UNITED NATIONS RESPONDS TO BOLIVIAN FLOODS

UNITED NATIONS RESPONDS TO BOLIVIAN FLOODS

NEW YORK, 2 February (OCHA) -- The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has extended an emergency cash grant of $30,000 for the purchase of urgent relief supplies as part of the international response to severe flooding in Bolivia, which has affected some 175,000 people across the country.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has assisted 745 families in Santa Cruz and La Paz, and is working with its governmental and non-governmental partners to conduct food needs assessments.  The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is providing specialized nutritional supplements for 5,000 children under six.

Preliminary estimates indicate that 34,000 families in Bolivia have been affected by the flooding, with at least 13 confirmed deaths.  More than 500 dwellings have been damaged or destroyed.  The Government has highlighted a need for food, medicines, water, disinfectants, tents, mattresses, blankets, mosquito nets, kitchen kits, hygiene kits, water containers, shovels, picks, wheelbarrows, and mud-pumps.

The United Nations is coordinating its response with the Government of Bolivia, donor countries, the Red Cross, and non-governmental organizations.  Six needs assessment working groups have been established for La Paz, Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando, Potosí and Cochabamba.

Bolivia is currently in the middle of its rainy season.  The National Meteorological Service predicts that the rain will continue over the next weeks.  Already, in the country’s northern highlands, total January rainfall was 169 per cent above the historical average.

For further information, please call:  Stephanie Bunker, OCHA- New York, tel: +1 917 367 5126, mobile: + 1 917 892 1679; Kristen Knutson, OCHA- New York, tel: +1 917 367 9262; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, tel: +41 22 917 2653, mobile: +41 79 473 4370.

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For information media • not an official record