APPEAL FOR AID AFTER NICARAGUA FLOODS, MUDSLIDES

APPEAL FOR AID AFTER NICARAGUA FLOODS, MUDSLIDES

NEW YORK, 14 July (OCHA) -- United Nations agencies have requested just under $1 million to meet the needs of 5,751 people affected by the recent floods and mudslides in Nicaragua.  The appeal, covering a period of three months, intends to raise funds for health care, agricultural rehabilitation, food aid, education and psycho-social therapy, among other things.

Heavy rains in Nicaragua in the last four weeks have triggered mudslides and flooding, causing great damage in certain areas.  Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos Geyer has declared a “state of disaster” in the country’s north-central region and two autonomous Atlantic regions.

Nicaragua’s Ministry of Health has responded to the crisis by mobilizing five mobile medical brigades, which are carrying out vaccination and fumigation activities, as well as working to prevent maternal and infant mortality.  The Government has also launched a separate international appeal, to assist 18,357 people over six months.

United Nations agencies participating in the relief work include the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Food Programme (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

For further information, please call:  Stephanie Bunker, OCHA New York, tel: 917 367 5126, mobile: 917 892 1679; Madelaine Moulin-Acevedo, OCHA Geneva, tel: 41 22 917 3160.

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