The Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world.
INTERNATIONAL: Tens of
thousands of people have been forced out of their homes in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe by flooding, caused by a deep low-pressure system that crawled across southern Africa. In the worst-affected country, Malawi, authorities have reported more than 50 people dead and many others missing. More than 20,000 have been forced out of their homes, and approximately 30 per cent of the country – particularly the south – has been declared a disaster zone. The Malawi Red Cross Society has deployed volunteers and staff who have managed to reach more than 7,000 houses affected by the floods with emergency shelter material, cookware, blankets and mosquito nets. The National Society is also involved in search and rescue, and registration and camp management at a site where displaced people have taken refuge in the Southern Region district of Chikwawa, near the country’s second city, Blantyre.
PHILIPPINES: The Philippine Red Cross, with the support of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, is targeting 35 health facilities for rehabilitation as part of the overall Typhoon Haiyan recovery plan. The National Society, in collaboration with the IFRC, has started work on 20 of these facilities in Cebu, Leyte and Panay. The health clinic in Abaca, Leyte, is the first to be restored and was inspected by health officials and representatives from Philippine Red Cross and IFRC in recent weeks.