Un Official: Increase Aid to Traumatized Nations
New York, Oct 28 2009 5:10PM
On the heels of a four-nation trip to see first-hand the damage caused by conflict and natural disasters, the top United Nations humanitarian official today appealed for international support to help these countries recover and rebuild.
The conflict in northern Yemen, which he
visited earlier this month, remains “pretty neglected”
both by the international community and the media, John
Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs,
told reporters.
More than 50,000 people have been
uprooted since the fighting between the Government and Al
Houthi rebels resumed in earnest in August, bringing the
total number of people forced from their homes since the
conflict first started in 2004 to
150,000.
“There’s no doubt from the humanitarian
angle that the situation is getting worse,” Mr. Holmes
said.
UN requests to both the Government and rebels
for a humanitarian pause in fighting to allow
urgently-needed supplies to reach civilians have so far been
unsuccessful, he noted.
Further, the official pointed
out that just over 36 per cent of the $24 million flash
appeal for Yemen launched last months has been funded so
far.
Also facing a funding shortfall are the appeals
for the Philippines and Indonesia, which he also visited
this month.
The Philippines was battered by successive
storms which affected over 6 million people, killing some
800 people and displacing scores of thousands of others, and
caused crop damage estimated at over $160
million.
With fears of communicable disease outbreaks
high and water levels still high in some areas, Mr. Holmes
said that “there is quite a long way to go” in recovery.
Only one third of the $74 million appeal has been secured,
he told reporters.
The $38 million appeal for
Indonesia, where a recent 7.9-magnitude earthquake claimed
over 1,100 lives and damaged 200,000 homes, is also
under-funded, he said.
Mr. Holmes, who also serves as
the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator, urged donors for
their support as the long-term rebuilding operation in the
South-East Asian nation gets under way.
Also in need
of increased international assistance is Uganda, which he
visited last week and met victims of the notorious rebel
group known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the
north of the country.
“The good news there is that
85 per cent of the 2 million IDPs [internally displaced
persons] who had been displaced have been able to go
home,” the Under-Secretary-General said.
With the
LRA – currently wreaking havoc in neighbouring nations –
having left northern Uganda, emergency relief efforts are
winding down, but support is vital to make sure that basic
services and facilities are in place in areas of return, and
“there is still a long way to go,” he
emphasized.
ENDS