor...mation to donors.
The paper will be particularly relevant to those responsible for programme planning and management, donor proposal writing, as well as safety and security risk management.
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This study looks at commitments made at the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) under the Grand Bargain and provides an overview of good practices on localisation approaches, provides a number of case studies from the regional response and makes recommendations on how to further strengthen leadership an...d participation of national and local actors within the response to the Syria crisis.
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The guide is designed to help disaster managers in national Governments gain basic knowledge of how to use international tools and services. It aims to support the growing disaster response and disaster response preparedness capabilities that exist at national level across Asia and the Pacific.
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The guide is for national disaster management organizations (NDMOs) and line ministries involved in disaster response and disaster response preparedness. It is also a reference document for representatives of intergovernmental organizations, civilsociety actors and disaster-affected people.
The guide concentrates on key tools and services that can be helpful to disaster managers during the response and response preparedness phases of the disaster programme cycle.
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Biennial Report of the Regional Director
The 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) sets out the framework within which the humanitarian community will respond to the large-scale humanitarian and protection needs in Syria throughout 2019, on the basis of the prioritization undertaken across and within sectors. The HRP, based on United Natio...ns’ assessments and analysis, also presents urgent funding requirements to address these needs. It is anchored by three strategic objectives: saving lives and alleviating suffering, enhancing protection, and increasing resilience. These objectives are interlinked and achieving positive outcomes for affected people requires concerted action across all three.
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A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Haiti at 8:30am local time at a depth of around 10km. The epicentre was recorded around 12km northeast of SaintLouis-du-Sud, about 125km west of the capital Port-au-Prince.
● In the aftermath of the devastating 7.2-magnitude earthquake that hit Hai...ti on 14 August, authorities report more than 2,200 people dead, at least 344 missing, over 12,000 injured and upwards of 130,000 homes damaged or destroyed.
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On 25 August, UN agencies and partners launched a US$187.3 million Flash Appeal to reach 500,000 of the most vulnerable people affected by the 14 August earthquake.
Around 650,000 people are in need of emergency humanitarian assistance in the three most affected departments – Grand’Anse, Nipp...es and Sud – where 634,000 were already in need of multisectoral assistance before the quake.
Based on lessons learned from past emergencies, humanitarian actors are aiming to capitalize on local and national level expertise, capacities and knowledge to promote a rapid and effective response tailored to the expressed needs of affected people.
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After five consecutive below-average rains, the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa is expanding and deepening.
Combined with insecurity and macroeconomic volatility, the impact of the drought on food and nutrition security has been devastating. Across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, an estima...ted 22 million people are now acutely food insecure because of the drought. The malnutrition situation is also critical. Some 5.1 million children across drought-affected areas of the three countries are acutely malnourished in 2023, with dire implications for their health, growth and survival. Concerningly, the upcoming March-May 2023 rains are also forecast to be below-average. Should these rains fail, and humanitarian assistance not be delivered at scale, food insecurity will continue to deteriorate.
Regardless of how the 2023 rains perform, extremely high humanitarian needs will persist through 2023 while a full recovery from a drought of this magnitude will take years. To address the devastating drought-induced hunger and malnutrition across the region, WFP is pursuing an integrated dual track approach; meeting immediate life-saving food and nutritional needs while simultaneously building resilience to extreme climate variability.
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