MADAGASCAR: Early Recovery to mitigate emergency response

JOHANNESBURG, 18 July 2008 (IRIN) - In Madagascar, where community resilience and livelihoods are continuously eroded by cyclones, floods and drought, the gap between emergency humanitarian action and development assistance can become too wide to cross. "When the question is not, 'if disaster will strike; but where, how long and how often?", there is little time to help communities back on their feet, Christophe Legrand, Early Recovery and Disaster Risk Management Advisor at the UN Development programme in Madagascar, told IRIN. Over 100 people died when the Indian Ocean island was hit by cyclones Fame, Jokwe and Ivan earlier in 2008. The powerful winds, heavy rains and flooding affected over 340,000 people, of whom 190,000 lost their homes. There were six cyclones in 2007 - the worst year on record - while drought in the... [read full story]