United Nations grants $4.9 million to flood survivors in Mali, Ghana and Togo

Geneva - Dakar, 9 October 2007: The United Nations have allocated $4.9 million emergency humanitarian assistance to Mali ($1 million), Ghana ($2.5 million) and Togo ($1.4) as response to floods that have stricken these three countries since August.

The grants are part of the UN Central Emergency Response Fund officially created in March 2006 by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The CERF allocations are meant to immediately improve the living conditions of 155,000 people in these three countries -75, 000 in Ghana, 60, 000 in Togo and 20, 000 in Mali-. The funding will benefit projects elaborated by UNICEF, WFP, FAO and UNFPA, as well as their partners on the field.

The CERF is a rapid funding tool that allows the United Nations to better respond to the needs of people victims of natural disasters and conflicts across the world.

«These floods have displaced thousands of homeless families, damaged cropped farms destroyed houses and roads, washed away cattle. These are among other things the damage caused by floods in West Africa. With funds allocated to Ghana, Togo and Mali, the most vulnerable victims will receive vital aid for three months.» said Mr. Hervé Ludovic de Lys, Head of OCHA West Africa Regional Office.

The United Nations and partner NGO's launched on 4 October an appeal for $10 million to assist 75,000 victims of floods for six months in Ghana, one of the hardest hit countries with 336.000 people affected.

Floods have affected around 800,000 people in 14 in West African countries: Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, The Gambia, Liberia, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Guinea.

These floods are the worst ever recorded in the past 30 years in West Africa and they have affected populations that are among the poorest in the world.

Contacts

OCHA Dakar: Katy Thiam thiamk@un.org +221 775 699 653; OCHA Dakar: Amadou Kane kanea@un.org +221 776 392 018, OCHA Genève: Elizabeth Byrs byrs@un.org +4122 917 26 53, mobile +41 79 473 4570; OCHA New York: Stéphanie Bunker bunker@un.org , mobile +1 917 892 1679.