Flood Appeal Falls on Deaf Ears

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 25 (OneWorld) - International donors' apathy towards African flood victims is worrying numerous UN agencies involved in humanitarian relief operations.

Despite repeated calls for urgent funding, UN officials said Tuesday they have received only $1 million out of $85 million sought for just Sudan and Uganda, which were among many African countries hit hard by recent floods.

In the wide swath of sub-Saharan Africa, from Ghana in the West to Ethiopia in the East, more than 1 million people have been affected by the devastating floods. Due to loss of crops throughout the region people are facing acute food shortages.

Expressing its concern over the plight of flood victims, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in northern Uganda there are some 300,000 people in severe need, most of them women and children. Most have lost their homes.

This displacement, according to UNICEF, comes at time when in northern Uganda some 1.4 million people have already been forced from their homes because of the armed conflict in the region.

"The impact has been exacerbated by the conflict with rebels in the north and the fact that most families are experiencing displacement for the second time," UNICEF spokesperson Veronique Taveau told a news briefing in Geneva Tuesday.

Like UNICEF, the World Food Program (WFP) also seems equally wary of the funding situation. The UN food agency officials say it is becoming increasingly difficult to continue further supplying food in Uganda, although they have been successful in feeding about 64,000 flood victims so far.

Last week, the agency appealed for a little over $64 million for its efforts, but no donor has come forward as yet. The agency says that amount is required to feed not only the 300,000 flood victims, but also the 1.4 million refugees and displaced persons in Uganda.

In West Africa some 609,000 people have been affected by flooding in Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo, according to officials at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),.

"In Niger, our greatest concern is the fact that the heavy rains have displaced landmines, and the risk of hitting them at any time and in any place is very high," said OCHA spokesperson Elizabeth Byrs.

In Niger, WFP, the Red Cross, and the government have provided food for about 50,000 flood victims, but while food aid has been assured for current and arising needs, there is still a need for blankets and mosquito nets, UN officials said.

In Ethiopia, new flooding has been reported since early this month, Byrs said, adding that, nationwide, over 200,000 people are estimated to have been affected and thousands of hectares of crops destroyed.

"The risk of additional flooding and displacement is high in the flood-prone areas as the water level is rising daily," she warned.

UN experts say the devastating flooding in Africa is the worst the region has known in decades. Climate change scientists have already predicted that Africa and small island nations are going to be hard hit by the affects of global warming, including increased risk of flooding.

Raising their concerns about the impacts of global warming, representatives of a number of developing countries Monday demanded that industrialized nations take drastic action against climate change.

At the one-day international meeting called by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon also lashed out at the industrialized world for not taking concrete measures to introduce significant cuts in their levels of carbon emissions.

In his speech, Ban echoed the developing world's argument that due to high levels of emissions in wealthier nations, many in the developing world have to suffer from the impacts of climate change.

"Fifteen years have passed since the Framework Convention on Climate Change was finalized," he told world leaders at the meeting Monday. "Yet, the industrialized country emissions are [still] rising."

In his speech, Ban urged the industrialized countries to assume a leadership role in reducing their levels of carbon emissions and assisting developing countries with technical know-how about the use of clean technology.

U.S. President George W. Bush is set to convene a meeting of the world's most carbon-polluting nations this week. Many analysts are skeptical about the initiative, fearing that hollow commitments could result, providing little more than political cover for the gathered leaders.