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Philippines storm survivors in ‘critical’ need of shelter – Red Cross
Posted by AlertNet: Thin Lei Win on January 10th, 2013
AlertNet: Five weeks after Typhoon Bopha killed more than 1,000 people and affected 6 million in the southern Philippines, hundreds of thousands of survivors are in critical need of better shelter, the Red Cross has said.
The most intense storm to hit the disaster-prone Southeast Asian nation last year struck Mindanao island in the early hours of Dec. 4, flooding farming and mining towns and burying many people in mudslides. More than 210,000 houses were totally or partially damaged, and over 800 people...
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Use ‘hydro-diplomacy’ to avert future water conflict – experts
Posted by AlertNet: Thin Lei Win on October 31st, 2012
AlertNet: Population growth, urbanisation, industrialisation and climate change are putting pressure on the world's river basins, and "hydro-diplomacy' is essential if water-related conflicts are to be avoided, experts said on Wednesday. Cooperation between countries and between different groups within countries, as well as improved political will and the larger participation of societies could help defuse tensions over water and improve governance of water resources, the experts said at a conference in Chiang...
Asia’s business leaders in partnership to reduce risks of disasters
Posted by AlertNet: Thin Lei Win on September 26th, 2012
AlertNet: Some of Asia's business leaders on Tuesday established the first regional partnership to safeguard their companies against disasters, at meeting in the Philippines' capital Manila, said the United Nations.
The Asian Private Sector Partnership on Risk Reduction is composed of more than 30 chief executives from companies across different sectors.
The executives are also adopting business continuity plans to minimise losses from disasters, said UNISDR, the U.N. agency on reducing disaster risks,...
“Water bankruptcy” a threat in many regions -report
Posted by AlertNet: Thin Lei Win on September 25th, 2012
AlertNet: Many world regions face "water bankruptcy' due to mismanagement of water resources, with implications for food and energy security, experts have warned.
This mismanagement of water and aquatic systems has "led to situations where both social and ecological systems are in jeopardy and have even collapsed,' said the report, Science-Policy Bridges over Troubled Waters - a study of almost 200 major international water-related projects over the past 20 years.
Yet "many in the policy- and decision-...
Greener approach in Asian cities would protect millions from disasters – report
Posted by AlertNet: Thin Lei Win on August 15th, 2012
AlertNet: Asia's cities are growing at an unprecedented rate and must improve their infrastructure and become greener to keep hundreds of millions of residents safe from floods and other disasters, a report from the Asian Development Bank said on Wednesday.
Asia added more than 1 billion people to its cities between 1980 and 2010, leading to more slum dwellers, polluted neighbourhoods and soaring greenhouse gas emissions, said the Manila-based bank. By 2025, 760 million people across the region will be...
Thai villagers to fight Lao Mekong dam in court
Posted by AlertNet: Thin Lei Win on July 25th, 2012
AlertNet: The inhabitants of Ban Pak Ing Tai, a leafy village in Thailand's far north nestled between the mighty Mekong River and one of its tributaries, know only too well what dams can do.
This used to be a fishing village but nowadays local men are more likely to be found toiling away in corn fields or working as labourers than out on their boats.
They say vital sources of their food, water and livelihoods - from fish and riverweeds to seasonal wetlands for agriculture - are fast disappearing due...
Remote parts of flood-struck Mindanao lose out on aid -UN
Posted by AlertNet: Thin Lei Win on January 11th, 2012
AlertNet: Almost a month after a fatal storm hit the north of Mindanao island in the Philippines, relief efforts are largely ignoring hundreds of thousands of affected people in remote areas and outside evacuation centres, the United Nations' refugee agency told AlertNet.
In mid-December Tropical Storm Washi, said to be one of the country's worst natural disasters in two decades, killed more than 1,200 people on the conflict-ravaged island in the southern Philippines. It also destroyed more than 10,000...
Floods affect 1.6 mln Cambodians, Oxfam says outlook grim
Posted by AlertNet: Thin Lei Win on November 4th, 2011
AlertNet: Severe floods in impoverished Cambodia have killed 247 people, disrupted the lives of 1.6 million - more than one in 10 people - and affected three-quarters of the country, a United Nations' report says.
Flooding along the Mekong and other key rivers over the past two months has raised fears of food shortages and increased personal debt after more than 10 percent of the rice crop was destroyed.
This has left thousands of families without an income in a country of 14.7 million where close to...