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CERF gives $2.5 million for flood-affected people in Comoros

Countries
Comoros
Sources
OCHA
Publication date

14 May 2012: In March and April 2012, Comoros was hit by severe flooding associated with heavy rainfall throughout the territory. The floodwaters cut off access to affected communities and destroyed roads and other infrastructure making the delivery of humanitarian aid difficult. Government and United Nations assessments revealed that some 137,000 people have been affected by the emergency and some 1,800 houses were completely destroyed, while many more were damaged. More than 4,000 families are currently hosted by relatives or other community members. In the affected regions, 70 per cent of the major food crops which had almost reached maturity, were severely damaged.

On 25 April 2012, the Government declared a national emergency and appealed for international assistance.

In response, the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) provided US$2.5 million to 5 United Nations agencies in Comoros.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) received $1.7 million to provide clean water, proper sanitation and hygiene interventions for affected people. In addition, the agency will support Government efforts to help 22,000 children resume schooling, and enable 137,000 affected people to access emergency health services. The World Health Organization (WHO) also received $339,912 to help provide emergency health care to flood-affected people.

In support of emergency nutrition assistance, the World Food Programme (WFP) received $239,716 to deliver and distribute high energy biscuits to some 12,000 people in the most-affected communities.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) received $134,743 from the Fund to help provide emergency shelter and non-food items to flood-affected families, while the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) received $64,981 to help the Comoros Ministry of Health provide life-saving reproductive health care. Funds will be used to help prevent maternal and newborn deaths, reduce risk of HIV infection, and prevent and respond to sexual violence.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.