A series of tropical cyclones have devastated areas in the Philippines, Viet Nam, Cambodia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic since early October, United Nations humanitarian officials report, noting that the Organization and partners are seeking $95 million to help nearly 675,000 displaced people.
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The Acting Special Representative for Libya reported a breakthrough in the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum taking place in Tunisia, with participants reaching a preliminary agreement on a road map for ending the transitional period and organizing free, inclusive and credible parliamentary and presidential elections.
In Somalia, flash floods have affected nearly 73,000 people, displacing more than 13,000 and causing four deaths, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports. The United Nations and partners have mobilized pre-positioned supplies to help those affected and provided shelter to at least 6,000 people.
COVID-19 could push more people to move out of necessity, as hunger surges among migrant and displaced communities, the International Organization for Migration and the World Food Programme warn in a new report. The World Bank expects a 14 per cent drop in remittances to low- and middle-income countries by 2021 which will impact food security.
Amid tensions in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, the Secretary-General spoke to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and regional leaders, relaying his support. United Nations staff will continue to deliver assistance to over 2 million people in Tigray, where thousands are also affected by COVID-19 and a desert locust infestation.
The Emergency Relief Coordinator reported that six humanitarian workers were lost in targeted attacks in Somalia, in two separate incidents in South Sudan, and in north-west Syria. “This cannot be tolerated,” he said, calling the attacks a violation of international law and an “obscene act against people working hard” to help the world’s vulnerable.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched the Food Coalition, a multi-stakeholder, multi-sectoral alliance that aims to ensure global food access and increase the resilience of agri-food systems. The pandemic could add 132 million more people to the world's undernourished in 2020, FAO says, on top of the 690 million hungry people in 2019.
In Nicaragua, UNICEF and its partners have prepositioned emergency supplies and developed a joint response plan to address the needs of families impacted by Hurricane Eta, including 10,000 people evacuated from the northern coast, while the World Food Programme has positioned 80 metric tons of food assistance in the region.
Experts at the Pacific Disaster Centre estimate that 70,000 people in Nicaragua and over 483,000 people in Honduras are vulnerable to the impact of Hurricane Eta, which is poised to make landfall as United Nations teams, national authorities and regional partners prepare response plans.
The Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, Alain Noudéhou, has condemned the killing on 29 October of an aid worker in the greater Pibor area, stressing that it is unacceptable that eight humanitarian workers have already lost their lives this year in South Sudan while providing aid to people in need.