UN Grants Emergency Funding To Flood Victims

Ethiopia: UN Grants Emergency Relief Funding To Flood Victims

New York, Sep 19 2006 3:00PM

As the number of people affected by the ongoing floods in seven of Ethiopia’s nine regions rises to more than 363,000 – including more than 145,000 who have been displaced – the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland has approved a $3 million allocation from the new Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) .

The latest figures showed an increase of 163,000 affected persons since the launch of a UN joint flash appeal on 25 August, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesperson Elizabeth Byrs told a news briefing in Geneva today.

A joint rapid impact assessment of flood-affected areas was set to start today to evaluate the impact of the disaster on food security and livelihoods. Amhara region remained one of the worst hit areas, with 97,800 people affected, 70 per cent (68,477) of whom have lost their crops and are in need of immediate food aid for the coming four months. Some 38,000 have been displaced and are living in temporary shelters.

CERF, a key reform of UN relief sought by Secretary-General Kofi Annan and endorsed by the 2005 World Summit, was launched in March with a proposed funding of $450 million to jump-start relief operations in natural and man-made disasters and save thousands of lives which would otherwise be lost to delay under the previous under-funded mechanism.

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