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14 Jan 2020 SYDNEY, Australia

Australia Bushfires And The Threat to Drinking Water, Ecosystems

Devastating ongoing bushfires in Australia threaten to wreak havoc on water resources as ecologists warn that resultant algae blossoms threaten freshwater ecosystems and diminish the quality of drinking water. Australian wildfires have burned as much as 26 Million acres of land.Burned catchment areas are increasing the level of mercury in lakes and water reserves as burnt sediment is now travelling into them...

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5 Nov 2019 MOGADISHU, Somalia

Flooding Escalates Human Displacement, Disease Risk In Somalia

Over 275,000 people in Somalia have been displaced by heavy rains in October, bringing the number to 575,000 since January following devastating flodds. Insecurity in many regions is making access for humanitarians virtually impossible according to new estimates from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and the crisis in rural areas is causing migration to urban areas...

5 Jun 2019 HARARE, Zimbabwe

Drought Forces Zimbabwe To Seek Relief On Power Payments To South Africa

The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) announced plans June 3 to approach power supplier Eskom of South Africa for relief on a payment plan for power imports as drought hits hydro power production capacity in Zimbabwe.Zimbabwe has had power shortages since 2007 and has relied on imports of over 350 MW from Eskom and about 50 MW from HCB of Mozambique...

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7 Jan 2019 WASHINGTON DC, United States

Nubian Aquifer Radiation Levels Pose Health Risk

New analysis of water in the world's largest fossil water aquifer system has revealed elevated levels of radium. Research into the Nubian aquifer at the eastern end of the Sahara desert, follows on from research in a similar fossil aquifer in 2009 in Jordan, where high levels of radioactivity were also discovered...

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30 Sep 2018 SANGHAR

Pakistan: Drought Stricken Residents Demand Sindh Government Intervention

Scores of drought-stricken residents of Achhro Thar, an extended part of Thar proper, have demanded the Sindh government should immediately supply them water and fodder for their starving livestock and relief goods for the equally affected humans. Villagers as well as their cows, goats and camels had been braving acute shortage of fodder and water since 2011, resulting in diseases in many animals and deaths of others...

29 May 2018 NAIROBI, Kenya

Eastern Africa Floods Death Toll Almost 500. Food Shortages Predicted. Disease Warnings Issued

Rainfall that has been twice the seasonal average in parts of eastern Africa has claimed almost 500 lives, forced thousands from their homes and damaged crops, raising the spectre of a repeat of last year’s food shortages. A series of small Kenyan dams collapsed at the weekend, killing five people — the latest victims of the deluges that began around the main wet season in March, and which have also caused deaths in Rwanda, Ethiopia, Somalia and Tanzania...

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5 Sep 2017 ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

UN Food Agency Heads Call for Investment to Address Root Causes of Hunger. Trump-Nominated WFP Chief Beasley Slams Saudi Role in Yemen Crisis

The heads of the three food agencies of the United Nations (UN) this week made a joint call for greater investment in long-term activities that strengthen people’s resilience to drought and the impacts of climate shocks.Speaking at the conclusion of a four-day visit to Ethiopia, including to the drought-stricken Somali region, José Graziano da Silva, Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Gilbert F...

11 Nov 2016 NEW YORK, NY, United States

UN Agencies Launch Cholera Vaccination Campaign in Matthew-Hit Parts of Haiti

UN agencies including the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) this week launched a cholera vaccination campaign in areas of Haiti hit hard by Hurricane Matthew last month.“The target population is estimated at 820,000 people over one year of age,” Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary General, told reporters in New York...

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21 Oct 2016 NEW YORK NY, United States

Haiti Cholera “Underreported”

The extent of the cholera problem in Haiti in the aftermath of this month’s Hurricane Matthew may be underreported, according to David Nabarro, special advisor to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, in an appeal for more assistance from donor nations.Remote areas of the country remain inaccessible, and political protests over slow aid delivery are exacerbating delivery challenges, Nabarro said October 18th, adding that the agency is concerned that sick people are not being treated...

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28 Sep 2016 NEW YORK, NY, United States

UNGA: More on Climate and Disease

Government representatives from a number of developing and least developed countries have spoken at the General Assembly of the United Nations about challenges related to water.A number of speakers expressed concern about the impact of climate change and the lack of sustainable climate financing. Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini of Swaziland said: “The negative impact of climate change has become a thorn in our economy...

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16 Sep 2016 ABUJA, Nigeria

Nigeria Commissions $15 Million USD Supply Project for Regions Vulnerable to Water-borne Disease

The federal government of Nigeria has commissioned the $15 million USD Central Ogbia regional water supply project, which was conceived as a result of a cholera epidemic and water-related diseases in many parts of Bayelsa state, in the south of the country.The project, operated by NAIRDA Company, has a plant capacity of 500 cubic meters per hour for an estimated population of 120,360 in Otueke and 12 other communities in the Central Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State that are vulnerable to water borne disease...

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8 Jan 2016 OXFORD, United Kingdom

El Niño Puts Unprecedented Strain on Humanitarian Aid System: Oxfam

This year’s unusually strong El Niño will put unprecedented pressure on the global humanitarian system, relief organization Oxfam warned last week. The group said in a statement that according to its estimates, the weather phenomenon could leave tens of millions of people facing hunger, water shortages and disease if action is not taken now to prepare vulnerable people for its effects...

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