2.6 million Bangladeshis in need of immediate life-saving assistance

(New York, 27 November): Nearly two weeks after super cyclone Sidr battered Bangladesh, an estimated 2.6 million people remain in need of immediate life-saving assistance. To date, the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has disbursed a total of $14.7 million in support of life-saving activities in the country. Thanks to this Rapid Response Grant, UN agencies and their partners will be able to provide emergency aid, including in food and nutrition, shelter, water and sanitation, as well as agriculture. The latest disbursement adds to the $320 million granted by CERF this year alone for assistance to populations affected by humanitarian crises, including natural disasters.

According to the Government of Bangladesh, more than 7 million people were affected by the storm. As many as 3,243 people have been confirmed dead to date, another 880 remain missing, and 34,708 were injured. There were also significant material damages caused by Sidr, a category 4 storm that made landfall in Bangladesh in the late evening of 15 November bringing torrential rains and packing winds of up to 240 kilometres per hour. More than 1 million houses have been damaged, 366,000 of which have been completely destroyed, and extensive damage to roads and public buildings, including almost 10,000 educational institutions, has also been reported. In addition, more than 1.8 million acres of crops were damaged and over 523,000 livestock have been confirmed killed.

In response to the disaster, the Government of Bangladesh established a special fund of Bangladesh taka (BDT) 273 million for housing reconstruction grants for families affected, while the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management (MFDM) has so far allocated 10,890 metric tonnes of rice and 27,000 food packages. MFDM is also distributing 14,979 tents and 13,000 bundles of corrugated iron sheets. With the Bangladesh Air Force and Save the Children USA, the World Food Programme (WFP) is distributing 208 tonnes of high-energy biscuits to assist an estimated 850,000 cyclone affected people. An estimated 400 tonnes of relief goods have been distributed by the Bangladesh Air Force to date. In addition, WFP has begun the distribution of 750 metric tonnes of rice to the five most affected areas, while the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is procuring blended food for children in affected districts for a period of three months. Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BRCS) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) provided 55 metric tonnes of food relief for 64,000 families in 15 of the most affected districts. The World Health Organisation (WHO) deployed staff to the affected areas to assist in monitoring disease outbreak in collaboration with Government of Bangladesh authorities, while a total of 732 medical teams continue to work in the affected areas. A mission from Telecoms Sans Frontieres (TSF), in cooperation with the UNICEF and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is supporting the United Nations for communications and information technology.

The contributions and confirmed pledges for the Cyclone Sidr response in Bangladesh received to date amount to over $130 million.

For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570. OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int.