ReliefWeb

Highlights

• Hurricanes Eta and Iota had struck Central America. Authorities continue assessing the damages and gathering information on the affected communities. Over 6.8 million people have been affected by Eta and Iota in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, among them approximately 2.6 million are children.

• In Honduras, a total of 4,600 people in shelters in the most affected cities in the north are being reached through key WASH services. Through the WASH Cluster, affected populations have already received 610,000 litres of water and 22,225 hygiene kits. UNICEF has provided immediate protection services to 113 children and adolescents suspected to have been separated from their caregivers in the aftermath of both tropical storms.

• In Guatemala, UNICEF continued to support, through the nutrition brigades, critical live-saving nutrition interventions in several of the most affected departments (Alta Verapaz, Huehuetenango), including: timely identification and treatment of children under five years of age diagnosed with acute malnutrition; the provision of multiple micronutrients powder to children under five years of age; and the provision of breastfeeding and maternal nutrition counselling to pregnant and lactating women.

• In Nicaragua, UNICEF has initiated a mapping of child protection and gender-based violence (GBV) available services in the affected areas, as well as the construction of referral mechanisms in coordination with the authorities and civil society organizations. A total of 50 kits for psychosocial support and child-friendly spaces will be delivered soon, benefitting 2,000 children. Moreover, 90 water tanks of 5,000 liters, 3,000 plastic recipients with taps and covers for water conservation at home and 1,000 family hygiene kits were delivered to affected communities of Jinotega.

• In Panama, UNICEF delivered 13 tons of supplies, including 5,940 thermal blankets, tarps, tanks of 10,000 litres of water each, tents, mosquito nets, and ribbons for nutritional diagnosis.

• In Belize, UNICEF is currently distributing over 1,700 supplemented food packages to approximately 500 affected families, including 1,050 children, along with risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) activities.

• UNICEF is requesting US$42.6 million for the next six months, to meet the most urgent humanitarian needs of children and families affected by Hurricane Eta in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. This funding requirement is provisional and subject to change. UNICEF is assessing the impacts of Hurricane Iota which will likely increase the humanitarian needs.