UN rights experts call for international aid following Malawi flooding News
UN rights experts call for international aid following Malawi flooding

[JURIST] A group of three UN special rapporteurs urged [press release] the international community on Friday to provide humanitarian aid and funding to Malawi after it experienced the worst flooding in recent history. Malawi habitually experiences varying degrees of flooding that requires action by emergency response units of fluctuating size. However, due to early onset rains this year, the subsequent floods have reached alarming levels and have left 79 dead, 153 missing and over 170,000 displaced. The special rapporteurs have called for donations to the Preliminary Response Plan fund which is intended to aid affected Malawians, and is significantly depleted. Money from the fund is used to ensure the availability of food as the loss of crops and livestock foretell severe food shortages to come. The fund would also serve to provide clean water, both for survival and the prevention of water-related diseases, as well as assistance in rebuilding lost homes for those that have been displaced.

Devastating losses due to flooding have been felt throughout the African continent in recent months. Along with Malawi, Mozambique declared [BBC News report] a state of emergency due to floods in mid-Janurary. In November of last year, Moroccan flash floods [BBC News report] killed 32 people, left six missing and destroyed hundreds of homes and roads. In February 2014 severe flooding [BBC News report] and landslides in Burundi left over 50 people dead.