The United Nations said on Monday it had begun delivering food aid to war-torn South Sudan via the Nile River from Sudan for the first time since it became independent in 2011, warning the country could face a “hunger catastrophe.” From Reuters:
The corridor, through an area of high military activity, will reduce reliance on expensive airplane and helicopter deliveries, which cost six to seven times as much as river and road transport, according to the World Food Programme (WFP).
“The threat of a hunger catastrophe remains very real in early 2015 as the dry season takes hold,” said Stephen Kearney, WFP’s acting country director. “This will make an enormous difference in our efforts to bring food assistance to people in critical need.”
The border between Sudan and Sudan Sudan has been heavily militarized since Juba declared independence from Khartoum three years ago, cutting off nearly all cross-border commercial and humanitarian traffic along the Nile. The route was opened only after extensive negotiations between the two countries, WFP said.
WFP said it had completed thousands of flights over the last year carrying food and nutrition supplies to some 2.5 million people isolated by conflict and bad roads, which become impassable during rainy seasons.
Fierce fighting erupted in South Sudan last December, two years after Juba declared independence from Khartoum. The United Nations says the conflict has killed more than 10,000 people and driven the country of 11 million toward famine.
The warring parties re-committed to stop fighting and bring their conflict to an end without conditions in November, but sporadic bouts of fighting resumed soon afterwards.
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Global Health and Development Beat
Roche Holding AG said U.S. health regulators have approved its Ebola test for emergency use in response to the world’s worst outbreak of the disease in West Africa.
In some African countries, the social and economic forces collide on workplace issues like parental leave. While some countries are moving to extend leave, others are having a hard time enforcing the laws they already have.
Recent studies indicate Burundi is the hungriest place on earth. War, poverty and overpopulation have left up to two thirds of the residents with chronic food shortages, stunting people’s growth physically and also professionally, while rising demands for scarce resources pose serious problems for Burundi’s stability.
Birth control is a divisive issue across much of Africa – it challenges culture, religion and patriarchy. In Dakar, bringing religious leaders into the discussion has been an important step to overcoming resistance in Senegal.
Dozens of new Ebola cases have erupted in Liberia, near the border with Sierra Leone, Liberian health officials warned Monday, marking a setback amid recent improvements.
With a population that has already passed the 50 million mark and a sustained unemployment rate of more than 25%, attention is being focused on South Africa’s child grant incentives for single mothers which may be encouraging young women to bear children to get an income.
In the DR Congo, 21,000 women died last year due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Literally, one thousand times more than in Spain, says MSF.
West Africa’s Ebola epidemic has cruelly exposed the weaknesses of health systems in the countries where it struck. It was understandable that they were not prepared for Ebola, which has never been reported in the region before, but the director of the WHO says what they lacked was a robust public health infrastructure to deal with the unexpected, reports IRIN.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos assured that his government will increase the resources devoted to health, reports Prensa Latina.
Ecuador has launched a vaccination campaign to protect the population from several types of seasonal flu, involving 5.79 million doses, reported a source from the Health Ministry.
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Spotlight on PSI
Ambassador Ashley Judd shares a story from Haiti and the power of providing HIV testing to the most vulnerable people. She writes:
A woman will do whatever is needed to feed her family.
In a brothel in downtown Port Au Prince, you see just that. Twenty women, all of them mothers, were clustered in the front room. The cement walls were sparsely decorated with stenciled yellow stars.
With few options but with families counting on them, these women sell their bodies. They know it’s dangerous. They know the risks. But for them the alternative for their families – homelessness, hunger, hopelessness — is worse. PSI tries to keep them safe.
A PSI lab tech is in the room. She covers a table with gauze. She lays out gloves, testing kits for syphilis and HIV and a bio waste receptacle.
Nadege – who once sold her body, but found work through PSI as a health educator — walks to the center of the room. As she speaks, some women take turns getting their blood drawn.
Fedeline, a quiet woman with a shy smile, comes here every morning. She rents her small room for $6 US a day and gets paid $5 per client.
She works to take care of her son Widney and pay for his education. But she admits that she’s terrified each time she sees a client. She says, “You don’t know if the guy is a good guy or a bad guy. You just have to do it.”
She’s also afraid of STIs like HIV. “If you don’t use a condom, you can get viruses. But we have Nadege. She comes and does the tests for us. She’s one of us.”
At PSI, we believe that every person deserves a chance to live a healthy life. We go into hot spots like brothels and provide HIV testing and counseling free of charge. Preventing illness among women like Fedeline is imperative to a healthy community.
Support this important work. For a short time, your donation will go twice as far through this generous challenge match.
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Buzzing in the Blogs
USAID’s Nancy Lindborg shares lessons learned a decade since the Indian Ocean Tsunami. She shares lessons for the USAID Impact Blog, here are a few:
Early Warning Leads to Early Action
Although there was a lag of several hours between the earthquake and the tsunami, almost all of the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami were taken by surprise, because there were no early detection or early warning systems in place. In the aftermath of the tsunami, USAID provided $16.6 million to support the development of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS), an integrated early warning and mitigation system that allows countries in the Indian Ocean region to detect and prepare for tsunamis and other coastal hazards. When the Banda Aceh earthquake struck in 2012, the IOTWS system successfully alerted communities across the Indian Ocean and millions of people were able to move away from the coastline. As a result of these and other early warning efforts, countries and communities, USAID and its development partners are better prepared to respond and mitigate the impact of disasters before they strike.
Effective Civil-Military Cooperation is Essential
More than 15,000 U.S. soldiers participated in Operation Unified Assistance, the U.S. military’s response to the Indian Ocean tsunami. Without the unique strategic and tactical lift capabilities of the military, we would not have reached remote places with life-saving supplies as quickly. Yet, civil-military coordination was a major challenge, with 17 militaries and hundreds of international NGOs responding. Over the past decade, UN agencies, donors, relief organizations, and the U.S. and other militaries have learned to coordinate more effectively on disaster responses, from the 2010 earthquake in Haiti to last year’s typhoon in the Philippines. USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance is the designated U.S. government lead agency in disasters and has worked closely with the military and other U.S. government agencies to create a more seamless system for calling forward needed capabilities. In the current Ebola crisis, USAID and the U.S. military are working hand in glove to sustain an agile and effective response to one of the most complex emergencies of our time.
Give Cash, not Goods
The second stop on my 2005 trip was Sri Lanka, where I encountered a depot of donated goods—a new shipment of bikinis, ties and other donations clearly ill-suited to meet the needs of ordinary people trying to survive the aftermath of the tsunami. The outpouring of generosity after the Indian Ocean tsunami was truly impressive and unprecedented. However, it also led to massive “goodwill dumping,” as well-meaning people flooded the region with unnecessary goods that overwhelmed transit points and ended up as trash. As this experience and many other disasters have illustrated, donating cash instead of goods is always the best option, allowing victims to get the quickest access to basic items in local markets
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Capital Events
Happy New Year!
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By Mark Leon Goldberg and Tom Murphy
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Disclaimer: Opinions presented in this email do not necessarily reflect the views of PSI.