KYRGYZSTAN: EXTENDED HUMANITARIAN FLASH APPEAL SEEKS $42 MILLION

(Bishkek/Cairo/New York, 24 November 2010): The humanitarian community in Kyrgyzstan has appealed for $42 million to continue providing assistance to some 810,000 people directly or indirectly affected by inter-communal violence and displacement in June 2010 in the southern Osh and Jalalabad districts.

"The traumatized population, not least the children and other vulnerable groups, continue to require a coordinated response by the international community," said Neal Walker, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Kyrgyzstan. "The events and their fallout have had a profound impact on the social and economic situation in the country and the resulting humanitarian needs are still with us. However, I remain positive that should the situation remain stable, these needs can be addressed during the first half of 2011," he added.

The Kyrgyzstan Extended and Revised Flash Appeal builds on the original 18 June Flash Appeal, which was revised to $96.4 million to reflect the rapid return of the displaced population and the results of needs assessments. To date, humanitarian programmes in the Appeal have received $51 million, leaving the revised Appeal 55 per cent funded. A quarter of all funding has come from the UN's own Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

The UN and humanitarian partners in Kyrgyzstan have agreed with the Government to extend the humanitarian Flash Appeal for Kyrgyzstan for an additional six months, until the end of June 2011.

Shelter agencies will not be seeking further humanitarian funding, confident that by the end of the year winterized, two or three-room transitional shelters will have been constructed for all families whose homes were destroyed. Other humanitarian needs however remain and need to be addressed, particularly in the livelihood, food and protection sectors.