humanitarian aid

A massive cyclone which hit Bangladesh in May 2009 is still having a devastating effect on the lives of many people in the country three years after the event.

Yemen is on the brink of a catastrophic food crisis, seven aid agencies said today (23 May 2012) with 10 million people – 44 percent of the population – without enough food to eat.  The aid agencies warned that malnutrition rates recorded by the UN in some parts of the country were alarming, with one in three children severely malnourished.

Seasonal rains due in Sudan and South Sudan will exacerbate already dire conditions in refugee camps, restrict travel and access, and heighten the risk of disease, a group of leading humanitarian agencies warned today.

A recent influx of 63,000 displaced families – bringing the total to almost half a million people – into the Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has sparked grave concerns among international and national NGOs in Pakistan.

The first warnings of drought and poor harvests in Africa’s Sahel region emerged in late 2011, and vulnerable communities in many areas have been threatened by a looming food crisis.

International agency Oxfam today warned that sanctions imposed on Mali could have devastating consequences on 3.5m people already at risk of hunger, if humanitarian needs are not safeguarded.

Eric Mamboue Oxfam Country director in Mali said:

According to a recent field study conducted in communities in western and eastern Niger, between 70 and 90 per cent of people estimate their food stocks will run out before the next harvest, creating an imminent ‘hunger gap’.

Yemen is at the crossroads of humanitarian catastrophe international aid agency Oxfam said today in reaction to new figures from the World Food Programme, which showed a radical increase in the number of people facing severe hunger in the country.

Humanitarian actors are concerned by the early depletion of food reserves of many Nigerien families and warn of the risk of aggravation of the food and nutrition crisis if the aid response is not rapidly reinforced.