UNITED NATIONS ASSISTS ECUADOR FOLLOWING FLOODS

UNITED NATIONS ASSISTS ECUADOR FOLLOWING FLOODS

NEW YORK, 20 March (OCHA) -- The United Nations has allocated two cash grants totalling $80,000 for emergency relief in Ecuador, where heavy rains since early February have provoked flooding and landslides in 35 cantons in the western provinces of El Oro, Esmeraldas, Guayas, Los Rios and Manabi.

Overall, an estimated 17,000 families have been directly or indirectly affected by the flooding, with some 5000 families now classed as highly vulnerable, due to the loss of most of their assets.  According to national authorities, the flooding has taken nine lives and destroyed the homes of 474 families.

Immediate needs include food, drinking water, medicines and sanitation supplies, as well as assistance for the repair and reconstruction of homes.  The main challenges are that the buildings housing evacuated families are improvised and lack basic services, such as safe drinking water and electricity.  Local authorities also lack the necessary food and other relief supplies, as well as the means to protect and care for the most vulnerable groups.  Additionally, extensive damage to crops, as well as to poultry and livestock, has been reported.  Damage to primary and secondary roads and bridges is also complicating access to affected areas.

While the national response is focusing on the 5,000 families considered highly vulnerable, the United Nations recovery efforts, to be led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), are focused on support for the 17,000 families directly and indirectly affected by the emergency.  At the request of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Ecuador, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has allocated an emergency cash grant of $40,000, as well as an additional $40,000 from emergency funds, pre-positioned with OCHA by the Government of Norway for the purchase of food and medical and sanitation supplies for the affected population.  OCHA’s Regional Support Office in Panama remains in contact with the Office of the Resident Coordinator in Ecuador, and stands ready to offer additional support as necessary.

At the request of the Government, the United Nations dispatched an inter-agency assessment team to the affected provinces of Esmeraldas, Guayas, Los Rios, and Manabi from 14 to 23 February 2006.  The team, which included the World Food Programme (WFP), UNDP, World Health Organization (WHO)/Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), conducted a preliminary assessment of the damage and the major needs of the population, and evaluated local capacities for disaster prevention, response preparedness, and rehabilitation.  Due to the worsening of the situation, WFP dispatched an additional assessment team to Manabi province on 14 March.

The current flooding is affecting areas that already suffered from flooding in 2005.  The National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology expects heavy rains to continue until April.

For further information, please call:  Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679; Kristen Knutson, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 9262; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570.

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For information media • not an official record