UN releases $15 million for Nepal
29 April 2015 5:50 AM IST
The UN on Tuesday released $15 million as emergency aid for quake-hit Nepal to “scale up” the rescue operations in the country which is facing an acute shortage of food, water, electricity and medicines.
“I have just allocated $15 million for Nepal from the UN’s emergency fund UNCERF so that aid agencies can rapidly scale up and save lives,” tweeted Valerie Amos, UN Under- Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs. UN agencies are coordinating international efforts and are working with partners in Nepal, including the government, to ensure the aid reaches to the affected people.
“This is a race against time. It’s also a race against?a moving target in the sense that we still do not have a full assessment of the needs and requirements in the rural areas outside of Kathmandu,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the Office of the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
“An airlift of UNHCR relief supplies is arriving in Kathmandu from our warehouse in Dubai, These supplies will boost the aid we have already deployed to our earthquake-affected areas from our in-country stocks,” said Arianne Rummery, UNHCR spokesperson.
This airlift will target 30,000 quake survivors identified by the authorities.
The UN refugee agency said that it had “emptied” its warehouse in eastern Nepal and has sent five trucks of plastic sheets and solar lamps for over 40,000 survivors in three districts of east Kathmandu in addition to today’s airlift.
The World Food Programme (WFP) is planning to provide food assistance to 1.4 million people over three months. “Its going to be a massive operation. But it is going to be challenging operation because of its [Nepal’s] topography and the fact that we fear in the coming days there will be monsoon and probably more landslides,” said Elisabeth Byrs, WFP spokesperson.
UNICEF has estimated that around 1.3 million children are in need of urgent assistance.
Oral rehydration salt and zinc particularly for people living in the open and other medical supplies are being prepared in Copenhagen for Nepal, UNICEF said.
US too announces aid of $9 mn
The US has announced fresh aid of $9 million for quake-hit Nepal as it launched relief and rescue mission in the Himalayan nation, sending a disaster response team alongwith rescue dogs to search for survivors.
“We are working very closely with the government of Nepal to provide assistance and support. I am announcing that the US will provide an additional $9 million for Nepal earthquake response,” the Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters in New York.
This is in addition to the $ 1 million already provided to the quake victims in Nepal on Saturday.
The funding will be used to address immediate, life-saving priorities, including search-and-rescue efforts, the provision of emergency shelter, clean water, sanitation, and additional needs that emerge in the coming days, USAID said.
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