The Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (ROLAC) of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has significant experience responding to large-scale disasters. In mid-February 2022, two UN Volunteers were among four ROLAC personnel deployed to Ukraine to support the OCHA country office with international rapid response capacity, amid rising tensions. Read more on the UNV emergency response to the war in Ukraine.
By Anthony Prassoulis, Information & Advocacy Unit, OCHA ROLAC
What is expected to be yet another above-normal Atlantic hurricane season got off to an early start with the formation of subtropical storm Ana on 22 May. This marks the seventh consecutive year that the first-named storm has formed before the official start of the hurricane season on 1 June.
While this year’s hurricane season is unlikely to match the record-shattering, frenzied pace of 2020, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects it will still churn out 13-20 named storms in the Atlantic, with 6-10 of those storms potentially becoming hurricanes, including 3-5 major hurricanes of category 3 strength or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
By Anthony Prassoulis, Information & Advocacy Unit, OCHA ROLAC
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the eruption of the La Soufrière volcano in early April has brought a new wave of humanitarian, socioeconomic and environmental repercussions crashing down on Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, stretching national response capacities and threatening to set back development by decades.
Preliminary assessments estimate that the eruption could cost the country the equivalent of 50 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP), with losses in agriculture and housing combined with damages to infrastructure projected to be about US$300 million. In the areas closest to La Soufrière, all vegetable crops have been completely decimated, while 90 per cent of tree crops and 80 per cent of root crops have been lost, which will surely have a lasting impact on livelihoods and food security.