UN, AID PARTNERS PREPARED AID PLAN TO HELP 650,000 FLOOD VICTIMS IN YEMEN

UN, AID PARTNERS PREPARED AID PLAN TO HELP 650,000 FLOOD VICTIMS IN YEMEN
New York, Nov 10 2008 2:10PM
United Nations agencies and their humanitarian partners are finalizing a response plan to help some 650,000 victims of deadly floods in eastern Yemen, aimed at covering food, water, sanitation and health care.

UN bodies – including the UN High Commissioner for Refugees <"http://www.unicef.org/">(UNHCR), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme <"http://www.wfp.org/english/">(WFP), the World Health Organization <"http://www.who.int/en/">(WHO) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) – have set up a support hub in Sayun in Hadramout, one of the hardest-hit regions.

The new centre seeks to coordinate relief distribution and support local authorities to help survivors of the floods, which have claimed 68 lives in Hadramout and Al-Mahara governorates in Yemen's east.

A UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination <"http://ochaonline.un.org/Coordination/FieldCoordinationSupportSection/UNDACSystem/tabid/1414/Default.aspx">(UNDAC) team is helping the Arabian peninsula nation to track incoming international assistance.

Torrential rains last month have destroyed over 2,500 homes and damaged more than 1,300 others, while hundreds of farms where inundated and their crops washed away. Some 25,000 people are in need of shelter.

According to OCHA, the most affected areas in both Hadramout and Al-Mahara have passed the acute emergency phase, but there are still regions where needs have not been assessed, including the humanitarian situation of the 20,000 Bedouins living in the mountains.
Nov 10 2008 2:10PM
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