United Nations Emergency Fund allocates $US5.5 million to assist flood affected people in Sudan

NEW YORK, October 21, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) is providing US $5.5 million for lifesaving humanitarian assistance to people affected by recent flooding in Sudan. In total, 93 people were killed and some 340,000 people affected by floods. The CERF funds will also be supplemented by an emergency allocation from the Sudan Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF).

“The floods that began in early August have affected hundreds of thousands throughout the country.

After the first rains, volunteer workers, government line ministries, national NGOs, and UN partners worked hard to respond to emergency needs,” said Ali Al-Zatari, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator. “But more work needs to be done. This money will help the humanitarian community ensure people's lives return to normal.”

Funding will go to United Nations agencies, including UNICEF, UNHCR, IOM and the World Health Organization (WHO) who are working in partnership with government ministries and the government's Humanitarian Aid Commission to respond to the crisis.

The money will be used to provide people with household items and emergency shelter, while ensuring that people have clean water and that damaged latrines are repaired. Additionally, to save lives and restore a sense of normalcy, emergency healthcare including vector control and mosquito nets will be provided alongside emergency education services to children whose schools were damaged.

Globally, the CERF provides funding for sudden disasters or emergencies, and it supports underfunded emergencies worldwide. Already this year, the CERF has allocated over US$434 million to help people who have been affected by such events around the world.

The CERF funding to Sudan will make it the highest recipient of CERF support globally this year, since the latest allocation will mean that Sudan will have received over $47.4 million since the beginning of 2013.

The CHF, a Sudan based pooled fund, has allocated over US$67 million to Sudan's most urgent humanitarian projects.