Malawi flooding: urgent assistance needed to confront
massive and complex challenges, say UN experts
GENEVA (30 January 2015) – A group of United Nations human
rights experts today urged the international community to rapidly provide all
necessary funding and assistance to the Government of Malawi and humanitarian
actors in response to some of the worst flooding in the country in living
memory. Flooding has also affected Madagascar and Mozambique where
international assistance is crucial to scale up responses.
“The flooding has displaced large numbers of people and
presents massive and complex challenges for Governments and their humanitarian
allies in the short, medium and longer-term,” said UN Special Rapporteur on the
human rights of internally displaced persons Chaloka Beyani.
“Evacuation of affected populations should be undertaken
where necessary to save lives, and an effective humanitarian response is
essential to address the needs of internally displaced people and others
affected. Helping people to return and reconstruct devastated homes - when
circumstances allow - will be just one challenge among many to rebuild lives
and livelihoods and should be part of a broader recovery plan,” he said.
An estimated 638,000 people have been affected in 15
districts of Malawi since early January with 79 dead and hundreds more injured
or missing. At least 174,000 people have been internally displaced in the three
worst hit districts, with the total number likely to be far higher. In
Madagascar and Mozambique, more than 240,000 people have been affected by
flooding. Rainstorms and floods have ruined vast areas of crops.
A Preliminary Response Plan to the emergency developed by
the Government in partnership with aid agencies, estimates that USD 81 million
is urgently required to respond to essential shelter, food, healthcare, water
and sanitation and other urgent needs. Only around a quarter of this amount has
been received to date.
“The impact of flooding on food security poses immediate
problems as well as potentially severe food shortages for months to come, as
crops have been washed away and livestock lost,” said Hilal Elver, Special
Rapporteur on the right to food. “Poor rural communities have lost everything
and require early assistance to prevent hunger and malnutrition."
“Safe water, sanitation and hygiene must be provided
urgently for the survival of those affected, prioritizing the most vulnerable
groups, but also for the prevention of water-related diseases such as cholera
and malaria,” said Léo Heller, Special Rapporteur on the human right to water
and sanitation. An estimated USD 3.4 million is needed to respond to urgent
healthcare needs and to prevent and control outbreaks of disease.
The experts praised the Government leadership for responding
quickly to the crisis and welcomed the immediate response by several countries
and humanitarian agencies in providing funding and aid. However they called on
others within the international community to do everything possible to meet the
current serious shortfall in funds and provision of essential aid.
ENDS
Special Rapporteurs are independent fact-finding and
monitoring mechanisms of the United Nations Human Rights Council that address
either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the
world. As Special Rapporteurs they are independent from any government or
organization and serve in their individual capacities. The Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights provides these mechanisms with support for the
fulfilment of their mandates.
Chaloka Beyani, professor of international law at the London
School of Economics, was appointed Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of
Internally Displaced Persons by the Human Rights Council in September 2010.
Learn more: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/IDPersons/Pages/IDPersonsIndex.aspx
Hilal Elver (Turkey) is a Research Professor, and
co-director of the Project on Global Climate Change, Human Security, and
Democracy housed at the Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies at
the University of California, Santa Barbara. She was appointed Special
Rapporteur on the Right to Food by the Human Rights Council in 2014. Learn
more:http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Food/Pages/FoodIndex.aspx
Léo Heller is the Special Rapporteur on the human right to
safe drinking water and sanitation, appointed in November 2014. He is a
researcher in the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil and was previously
Professor of the Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering at the
Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil from 1990 to 2014. Learn more:
For further information and media inquiries, please contact
Graham Fox (+41 22 917 9640 / gfox@ohchr.org) or write to idp@ohchr.org
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