United Nations seeks $153 million for Hurricane Mitch victims in Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize

Press Release
DEV/2196
IHA/673
'Tide Over' Appeal Is for Emergency Relief for Six Months, in Areas Of Shelter, Food, Clean Water, Health Services, Education, Agriculture

GENEVA/NEW YORK, 3 December (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) -- In an effort to cover the continuing humanitarian relief needs and immediate rehabilitation requirements in five countries of Central America, following the devastating Hurricane Mitch, the United Nations today presented donors with a transitional appeal for $153 million for six months.

More than 3 million people were directly affected by Hurricane Mitch as it swept across Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Belize early in the last week of October. The disaster resulted in torrential rains, flooding and landslides. Many lost their lives in the disaster, and half-a-million people lost their homes. There is now an urgent need for humanitarian assistance, particularly to the poorest, in the form of clean water and food, shelter, emergency health services, education as well as urgently-needed help in agriculture.

A meeting to present the appeal was organized today by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva, jointly with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It was attended by representatives of agencies making the appeal. Donors were told that the transitional appeal was intended to "tide over" the next six months, leading up to finalization of country-specific reconstruction projects.

The $152,934,914 appealed for is apportioned thus: $82.93 million for Honduras; $38.2 million for Nicaragua; $16.19 million for El Salvador; $14.25 million for Guatemala; $846,000 for Belize; $490,000 for regional activities.

The appeal document is a joint effort undertaken in the field by the United Nations in-country teams under the coordination of the United Nations Resident Coordinators and at Headquarters level. The appealing agencies are the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UNDP, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP), World Health Organization (WHO), International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Copies of the appeal document may be requested from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)/Disaster Response Branch by e-mail (contact: erik.haegglund@dha.unicc.org). The document is also available on OCHA's website: http://www.reliefweb.int/.