Disaster Response Network

South Sudan tops many aid agencies' humanitarian priority lists. as a three-year civil war exacts a heavy toll on the citizens of the country.  (Nichole Sobecki, AFP)

Following a call from the UN for a record $20.1 billion, 15 of the world's leading aid agencies were polled on their top humanitarian concerns.

mg.co.za - by Tom Esslemont - December 28, 2015

There’s one prediction for 2016 that most aid workers can make with confidence – that the new year will usher in rising humanitarian needs.

Besides displacement caused by long-term conflicts in places like Syria and South Sudan, there is also the threat of more violence in Central African Republic and hunger caused by El Nino, which is expected to bring more drought to already-parched southern regions in Africa and potential flooding in the east. . . .

. . . A Thomson Reuters Foundation poll asked 15 of the world’s leading aid agencies to name their top three humanitarian priorities for 2016. Not surprisingly, Syria topped the list of concerns. But what were the others?

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Minister for Industry has handed 60 temporary shelters to sixty families affected by the recent earthquake at Ananta Lingeshwor VDC of Bhaktapur.

newsweek.com - by Thakur Amgai - May 26, 2015

The powerful earthquake that hit Nepal on April 25 razed Anantaling, a small, ancient hill settlement 15 miles southeast of the capital, Kathmandu. Each of the 60-odd houses in Anantaling collapsed into rubble, and throughout the Bhaktapur district, 120,000 people were displaced. . . .

. . . Manabiya Astha Nepal, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) constructs temporary shelters for villagers by arching corrugated tin sheets into tunnel-like structures. . . .

. . . The design has a long history of success. . . .

. . . The cost for one of these shelters is only about $100, and the whole thing takes just two or three hours for two people to build. In addition, the materials are reusable. . . .

. . . "It is the only way to meet the needs of the masses before the monsoon arrives."

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cnn.com - by Greg Botelho and Jethro Mullen - May 12, 2015

Just over two weeks after thousands died in a mammoth earthquake, Nepal got hit hard again Tuesday -- with another powerful tremor that has left dozens more dead, more than 1,000 injured and questions about what's next for the already traumatized Asian nation.

The fact that Nepal just endured a similar horror, not to mention waves of aftershocks that followed, didn't diminish Tuesday's damage or shock. More buildings collapsed, more landslides rumbled, and more people scrambled for their lives.

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(ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLES IN THE LINKS BELOW)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/12/us-quake-nepal-idUSKBN0NX0JO20150512

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/12/us-quake-nepal-idUSKBN0NX0JO20150512

dhs.gov - May 7, 2015

Washington, D.C.– The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), in partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, announced today the transition of the final prototype of the Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response (FINDER) technology to the commercial market.  FINDER is a radar technology designed to detect heartbeats of victims trapped in wreckage. Two commercial partners have been licensed to manufacture the device: R4 Inc. of Eatontown, N.J. and SpecOps Group Inc. of Sarasota, Fla.

Earlier today, S&T and NASA demonstrated its newest capabilities at the Virginia Task Force One  (VA-TF1) Training Facility in Lorton, Va., finding “survivors” in a simulated disaster. This is thanks to the new locator feature, which can help pinpoint the location of the victim to within about five feet – depending on the type of rubble. This key change saves rescuers time, increasing chances for locating survivors.