State of Emergency Declared in Sumatra’s Riau Province due to Smoke from Forest Fires

Malaysia closes schools as blanket of smoke covers Kuala Lumpur, adjacent states

Malaysian schools have been ordered closed as a hazardous smog from Indonesian forest fires blankets the capital, multiple states and neighboring Singapore.

At least 34 of Malaysia’s 52 air quality stations were recoding  unhealthy air levels on Tuesday, according to local reports.

Meanwhile, Indonesian authorities declared a State of Emergency in Sumatra’s Riau province as hazardous levels of pollution were reported in multiple regions, including Sumatra and Borneo.

“Tens of thousands of people in smoke-choked regions of Sumatra and Borneo have fallen ill, while air travel there has also been disrupted due to poor visibility,” said a report.

Mass quarantine after Ebola Kills Teen in Sierra Leone

New Ebola death reported in Sierra Leone

A 16-year-old girl has died from Ebola infection in the city of Makeni, in Bombali province, bordering Guinea, prompting the authorities to mass quarantine a village with 700 inhabitants.

Earlir this month, a 67-year-old food trader died of Ebola in a neighboring district; however, the country’s National Ebola Response Center (NERC) said the two deaths were unrelated.

The deaths come just weeks after the president declared Sierra Leone Ebola free, following the discharge of the country’s  last known Ebola patient.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed more than 11,300 people of the 28,000 infected since first emerging in Guinea in December 2013.

Global Emergencies: Afghanistan, Iraq, Dominican Republic

Millions of Afghans are food insecure: Report

At least 1.5 million people in Afghanistan are severely food insecure, while 7.3 million others are moderately food insecure, said ACAPS. Food security among IDPs is worsening, with about 200,000 people in need of immediate assistance.

Afghanistan has been in protracted conflict for almost thirty five years, which has seriously hampered poverty reduction and development, strained the fabric of society and depleted its coping mechanisms. Additionally, over the past five years, armed non-state actors have challenged the territorial control of the Government and expanded the geographical scope of the conflict beyond the southern and eastern regions of the country.

… conflict and natural disasters have left many Afghans living without proper shelter. These include families who lost their homes during spring floods in the north, refugee families from North Waziristan who have fled their home to Khost and the neighbouring province of Paktika, and families displaced internally in the last year due to conflict. [OCHA]

Iraq: IDP Emergency

Some 827,964 people were internally displaced in August, making up 25 percent of the total IDP population. “The proportion of IDPs living in critical shelter arrangements increased by 2% in the second half of August. Reports of forcible evictions are increasing, and many governorates are enforcing restrictions on IDP movement. Half of all health personnel have left Anbar, Ninewa, Salah al Din and Diyala governorates.”

About 8.6 million Iraqis are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Dominican Republic: Severe Drought, Crop Losses  

At least 1.6 million people have reportedly been affected by the lingering drought that has plagued the country since last year. “The breakdown in the production of hydroelectrical power has caused energy blackouts nationwide, and water rationing is being implemented. Crop losses amount to tens of millions of dollars.”