The immense strain of this humanitarian crisis is challenging the Pakistani government as it tries to avoid internal dissent against the consequences of its anti-Taliban military campaign.

The U.S. has pledged more than $100 million dollars in emergency assistance for Pakistan.

Ahmad Kamal, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United Nations, joins Martin Savidge to discuss the situation in the refugee camps and how the military campaign is going.

Strikes resumed, as did Hamas rockets, after the pause.

Bernard Barrett of the International Committee of the Red Cross joins Martin Savidge to discuss the effectiveness of aid in Gaza, the state of hospitals there and how the ground invasion has impacted the ability of humanitarian organizations to operate.

The United Nations estimates that 3.25 million Somalis, or 43 percent of the population, will require food aid until the end of the year.

The number of Somalis requiring humanitarian assistance doubled in 2008 and continues to climb. Aid workers have also come under fire. As of Oct. 27, 30 aid workers had been killed and another 10 kidnapped.

Zam Zam Abdullahi Abdi once counseled victims of violence at a hospital in Mogadishu run by the Africa Union Peacekeeping Mission in Somalia — coming face to face with women and children who face rape and deadly beatings. She left Somalia after receiving death threats, and now joins Martin Savidge to discuss Somalia’s plight.

Photos by Abukar Albadri

Myanmar received humanitarian aid following the cyclone.

Cyclone Nargis over Myanmar in May. Death toll estimates are still undetermined, but may be as high as 130,000 people.

Last May, Cyclone Nargis ripped through Myanmar (formerly Burma), killing almost 85,000 people and leaving 50,000 missing.

Initially, foreign aid was blocked by the military junta. Six months later, the United Nations has raised half of the $484 million it seeks in relief money, and fundraising is increasing. But relief efforts are far from over, and survivors are struggling to make a living.

A blogger for the Asia Foundation’s “In Asia” blog writes from Myanmar about reconstruction efforts and the plight of the country’s people.

From Burma: Six Months After Cyclone Nargis

There is a phrase I hear over and over as I travel around the Irrawaddy delta in Burma (also known as Myanmar): “We have nothing left.”

Six months ago, Cyclone Nargis made landfall in this region and roared across the flat and vulnerable lands of the delta, bringing with it a massive storm surge of sea water. The wind and the water combined into a fatal and catastrophic force that wiped entire villages off the map. People drowned. Houses were demolished by the storm. Personal possessions washed away. Farms animals were killed. Fishing boats sank or were smashed to pieces in the waves. Survivors in the worst-hit areas were left with nothing.

How does one go about restarting life after losing your family, your home, your job, and all your possessions? In Burma, it is probably far harder than in many other places.  Immediately after the cyclone, reports came out that Burma’s ruling military regime was preventing international aid workers from entering the country, and restricting the movement of those already working inside the country. It took three long weeks of diplomatic negotiations before the regime began to ease restraints on the international community’s efforts to launch an emergency operation. Excruciatingly slowly, aid agencies were granted access to affected areas.

I have been spending a lot of  time here, and, today, six long months since the cyclone hit,  the region is still in dire need of help.

In one village south of the delta town of Mawlamyinegyun, a man showed me a black-and-white passport photo of his wife – she was killed during the cyclone, along with their four children. He used to run a noodle stall and, even if he had the equipment or the money to invest in starting again, no one in the village has the spare cash to buy a bowl of noodles. He now lives in a shack constructed from donated tarpaulin and wood that he salvaged out of the debris left behind by the cyclone. Inside the tiny shack there is just enough space for one person to lie down on the split-bamboo floor. The man’s few belongings are all things that have been given to him by aid organizations – a few plastic buckets and cooking pots, a flashlight, a blanket. The only thing he has from his life before the cyclone is the stamp-sized photograph of his deceased wife.

To read more, see the original post.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Photo courtesy of Flickr users Azmil77 and TZA under a Creative Commons license.

Haiti was hit hard by Hurricane Ike.

A school partially collapsed in Haiti today, the second in a week. Nine people were injured in the collapse and no one was trapped inside.

Last week, another school collapsed and killed at least 94. Officials admitted that the building had been rebuilt after starting to collapse earlier, renewing concerns about Haitian infrastructure.

Four hurricanes hit Haiti within the span of 30 days this summer, killing hundreds and leaving many cities uninhabitable and buildings destroyed.

The “Operation Green Leaves” blog discusses hurricane relief and urges the Haitian government to prioritize basic infrastructure to curb the impact of natural disasters, warning that international aid and celebrity attention are waning.

Ben Terrall of “Haiti Analysis” writes about widespread questions swirling around hurricane relief efforts, including a statement from Doctors Without Borders that blasted international response.

“The Haitian Blogger” strongly criticizes the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) in the aftermath of the first school collapse, and blames the U.S. for destabilization after the bloody ouster of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004.

The U.S. has sent search and rescue teams to the site of the first school collapse, but there are increasing calls to give Haitians temporary protected status (TPS).

Mark Schneider of the International Crisis Group writes at “World Politics Review” that TPS should be granted, and that the U.S. should be more involved in reconstruction efforts — pointing to comparitively large aid to Central America in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch a decade ago.

Photo courtesy of Radio Nederland Wereldomroep under a Creative Commons license.

About 3.2 million Somalis– 43 per cent of the population — are in desperate need of food and other humanitarian assistance. Hundreds of thousands have come to the Hawa Abdi refugee camp in Afgooye and now get by only with assistance from aid organizations like the World Food Programme. Malnutrition has doubled at the camp in the past two months, leaving children on the brink of death.

Though the WFP attempts to help with nutritional products like “plumpy,” aid workers are often the targets of violent attacks.

Below, watch Worldfocus’s report on the dire situation in Somali refugee camps. Also, view our recent report on Somalis fleeing to Yemen: Somalia struggles with famine, fear and flight.