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Responding to the floods in Africa
21 September 2007 (Updated 04 October)
Image courtesy of Clive Shirley/Panos Pictures
Following excessively high rainfall across Africa since late August, DFID Humanitarian Advisers are working on
the ground in Ghana, Uganda and Kenya to help assess the needs of people
affected by the flooding.
According to reports, the floods, which have swept across 18 countries, have
claimed more than 250 lives and affected more than 1.5 million people through
damage to homes and the destruction of crops.
Providing food, shelter and medicines
DFID has provided a total of £42.2 million this year (£82.2 million in total)
to the
UN
Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). This fund is being used by UN
agencies in the worst affected countries to provide emergency supplies,
including food, shelter and medicines, to the hardest hit areas. The CERF has
already given $8.7 million in response to a
UN
Flash Appeal in Sudan. DFID has also
provided £250,000 for emergency shelter
and clean water through the
International
Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) appeal for Ghana. Extra funding will be
available where humanitarian needs are not being met.
DFID is the largest donor to UN emergency funds in Sudan and Ethiopia. In Sudan,
DFID has provided £89 million to the
Common
Humanitarian Fund (CHF) over two years and, in Ethiopia, £3 million to the
Emergency Response Funds (ERF).
The extent of the flooding in remote areas and across so many countries poses
challenges for assessing the situation and coordinating the response. Reports of
the impact vary greatly;
UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is currently
reporting the death toll at around 250 people, but this is expected to rise as
assessments continue and if outbreaks of diseases, such as cholera, occur.
In the short term, priority needs include food, shelter and clean water. But the
flooding has also destroyed vast areas of crops. This will mean people will
require assistance to rebuild their livelihoods and access enough food over the
coming months.
Protection into the future
Image courtesy of Caroline Penn/Panos Pictures
DFID’s focus in many of the African countries affected by the flooding has
been investment in longer term programmes, helping to make these countries
better placed to cope with natural emergencies such as this. DFID has been
investing in “safety net” programmes in Africa, in particular in Ethiopia and
Kenya, to develop ways of reducing long term dependency on food aid. Simple cash
transfer projects, which allow the very poorest people to buy food all year
round, invest in their own livestock and get access to fertilisers and seeds,
help free them from reliance on food aid when there are shortages.
Support from DFID has also helped to strengthen systems to limit the impact of natural disasters and flooding. In the last year two years DFID has provided nearly £38 million in humanitarian assistance to Uganda, primarily through the UN. This support has helped to provide approximately 10% of overall food aid requirements to the displaced. Funding has also put in place new water systems providing over 600,000 litres of safe water per day to over 750,000 people and provided basic, essential medicines for 600,000 people, 200,000 HIV test kits and 27 million condoms.
In Ghana, DFID is supporting access to clean water through a £7.7 million grant to improve access in rural areas which will provide piped water to around 210,000 households in rapidly expanding small towns in Greater Accra, Volta region and Eastern region.
Countries affected – latest reports
Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda
In Ethiopia, the UN
estimates that over 180,000 are affected, including 42,000 displaced. Seven
thousand houses have been destroyed. As of the 14 September, 17 people had been
reported dead as a result of the floods.
Sudan is experiencing its worse
flooding for 40 years. Eighty thousand households have been affected in 17 of
the country's 30 states since the beginning of August. South Kordofan is the
worst affected, with 11,000 homes destroyed, a further 8,000 damaged and 26
people dead.
Heavy rains have inundated the Kenya-Uganda border area causing landslides and
flooding. In Uganda, DFID has
announced a £1.15 million contribution
in emergency aid to help the thousands of people who have been affected by the
floods in Uganda. This consists of £750,000 to the World Food Programme (WFP)
and £400,000 to the Uganda Red Cross to ensure that the immediate health,
shelter and food needs of the people most affected by the flooding are met.
Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia
In Kenya, a dozen people are
thought to have died. Besides the direct effect there is concern over the effect
on maize crops in the northern Rift Valley. Further flash flooding is feared
along the Nzoia river and 832 families are known to have lost their homes. The
World
Food Programme (WFP) have allocated food aid for up to 60,000 floods
victims.
Médecins
Sans Frontières (MSF) Spain are also active on the ground supporting
affected Kenyans in four Internally Displaced Persons camps.
In the north east of Rwanda
(Nyabihu and Rubavu districts), 15 people have been reported dead and an
estimated 1,000 houses have been destroyed. District authorities have made cash
available to assist flood victims, and the Government and the UN are considering
further options.
There are new reports that the Shabeele river, in
Somalia, fed by heavy rainfall
in the Ethiopian highlands, has burst its banks at Balad, approximately 30km
north of Mogadishu. Eleven villages are reportedly flooded.
Ghana, Togo, Nigeria
West Africa continues to be hit hard by the floods, with Ghana, Togo, Burkina
Faso and Nigeria the worst affected.
In Ghana, flooding has forced
around 260,000 people from their homes, and destroyed crops and basic
infrastructure. Northern, upper east and upper west regions of the country have
been affected. A joint assessment of the situation has recently concluded,
organised by the Government and including international non-governmental
organisations (NGOs), UN agencies and donors, including DFID.
WFP estimate that 60,000 people have been affected in Togo, with heavy rains
falling in the Northern Savanes region. The Government of Togo have reported 20
dead and over 30,000 houses destroyed. In response to the significant crop
damage that has taken place, WFP and the Togolese Red Cross have begun emergency
food distributions in the Tandjoare district, close to Dapaong, north of the
country.
In Nigeria it has been reported
that 13 communities have been affected by flooding, with the hardest hit areas
being in the north west. West, east and central regions have experienced flash
flooding and an estimated 41 fatalities so far. Figures from the Nigeria Red
Cross state that 50,000 people have been affected since flooding began in July.
Links
- Ghana floods: UK Government commits £250,000 to Red Cross appeal to help flood victims in North of Ghana
- UK announces £1.15 million for flooding in Uganda
- Millennium Development Goal 7: Environment
- Saving lives, relieving suffering, protecting dignity: DFID’s Humanitarian Policy
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