UNITED NATIONS LAUNCHES APPEAL FOR $139 MILLION FOR FLOOD VICTIMS IN CHINA
Press Release
IHA/665
UNITED NATIONS LAUNCHES APPEAL FOR $139 MILLION FOR FLOOD VICTIMS IN CHINA
19980923 NEW YORK/GENEVA, 23 September (OCHA) -- The United Nations today launched an inter-agency appeal for $139 million for emergency relief and initial rehabilitation for 5.8 million people in nine provinces and autonomous regions of China which have been devastated by floods.The flood disaster is affecting 223 million people in 29 provinces -- one fifth of China's population. More than 3,000 people have died, and, at the end of August, direct economic damage was estimated at over $20 billion. The flood disaster is of a magnitude unprecedented over the last decades.
The United Nations Inter-Agency Appeal for Emergency Relief and Initial Rehabilitation, which was launched in Beijing, urges foreign governmental, intergovernmental, non-governmental and private donors to make their contributions quickly, in order to strengthen the relief efforts mounted by the Chinese Government and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The Appeal was launched upon the request of the Chinese Government to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. It has been prepared by the United Nations Disaster Management Team in Beijing under the leadership of the United Nations Resident Coordinator, with the assistance of Office's United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) Team. The appeal is based on field assessments undertaken by humanitarian agencies, as well as on the findings of the UNDAC/inter-agency field missions, in which the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) participated.
These missions were able to verify the scale of the disaster and the urgent need for shelter, food, medical care and potable water. The UNDAC/inter-agency missions were made to the most affected provinces in the Yangtze River basin (Hubei, Jiangxi and Hunan) and to Jilin and Heilongjiang Provinces in the north-east, from 8 to 16 September 1998.
The Appeal seeks contributions worth $139 million to assist 5.8 million beneficiaries. The United Nations agencies participating in the appeal, the UNDP, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), WFP, WHO, FAO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Office for
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the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, aim to provide assistance in the following sectors: shelter ($28.8 million); food ($87.7 million); health ($7 million); water and sanitation ($5.4 million); initial rehabilitation of essential facilities, including schools and health centres ($5 million); agriculture ($90,000); education ($4.6 million); and coordination and management ($450,000).
The relief programme will be implemented by counterpart government ministries under the coordination of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, as well as by non-governmental organizations.
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