INDIA: Bhopal survivors go on hunger strike to demand action


Campaigners are demanding the setting up of an inter-ministerial coordinating agency with the authority and funds to provide facilities for healthcare, medical research, social support and the economic rehabilitation of affected people and their children, for at least the next 30 years. Read more...

UN: Female quake survivors losing property

A thin, grey mule laden with bags and sacks fidgets restlessly as he tries to flick a fly off his back. Beside the animal, an equally thin boy stands, nervously adjusting the reins and loading the last few items into the bags. Muhammad Kareem, 14, is ready to accompany his aunt, Zumera Bibi, back to her village in the Allai Valley area, badly damaged by October's devastating regional quake, to try and regain control of the family property, which she fears has been lost. Read more...

UN-HABITAT: Mrs. Tibaijuka demands better legislation to underwrite women's empowerment

ISDR and the Belgian Université Catholique de Louvain's Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) released the official figures of the number of disasters in 2005 at a press conference in the Palais des Nations, Salle 1 at 11 a.m.. CRED's Driector Prof. Debarati Guha Sapir unveiled the 2005 figures which show an 18 per cent rise in the number of disasters with more people affected, but a significant drop in deaths rates. Read more...

Philippines: Up to 3,000 feared dead in Philippines landslide


Up to 3,000 people are missing and feared dead after a massive landslide buried a village in the central Philippines under a sea of mud, officials said. Read more.....

INDIA: Work on Narmada dam can go on, but so must rehabilitation: SC

The Supreme Court of India has allowed work on the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) to continue but warned that this was conditional on the simultaneous rehabilitation of project-affected people by the four states involved in the project, particularly Madhya Pradesh. Read more...

PAKISTAN: Pakistan Needs US$5.2 Billion for Earthquake Relief, Reconstruction, and Rehabilitation


Pakistan will need approximately US$5.2 billion to effectively implement a relief, recovery, and reconstruction strategy, according to the Preliminary Damage and Needs Assessment released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank on November 14, 2005. Of this, US$3.5 billion is for physical reconstruction of housing, schools, health facilities, roads, and other public infrastructure. A companion report by the United Nations on early recovery will appear in a few days. Read more...


UN: More of world's refugees face long-term limbo

More of the world's refugees are being forced to stay away from home for longer, and if the international community doesn't start dealing with them better, it could lead to yet more violence, a U.N. report says. Read more....

PAKISTAN: Quake survivors 'still need aid'

About two million people were displaced by the quake in October. Thousands of victims of the South Asia earthquake are still in need of assistance six months on from the disaster. Read more....

The Boston Globe: A needless toll of natural disasters

PAKISTAN: A voice for the vulnerable in Pakistan’s relief camps

The first time a fight broke out in their camp, Major Salman and his men rejoiced. “It was vicious. The woman and her daughter-in-law were slapping each other,” says the major, smiling nostalgically. “But we were very happy, because it showed that they were overcoming their trauma and going back to normal life.” click here....