UN – MinBane

Cameroun: Communique du Gouvernement – Recrudescence des Actes d’Horreur et de Barbarie Perpetres par les Rebelles Secessionnistes dans les Regions du Nord-Ouest et du Sud-Ouest (13.08.2020)

Cameroon: Humanitarian Coordinator Ad Interim Cameroon Condemns Killing of an Aid Worker in the North West Region (08.08.2020)

Somalia: Floods drive over 650,000 Somalis from their homes in 2020 (07.08.2020)

More than 150,000 Somalis have been forced to flee their homes since late June, including some 23,000 in the last week alone.

GENEVA, Switzerland, August 7, 2020 – This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Charlie Yaxley – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

More than 150,000 Somalis have been forced to flee their homes since late June, including some 23,000 in the last week alone, due to flash and riverine flooding in the Southern regions of Somalia. Rapid assessments indicate that communities in Hirshabelle and South West States are amongst the worst hit. The year has seen extreme flooding, displacing over 650,000 people across the country since the beginning of the year.

Many of the newly displaced are now living in overcrowded, makeshift shelters constructed from old clothes, plastic bags, cardboard and sticks in already dire IDP sites. Such shelter provides little protection from the harsh weather, and leaves families exposed to increased risk of crimes like robbery and rape.

Food is in short supply and many are going hungry with rising malnutrition in children, leaving them at risk of starvation. In some areas, basic food items, particularly milk and vegetables, have increased in price between 20 and 50 per cent.

Sanitary conditions are poor and access to medical care scarce. Health partners warn of risk of diarrhoea, vector-borne diseases, respiratory-tract infections and other communicable diseases rapidly spreading amongst the displaced population. While there has been no reported major COVID-19 outbreak, testing remains extremely limited and congestion and unsanitary conditions are risks for wide-spread transmission. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has been providing core relief items such as blankets, jerry cans and plastic sheets, as well as shelter and cash to thousands of affected families. Distributions will continue in the coming days and weeks, reaching a total of some 70,000 people facing heightened vulnerabilities, including women, female/child headed households, disabled persons, the elderly and ill, and vulnerable members of the hosting community.

UNHCR’s assistance is reaching some of the worst affected regions across Banaadir, South West, Hirshabelle, Jubbaland, Puntland, Galmaduug. The Federal Government of Somalia has also responded to the floods, including in recent weeks setting aside USD 500,000 to address the floods in South West state. Despite these interventions, however, more humanitarian support is needed to address insecurities in food, water and sanitation, emergency shelter and health services.

More people risk being displaced as flooding is likely to continue in certain regions. According to the latest flood advisory report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, the Shabelle River’s water levels will continue to rise due to heavy rains.

The latest floods point to a worrying pattern where extreme weather conditions are increasing in frequency and intensity. Prior to June 2020, flash floods and riverine flooding caused by seasonal rains displaced more than 450,000 in the country. With floods in 2018 and 2019 displacing 281,000 and 416,000 persons respectively, the flood-based displacement figures demonstrate a rising year-to-year trend. Somalia’s re-occurring climate related emergencies result in devastating impact on communities who heavily rely on farming and livestock for their livelihood.

The surging flooding and displacement take place against the backdrop of Somalia’s ongoing fight to curtail the spread of Covid-19, which has a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable, including the displaced. The Government of Somalia, UNHCR and humanitarian partners continue to work in IDP settlements across the country to provide displaced communities and vulnerable hosting communities with medical equipment, protective personal equipment (PPE), hygiene and sanitation support, and cash assistance. UNHCR urges landlords in the country to uphold a moratorium on evictions in these extremely challenging circumstances.

Urgent support is needed from the international community to support the relief efforts. UNHCR has so far received just 33 per cent of the USD154.4 million needed for its humanitarian efforts in Somalia, including for an estimated 2.6 million IDPs and 30,000 refugees and asylum seekers being hosted in the country.

Cameroun: Ministere de la Defense – Communique de Presse (03.08.2020)

Syria: Response Coordination Group (RCG) – Press Release (24.07.2020)

Coronavirus – Somalia: Frontline resilience in Somalia (19.07.2020)

NEW YORK, United States of America, July 19, 2020 – One hundred thousand households in Somaliland in northwest Somalia have better access to water, protecting them not just from the ravages of climate change but also against the spread of COVID-19, thanks to a project supported by the UN Development Programme.

Some 70 per cent of Somalis live from agriculture and pastoralism but changing weather patterns have meant many cannot access the water to sustain these traditional activities.

Many younger people have left for cities and towns to live in slum settlements where access to facilities is limited, but now a number of dams, dykes and storage tanks built in Somaliland by UNDP and its partners are encouraging people to carry on with their traditional livelihoods by providing stability in the form of a reliable and consistent supply of water.

And as the virus which causes COVID-19 continues to spread across Africa, the new water sources are also key to slowing the spread of the disease by making it easier for people to wash hands and clean household items.

Opinion: Trump blaming everyone else for his mismanaged attempt to stem COVID-19

The White House and President Donald J. Trump have now acted the cowardly way of name-calling Dr. Anthony Fauci, the man who has warned and enlighten the public about the dangers of the Novel Coronavirus. Still, the Trump Administration nicknaming him Dr. Doom and Dr. Gloom like a kindergarten move to muffle the outspoken expert.

This pandemic have been an assault on the American public. The response from the Federal Government have been totally bonkers. Reactionary and not with anyone at the steering wheel. It has been dismissive and downplaying the risks. It has played soft-ball with a fatal disease. The President have been golfing more, then he has done legislations or regulations to safeguard lives.

That is why the President is blaming China, World Health Organization and its own expert Dr. Fauci. Because, the President is never to blame, never at fault as the perfect masculinisation of leadership he is. The orange skinned mobster is everyone’s cup of tea and everyone’s nightmare as head of state. No accountability, no transparency and no acknowledgement of utter failure.

A disgrace of a President. A man blaming everyone else. Playing it for a hoax. Saying the democrats made it happen. Speaking vile and racist about its origin. While days later enjoying the tee at his golfing estate. Instead of finding means to help states hard hit by the pandemic or making guidelines to stop the community spread. No, it is more important that the peasants dies so Wall Street can continue to print money. Ensure the billionaires gets wealthier, while the middle American and lower classes are bleeding. Also, to top it off, trying to kick out more people with pre-existing conditions out of medicaid and ensure less people have health insurance in the midst of global pandemic. That is good sport. Just like another round golf, while thousands of people are catching it and people are dying.

On the President’s watch, the US has lost 137,000 people to the disease. This has all been a blood-shed, which the President is responsible. He could have avoided many of these. That is if he wanted more social distancing, longer closure of society and lockdowns. If the President wanted to stop the spread and ensure less people got sick. He would have used the means of the Federal State to guide the Governors and secure the public. Not just donate goods and needed equipment as a gift for the up-coming election. That is what the President has done.

It is the proof of the failure. The ones paying the price isn’t the head himself. No, its the citizens, the public and society at large. He can take Air-Force One and dip through traffic for publicity stunts. While the public have to go to the store, get their necessities and even work while screaming Karens bitching about their birthright not to wear masks. Because, that just a good way to create more worry for the piss-poor employees who are working nine-to-five to pay the bills.

This President doesn’t care. If he did, he would have done something. He would have secured the bag, paid the hush-money and screwed the actress. That is what he does. However, there been no personal gain or need to do so. Unless, the President are gaining something out of it. He doesn’t care about the dead. About the families scorned and torn apart. They are just random casualties.

The President wanted at some point act like a War President against the COVID-19. Be out and speak every night like a campaign rally.. However, that worked as it was 2 hour session of tragic disproportion and disingenuous at best. The lies and deceptions got caught up combined with his vile rhetoric. It was a reason why the spokesperson does it instead. Not that it becomes more true, but a better way of self-defence. The President just made things worse and pushed the unscientific solutions on the public. Like a national hack-job to the whole public to see every night.

Now, the President has turned on Fauci. He has already been aggressive, ceased the membership of WHO and open war with China. Since all of that saves lives… which it doesn’t. It only makes the Americans more alone in the world and have less friends. The US is losing both at home and abroad. They are just pathetic and it starts from the top.

Trump trying to create scapegoats, because he got no clue how to fix this. There is no way to rig this or cheat himself out of this one. No matter what he does now, he will fail. Peace.