UNICEF said today that more than 3,000 people displaced by flooding in southern Tajikistan now benefit from safe drinking water provided by UNICEF and regional government agencies in Khuroson district. In May 2009, severe flooding and mudslides in two thirds of the country temporarily - and in some cases permanently - displaced thousands of people…
“Mothers fleeing flooded homes with nothing but their babies clinging to their backs; people waving for help from the top of houses and sheds as the waters rise around them; desperately thirsty children drinking from contaminated water sources. The disaster has reached tragic proportions. But serious shortfalls in funding are limiting our ability to save lives as the crisis worsens…
UNICEF estimates that about 3.5 million Pakistanis only have access to contaminated water, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Wednesday in a statement, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. Approximately 2.5 million flood survivors now have access clean water (Gale, 8/26)…
The World Bank on Monday “pledged to reroute money from other projects to provide $900 million in emergency funding to help Pakistan” with its flood recovery efforts, the New York Times reports (Ellick, 8/17)…
Effort To Combat Hunger ‘Indispensable’ In Guatemala; Advocates Say More Needed “The efforts of public agencies, non-governmental organisations, private entities and international agencies have become indispensable in addressing the food crisis” in Guatemala, however “activists believe a greater public effort is necessary,” Inter Press Service reports…
The environmental impact of millions of gallons of oil still in the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon incident may depend on microscopic helpers: Bacteria that consume oil and other hydrocarbons and could break down the spilled crude, making it disappear. That’s the topic of an article in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS’ weekly newsmagazine…
The way that humanity reacts to climate change may do more damage to many areas of the planet than climate change itself unless we plan properly, an important new study published in Conservation Letters by Conservation International’s Will Turner and a group of other leading scientists has concluded…
Governments and aid groups must do more to help the world’s hungry develop sustainable agricultural systems, U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) Undersecretary James Miller said during an address Wednesday on the final day of the International Food Aid and Development Conference, the Associated Press reports (Hollingsworth, 8/4). “According to U.S…
Three hundred and thirty-four oil spill exposure-related cases have been reported to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) since April 18, 2010, according to its ninth surveillance report released today. Two hundred and fifty of those cases involved workers on oil rigs or workers involved in the oil spill clean-up efforts, while 84 were reported by the general public…