DISASTERS: Over 50 million affected in Muslim world in 2011

Photo: UNICEF Pakistan/2011/Warrick Page

Pakistan has had more than its fair share of disasters

DUBAI,  – The Muslim world is increasingly in the “eye of the cyclone”, with disasters and crises affecting tens of millions of people in Muslim countries last year, a senior official with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) told a humanitarian conference in Dubai.

In 2011, 38 of the 57 OIC member countries and 55 million people were affected by “disasters and chronic emergencies”, Atta Elmanan Bakhit, OIC assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said at the Dubai International Humanitarian Aid & Development Conference & Exhibition. Disasters brought a total financial loss of US$68 billion in those Muslim countries, he said, quoting figures that will be published in OIC’s annual report, to be released later this month.

These numbers do not include political crises, namely the Arab Spring, and are tabulated based on information from member states. They are up from 2010 when 36 countries and 48 million people were affected, with $53 billion in losses, according to an OIC survey.

“In the Muslim world now, we have regularly a lot of disasters,” Bakhit said, adding that the OIC has had no choice but to start playing a larger role in humanitarian affairs.

The OIC is active in coordinating humanitarian assistance in Somalia, where it has access in many areas Western aid workers do not; and along with the UN, the OIC accompanied the government in the first humanitarian assessment of areas affected by the unrest in Syria.

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source www.irinnews.org

CONGO: Cholera hits munitions blast displaced

Photo: Laudes Martial Mbon/IRIN

Many people have been seeking shelter in Brazzaville’s Nkombo market

BRAZZAVILLE,  – A cholera outbreak is adding to the woes of thousands of people displaced by a huge munitions blast in the Congolese capital Brazzaville about a month ago, say officials.

“We have 10 confirmed cases of cholera,” Youssouf Gamatié, the UN World Health Organization’s representative in Congo, told IRIN.

Poor hygiene and sanitation conditions in the sites for the displaced as well as ongoing rains have helped spread the disease, which is affecting all age groups, added Gamatié.

The covered market in Nkombo, north Brazzaville, and the down-town Sacred Heart Cathedral sites are the worst affected. Together these two places are providing refuge for 11,000 of the 14,000 people who were displaced by the explosions, according to official estimates.

Alexis Elira Dokekias, director-general of health, told IRIN there were 13 suspected cases of cholera, with one confirmed case; one person had died.

There has been an ongoing cholera epidemic in central and northern Congo since 2011, Dokekias pointed out.

“Inadequate latrines at the sites for the displaced are increasing contamination. There are faeces everywhere. The children sometimes defecate in the yard,” said Guillaume Ibara, a camp resident at the Sacred Heart site.

Jonas Mbelo, 43, who is living at the Nkombo site, told IRIN that meals there are sometimes served after midnight, making the situation even more difficult for the displaced.

Experts from the UN, the armies of Angola, Benin, Chad and the USA, as well as NGOs such as France’s Demeter, the Mines Advisory Group and Handicap International are helping to clean-up the site of the blast.

“We have collected some 16 tons of munitions that we have destroyed,” Congo army spokesperson Col Jean-Robert Obargui told the media.

At least 282 people were killed in the 4 March blast; thousands were injured. The death toll has been revised upwards from an earlier count of 223 dead after the discovery of more bodies.

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source www.irinnews.org

EGYPT: Fuel shortage threatens bread supplies

Photo: Amr Emam/IRIN

Customers buy subsidized bread at a Cairo bakery

CAIRO,  – It has been three months since a fuel shortage hit Egypt, and people’s patience is wearing thin amid fears the crisis could disrupt the production of subsidized bread.

“I move from one petrol station to another every day to find the fuel necessary for the work of the bakery,” Omar Muselhi, a bakery owner from Giza, told IRIN. “I cannot do this for long. If things get worse, I will close down.”

Most of Egypt’s subsidized bakeries need diesel to operate, and some have had to close, for example in the Nile Delta governorate of Monofiya (Arabic).

Outside Muselhi’s bakery, men, women and children form two long lines, and wait their turn.

“I buy 20 loaves of this bread for one pound, whereas the same number sells for four pounds at unsubsidized bakeries,” said Ayman Farahat, standing in line outside the bakery. “This shows how important these bakeries are for people like me.”

Observers say there is a 35 percent shortfall in fuel supplies. The government blames hoarding for the crisis. Thousands of cars queue outside petrol stations from early morning, while long queues form outside gas cylinder centres.

“We are doing our best to solve the problem, but what is happening is abnormal,” Petroleum Minister Abdallah Ghorab said on 24 March. “Some people take the subsidized fuel and sell it on the black market.”

The Petroleum Ministry has increased daily diesel supplies from 36,000 tons to 38,000 tons; petrol supplies from 16,000 to 18,000 tons; and gas cylinders from one million to 1.3 million.

But despite the move, there are numerous reports (Arabic) of fighting over fuel, reflecting citizens’ exasperation, and the need for further government intervention

Ambulance services are also at risk.

“The drivers go to petrol stations from early morning,” Naeem Rizk, the operations manager at Cairo’s main ambulance point, told IRIN. “Sometimes they spend the whole day waiting, but when their turn comes, they are told the fuel is over.”

When a policeman recently called Rizk to ask for help after he was wounded in a fight against armed men on the outskirts of Cairo, Rizk could not find an ambulance with enough fuel to take the policeman to hospital. The policeman’s colleagues had to call the Interior Ministry to borrow some.

Mohamed Abdullah, a 30-year-old ambulance driver, says his job has become even more stressful. “There are always long queues at petrol stations…This prevents me from reaching patients in time. The patients’ relatives always yell at me.”

Rethinking subsidies

Some economists believe the current crisis may force the government to rethink its fuel subsidies’ policy. Egypt spent the equivalent of US$83.3 billion subsidizing fuel over the past five years, according to the Petroleum Ministry.

“Around 60 percent of these subsidies go to people who do not deserve them,” said Rashad Abdo, a leading economist from Cairo University. “This makes it necessary for the government to rethink these subsidies.”

The government is currently reconsidering its support to major industrial institutions, which account for almost 70 percent of fuel subventions.

“If we can reduce petroleum subsidies by 10 percent, we can channel this money for the building of houses, hospitals, or schools,” said Petroleum Minister Ghorab. “We need to deliver subsidies to those who deserve them,” he was quoted as saying by al Masry Al Youm newspaper (Arabic) on 11 March.

Another government plan envisages the issuing of vouchers to poorer citizens to enable them to buy cooking gas for the equivalent of 83 US cents instead of US$5 for everyone else.

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source www.irinnews.org