Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (PANA) - Droughts across the world are intensifying and have become a “slow onset, silent killer” to which no country is immune, according to the UN’s most senior official working on desertification, drought and land restoration issues Full text...
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Zambia’s drought impact stuns IMF staff team
Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) – Drought has caused a greater than anticipated economic impact in Zambia due to the intense electricity shortages, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) team reported on Thursday Full text...
More than 6 million people starving in southern Africa because of 'historic drought'
Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - Nearly six-and-a-half million people in southern Africa are starving because of an “historic drought” linked to last year’s El Niño, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday Full text...
Zimbabwe faces worsening food crisis due to El Niño droughts
Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - A new report from the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) reveals that food insecurity levels in Zimbabwe are rapidly deteriorating after it was hit with historic droughts due to the El Niño weather pattern Full text...
Drought emergency in Zambia sets child marriage, HIV and hunger on the rise
Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) - In Zambia’s drought-hit Southern, Western, Central and Lusaka Provinces, acute malnutrition is high among pregnant and breastfeeding women and risks are rising of gender-based violence, sexual exploitation and abuse Full text...
World Bank supports social protection for Zambians affected by drought
Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) - Over 1 Full text...
Stop ‘vandalising’ Earth and help the planet thrive, UN chief urges
New York, US (PANA) - As nearly 40 per cent of land across the planet is degraded with more acres lost every second, governments, businesses and communities must galvanise action to reverse the damage and protect Earth, the UN chief said in a strong message for the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, marked annually on 17 June Full text...
Droughts and floods threaten ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ across southern Africa
Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) - Droughts and floods in southern Africa stemming from El Niño have left millions of people food insecure, warns World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Cindy McCain during a recent visit to Zambia – the epicentre of the crisis Full text...
UN and partners support Malawi’s battle against severe drought
New York, US (PANA) - The UN and aid partners are assisting Malawi’s efforts to respond to a severe drought in the African nation which has prompted the government to declare a state of emergency Full text...
Financial inclusion builds resilience of pastoralists to drought (World Bank feature)
Washington DC, US (PANA) - Until recent rain fell in the Horn of Africa, more than 9 Full text...
UN earmarks US$43 million for Somalia drought response
Mogadishu, Somalia (PANA) – The Somalia Humanitarian Fund (SHF) has allocated US$25 million to provide life-saving assistance to communities affected by drought, the UN office for humanitarian assistance said on Wednesday Full text...
Combating drought, one garden at a time (A WFP feature)
Niamey, Niger (PANA) - Just before noon in Satara, a remote village in Niger’s southwestern Tillaberi region, the thermometer is already hovering near 40°C Full text...
New study finds that 43 000 “excess deaths” may have occurred in 2022 from the drought in Somalia
Mogadishu, Somalia (PANA) - A new report released Monday by the Federal Ministry of Health & Human Services, WHO and UNICEF suggests that an estimated 43 000 excess deaths may have occurred in 2022 in Somalia due to the deepening drought, a figure higher than that of the first year of the 2017–2018 drought crisis Full text...
Severe drought fuels malnutrition, reduces hospital-delivery births in Kenya's Turkana County
Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Following four successive failed rainy seasons, Kenya is amid the worst drought in 40 years, the UN’s population agency, UNFPA, said on Tuesday, shining a light on 134,000 pregnant or breastfeeding women who are reported to be acutely malnourished and in need of treatment Full text...
Greater Horn of Africa drought forecast to continue for fifth year - UN weather agency
Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - As millions of people in the Greater Horn of Africa have already “suffered the longest drought in 40 years”, parts of the region are bracing for a fifth consecutive failed rainy season, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has reported Full text...
Africa drought: Some children just ‘one disease away from catastrophe’ UNICEF warns
New York, US (PANA) - UN Children’s Fund UNICEF on Tuesday warned that children in the Horn of Africa and the vast Sahel region “could die in devastating numbers” without urgent intervention and support Full text...
WFP scales up assistance as historic drought raises famine threat in Horn of Africa
Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is expanding assistance in the Horn of Africa as levels of hunger soar after back-to-back droughts and the threat of famine looms Full text...
WHO warns of disease threat amid Horn of Africa drought
Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday highlighted the need to support millions facing starvation and disease in the Horn of Africa Full text...
‘Catastrophic’ drought displaces one million in Somalia, world asked to ‘step up’ support
Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - A devastating drought in Somalia has reached unprecedented levels, leaving one million people within the country currently registered as displaced, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Thursday Full text...
UNHCR appeals for life-saving aid for millions affected by catastrophic Horn of Africa drought
Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - The UN Refugee Agency is appealing for urgent support to help displaced people and local host communities affected by the catastrophic drought in the Horn of Africa Full text...
World ‘at a crossroads’ as droughts increase nearly a third in a generation - UN
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (PANA) - Humanity is “at a crossroads” when it comes to managing drought and accelerating ways of slowing it down must happen “urgently, using every tool we can”, said the head of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) on Thursday, calling for a global commitment to support drought preparedness and resilience Full text...
'This is the worst drought in forty years’: Millions of Ethiopians at risk from failed rains
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Ethiopia’s eastern Somali Region has been hit by three consecutive below-average rainy seasons, worsening the already deteriorating humanitarian situation for around 3 Full text...
Somalia's acute drought risks lives of nearly half the population
Mogadishu, Somalia (PANA) - Millions of Somalis are at risk of sliding into famine as the impact of a prolonged drought continues to destroy lives and livelihoods, the UN agencies said on Tuesday Full text...
Growing risk of Somalia famine, as drought famine worsens (A UN feature)
Mogdishu, Somalia (PANA) - The Horn of Africa is experiencing the worst drought since 1981, and a shortfall in aid funding is putting the lives of millions of Somalis in danger Full text...
Severe drought grips Somalia
Mogadishu, Kenya (PANA) - Somalia is enduring its third consecutive poor rain season since late 2020, the Food and Agriculture Organisation said Friday in its latest drought bulletin Full text...
FAO, IGAD seek urgent action to mitigate impact of drought in Eastern Africa
Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Communities in the Eastern Africa region continue to experience a mix of shocks and stresses that are eroding their resilience to food and nutrition insecurity, international organisations said on Thursday Full text...
Tanzania likely to be hit by drought with adverse effects on economy
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) – Tanzania is likely to be hit by drought and with possible far-reaching adverse impact on key economic sectors, the authorities said on Thursday Full text...
Severe drought in Madagascar could spur world’s first climate change famine
Antananarivo, Madagascar (PANA) - More than one million people in southern Madagascar are struggling to get enough to eat, due to what could become the first famine caused by climate change, according to the World Food Programme (WFP) Full text...
Millions in southern Angola on brink of starvation after long drought
Luanda, Angola (PANA) - Millions of people in southern Angola are facing an existential threat as drought aggravated by climate change continues to ravage the region, International has warned Full text...
Somali Gov't declares drought conditions after poor rains, warmer weather
Mogadishu, Somalia (PANA) - The Somali Federal Government, in consultation with the United Nations has declared drought conditions in the country following delayed and poor successive rain seasons and harsher, warmer weather Full text...
Somalia drought leads to new population displacements
Mogadishu, Somalia (PANA) - Somalia is bracing for record levels of population displacement due to drought, which is affecting parts of the Horn of Africa country, uprooting thousands of people, an aid agency warned on Wednesday Full text...
Lesotho moves to insure farmers against climate change risks
Maseru, Lesotho (PANA) – The Kingdom of Lesotho has signed an agreement with an African Union (AU) specialized agency, mandated to address persistent climate risks and scale up national disaster risk management and financing efforts, the African Risk Capacity (ARC) said on Friday Full text...
Botswana declares non-drought year
Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi has declared 2019/2020 season a non-drought year Full text...
Cape Verde declares water emergency due to drought
Praia, Cape Verde (PANA) - The Cape Verdean government Wednesday declared "an emergency access to water" until October 2020 throughout the country due to drought accumulated in recent years , an official source told PANA here Full text...
Lesotho: Tens of thousands ‘one step away from famine’ as drought impacts harvests
Maseru, Lesotho (PANA) - Devastating drought in the southern African nation of Lesotho has left more than half a million people facing severe food shortages and tens of thousands “one step away from famine”, UN humanitarians said on Friday, in an appeal for funds Full text...
Weather expert allays fears of another drought in Botswana
Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) – A weather expert with Botswana Department of Meteorological Services (DMS) has allayed fears of another dry season after the recent drought affected most parts of the country, killing both domestic and wild animals Full text...
Somalia: Humanitarian agency works to save lives in one of the world's most dangerous countries
Mogadishu, Somalia (PANA) – A combination of extreme weather conditions and conflict has put millions in Somalia in need of immense humanitarian aid Full text...
Botswana government drills boreholes for wildlife
Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi has said that his government dug 18 boreholes for wildlife in a bid to address the ongoing regional challenge of drought Full text...
COP 14: Conference agrees to make land degradation neutrality national target
New Delhi, India (PANA) – The 14th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP14) of the UN Convention for Combating Desertification (UNCCD) ended in New Delhi on Friday on a highly successful note, with a major breakthrough to make the Sustainable Development Goal target of achieving land degradation neutrality by 2030 a national target for action Full text...
President Kaboré calls for promotion of new ecological balance in the Sahel
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - Burkina Faso's head of state, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, has stressed the urgent need to promote a new ecological balance in the Sahel and West Africa Full text...
Effects of drought show face in some parts of Botswana
Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - Botswana experienced low rains in the 2018/19 season which has led the semi-arid land- locked country to feel the early than always pinches of drought in 2019 Full text...
Burkinabe National reforestation campaign launched by President Kaboré
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - The Burkina Faso President, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, on Saturday launched a tree planting campaign in the regional grove of the Central East, the Presidency announced in a statement Full text...
Burkina Faso to celebrate first edition of National Tree Day
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - The President of Burkina Faso, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, will Saturday preside over the launching ceremony of the first edition of National Tree Day (JNA), marking the beginning of the 2019 nation's reforestation campaign Full text...
About 11.7 million people are severely food insecure in Horn of Africa - OCHA
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Drought in the Horn of Africa has left about 11 Full text...
UN agencies seek US$710 million to respond to drought in Somalia
Mogadishu, Somalia (PANA) — Aid agencies have launched a Drought Response Plan for Somalia, seeking US$710 million for urgent and sustained resources to avert a major crisis, the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Monday Full text...
Drought relief action announced in Botswana
Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - Botswana has announced drought relief measures which take effect from the beginning of July as the country faces alarming drought this year Full text...