ZeroFly® Shelter - Complex Emergency Issues

• More than 200 million people live in countries in which complex emergencies affect not only refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs), but the entire population¹.
• There are 11 million refugees worldwide, with more than half in Asia and 20% in Africa².
• There are an estimated 26 million IDPs around the world. About two-thirds of these IDPs are displaced within their own country³.
• The biggest new displacement in 2008 came in the Philippines, where 600,000 people fled fighting between the government and armed groups in the south. There were also large-scale displacements of 200,000 people or more in nine other countries: Sudan, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Colombia, Sri Lanka and India³.
• More than 80% of current complex emergencies are in malaria-endemic areas4.
• A survey in eastern DRC showed that, during a period when violent deaths increased 5.5-fold, 5 malaria-specific mortality increased 3.5-fold, including adult deaths⁴.
• In 2007, malaria caused 21% of all reported refugee deaths and 26% of <5 yrs refugee deaths.
• Malaria caused 23% of total morbidity and 25% of under five morbidity. 13% of all cases reported by WHO linked to forced migration/civil war⁵.
• A massive malaria epidemic occurred in Burundi between October, 2000 and March, 2001, affecting seven of 17 provinces; there were over 2·8 million cases in a country with a population of 7 million. A combination of population movement, long-term breakdown in control efforts since the war started in 1993, and high levels of Plasmodium falciparum resistance to chloroquine were suggested to be the causes⁶.
• Plastic sheeting is one of the most widely distributed non–food relief items used in humanitarian operations. For families displaced by conflicts or whose homes have been damaged by disasters, plastic sheeting can be a useful temporary building material for repairs or emergency shelter structures^7.

References

1. Connolly, M.A. et al. 2004. Communicable diseases in complex emergencies: impact and challenges. Lancet Vol 364: 1974–83
2. UNHCR. 2009. http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c1d.html
3. UNHCR. 2008. http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c23.html
4. WHO. 2005. Malaria Control in Complex Emergencies: An inter-agency field handbook http://www.who.int/global_health_histories/seminars/presentation36.pdf
5. WHO. 2002. Prevention and control of malaria epidemics. 3rd meeting of the Technical Support Network.
6. WHO/CDS/RBM/2002.40
7. Shelter for Life, International, Inc – A guide to the specification and use of plastic sheeting in humanitarian relief