Day: August 28, 2022

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies this week warned a lengthy war in Ukraine will have severe humanitarian consequences for other global crises.

Devastating secondary effects from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are already being felt six months after Russia’s invasion.

International Red Cross federation officials warned this week that the economic impact on millions of destitute people worldwide will worsen the longer the war drags on.

Ukraine was one of the world’s biggest grain exporters before the war. The Russian blockade of Black Sea ports, however, has prevented grain shipments, triggering a global food crisis. Skyrocketing food and fuel prices have made these and other essential commodities unaffordable, plunging millions of people into acute hunger.

Earlier this month, a U.N.-mediated deal allowed Ukraine to resume grain exports. Nevertheless, the Red Cross says the consequences of the war continue to be felt and will take a long time to undo.

Brigitte Ebbesen is International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies regional director for Europe. She says humanitarian needs remain acute, especially in the Middle East and Africa.

“The food crisis in Africa is something that we already are reacting to as IFRC and we are looking at in the Middle East. Buying food is increasingly difficult for a large part of the population. So, the ripple effects are enormous,” she said.

More than 100,000 local Red Cross volunteers and staff have been mobilized to provide humanitarian aid in Ukraine, seven bordering countries and 17 other countries in the region.

Speaking from Kyiv, Ukrainian Red Cross Director-General Maksym Dotsenko says 8 million people are internally displaced and more than 5 million have sought refuge in neighboring countries.

He says the conflict is likely to go on for a long time and Red Cross staff and volunteers will continue to work to provide critical aid. He says continued support from the international community also will be crucial.

“The renovation of infrastructure, the renovation of houses, the renovation of the industry will require a lot of efforts of global community of Ukrainian people. So, the needs of the civilians are crucial for now and we do not see the tendency that these needs will be decreasing, especially in this winter period,” he said.

The International Red Cross says half of Ukraine’s 44 million population will require humanitarian assistance for a long time. Even if the conflict ends soon, it says it will take years to repair the damage to cities and homes. The Red Cross also says it will take years to alleviate the mental anguish, trauma, and the physical and economic suffering the war has caused.

Source: Voice of America

Globally, forecasting is rapidly gaining acceptance in healthcare and its use in public health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic has been beneficial to improve emergency preparedness and response towards the pandemic, particularly during the early and peak phases.

Despite these benefits, forecasting capacity, largely in terms of expertise and support systems, remains significantly limited in Africa, where the burden of public health emergencies is highest.

Given the syndemics understanding of public health emergencies as extended by the COVID-19 pandemic, we shared our viewpoint on the need to develop a sustainable forecasting capacity in the African region for better health and social outcomes during and after public health emergencies in the region, and globally.

Source: British Medical Journal

Angolans and foreign dignitaries gathered Sunday for the funeral of long-serving ex-leader Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who died in Spain in July but whose burial was delayed by a family request for an autopsy.

The funeral of Dos Santos, who died in a clinic in Barcelona on July 8 at the age of 79, is taking place days after an election appeared to have returned his MPLA party to power in results that have been disputed by the country’s main opposition coalition.

Dos Santos and his family dominated Angolan politics for the 38 years that he ruled, up to 2017. His formerly Marxist party, the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), in power for nearly five decades, looks almost certain to have won Wednesday’s election.

Heads of state and senior ministers from around the continent, as well as the president of Angola’s former colonial ruler Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, were slated to attend.

The presence of foreign VIPs has enabled authorities to seek to head off possible protests over the disputed provisional results.

“Due to the state funeral of the late former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, the national police appeals to all citizens, civil society and organized groups that intend to organize activities on Saturday and Sunday, to contain themselves out of respect for the former head of state,” Angola’s National Police said in a statement reported by the Lusa news agency Saturday.

With 97% of ballot counted, the electoral commission has given the MPLA and President Joao Lourenco a 51% majority, with the main opposition the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, or UNITA, trailing with 44.5%.

UNITA’s leader, Costa Junior, has rejected the results as fraudulent, and there have been sporadic protests that were quickly shut down by police. The electoral commission has said the process was fair and transparent.

Both Lourenco and Junior were expected to attend the funeral.

Dos Santos’ body was returned to the country last weekend, after being delayed by a full autopsy that had been requested by his daughter, Tchize. A Spanish judge ruled the death was from natural causes.

Thousands of Angolans came out onto the streets to pay their respects to Dos Santos on Saturday.

“I am here and tears came to my eyes because this moment is not easy,” said 39-year-old Filomeno Augustinho. “If we got here today it was (because) of the stability (Dos Santos) gave us.”

But opposition supporters — who include poor Angolans left most socially unequal countries — were less enthusiastic.

“Right now our attention is focused on the election,” Dionisia Domingos, 38, who works in administration in a company in Luanda, told Reuters.

“The funeral seems to be … to divert the attention of the international community and the population (from) the election results and the fraud.”

Authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Source: Voice of America