UN allocates US$ 8.7 mln for Sudan floods
August 20, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), has approved a grant of US$ 8.7 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), to support the ongoing humanitarian response.
“Thanks to these funds, we will be able to assist over one and a half million current and potential flood victims, until or beyond the end of the rainy season,” Holmes said. The Emergency Relief Coordinator visited the country in April and has repeatedly called for the international community to generously respond to the humanitarian needs in Sudan.
The grant will be used for relief operations in the most affected areas. These currently include the states of Gedaref, Kassala, Khartoum, Northern Kordofan, Unity, and Upper Nile., the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a press release today.
The funding has been allocated to 11 different projects to be managed by five United Nations agencies: the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Of the total amount, $ 4.5 million will provide medical drugs, health care, and support to epidemic surveillance in order to avert or contain deadly waterborne epidemics. Thanks to an additional $ 2 million, over one million people will receive clean water or water purification products. A further $ 1.5 million will be used to supply non-food items and emergency shelter to families who lost their homes or essential household goods. Finally, $ 700,000 will provide food aid to those most in need and will support livelihoods.
This grant brings the total allocated to the Sudan flood response to US$ 13.5 million. The United Nations had already allocated an amount of US$ 4.8 million for the emergency, from its locally managed pooled fund known as the “Common Humanitarian Fund” (CHF).
Torrential rains have devastated several parts of the Sudan since 4 July 2007. Well over 30,000 homes were destroyed or seriously damaged, leaving at least 150,000 people without shelter.
The United Nations and partners have so far supplied aid to at least 500,000 people. Humanitarian organizations will now be able, together with Government counterparts, to continue responding to the emergency until at least mid-September, when the heavy rains are expected to gradually subside.
Approved by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2005 as a successor to the Central Emergency Revolving Fund, the CERF aims to save lives by providing a more predictable and timely response to humanitarian emergencies.
(ST)