UN emergency response team arrives in Bolivia

(New York: 7 February 2007): A five-person United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team, deployed by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to support the national response to significant country-wide flooding in Bolivia, arrived in country yesterday.

With flooding in Bolivia continuing over the past weekend, particularly in lowland areas, the national General Emergency Directorate now reports that more than 27,000 families have been affected across the country. A red alert has been declared in the city of Santa Cruz, where water levels in the Pirai River have risen dramatically and several neighbourhoods of the city are being evacuated. Already, some 50,000 hectares of crops have been lost in the department of Santa Cruz, the most affected part of the country.

As part of the Government-led response, the Bolivian Navy is to conduct technical assessment missions and deliver assistance in affected areas, upon request by local authorities. The Mayor of La Paz launched a campaign yesterday, "La Paz Solidaria" which aims to collect food, supplies and funding to assist those affected by the flooding, as well as by landslides, frost and hailstorms. In conjunction with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the non-governmental organization (NGO) World Vision, the National Civil Defence has collected 400 tents, and the Bolivian Highway Administration has begun to implement an emergency plan to repair roads damaged by flooding and landslides.

Under the coordination of the United Nations Emergency Technical Team (UNETT), United Nations agencies have also been providing assistance. The World Food Programme (WFP) has authorized the delivery of food aid to some 8,300 families in Santa Cruz, Cochabamba, Potosí, Chuquisaca, and Tarija departments.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is providing fuel for the transportation of urgently-needed shelter supplies from the capital, La Paz, to Santa Cruz, while UNICEF is to provide 30,000 rations of children's food supplements, as well as tents and mosquito nets. Both UNDP and UNICEF are working to provide support for the Government: UNDP in recovery planning and UNICEF in water and sanitation, protection and education.

The World Health Organization (WHO)/Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is assisting the National Health System to coordinate public health activities and provide medicines. The National Health authorities have declared a red alert in the flooded areas due to an increase in the number of waterborne and respiratory diseases, as well as dengue fever, among displaced families.

There remains a need for 4,400 tents, as well as mosquito nets and medicine kits. The Government of Bolivia is preparing a donor meeting to be held on 8 February, when it is expected to launch an appeal for international assistance.

Map: Bolivia: Floods - Location map

For further information, please call:

Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679;

Kristen Knutson, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 9262;

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.