Floods in Congo: 350,000 people need humanitarian aid, according to the UN Flood survivors arrive by boat from Brazzaville

The United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) held a press conference on the subject of the floods which affected the Republic of Congo-Brazzaville, drawing up an alarming assessment over six decades of record bad weather.

The extreme rains that have hit the country since last October have caused the banks of the Oubangui, a tributary of the Congo River, to overflow. On December 29, the country declared a state of emergency due to flooding.

Clare Nullis, spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization, described the weather event as "the most exceptional since the catastrophic floods of December 1961." The expert adds that in December 2023, the measured flow rate was 74,300 cubic meters per second. And by January 9, it had reached 75,000 cubic meters per second."

According to Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA), there are currently 1.8 million victims in Congo. 350,000 of them require humanitarian aid, the delivery of which remains problematic.

According to this official, "the United Nations agencies have developed a response plan in collaboration with the government, with a total budget of approximately $26 million. The priority sectors concern shelter, food security, health, drinking water, and sanitary facilities." 

An allocation of $3.6 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has already been allocated to meet the most urgent needs of 270,000 people. However, to implement the entire response, more international funding will be needed according to Jens Laerke.

Sudan : The death toll from the war exceeds 13 thousand and the number of displaced people exceeds 7.6 million

The United Nations announced that more than 15,000 people were killed in the war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan since last April, while about 26,000 people were injured and more than 7.6 million were displaced from their homes and took refuge inside and outside Sudan.

The United Nations announced in a statement from its Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Sunday that the fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces has left more than 13,000 dead and about 26,000 injured since April 15.

The statement said: “More than 13,100 people were killed, and about 26,51 were injured across the country, since fighting first broke out between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces on April 15.”

He added: "Nine months after the outbreak of war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, about 7.6 million people fled their homes and took refuge inside and outside Sudan."

He stated that "6.1 million people were displaced within the country, and about 1.5 million people have crossed into neighboring countries since last April 15."

On December 7, the United Nations said: “More than 12,000 people have been killed in the war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces since mid-April.”

The war is still continuing between the two Sudanese parties, without Saudi-American and African efforts led by the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) succeeding in putting an end to the conflict, which left difficult humanitarian conditions after it spread to 9 states out of 18.