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UN agencies call for help as food stocks run low in storm-ravaged Haitian city

UN agencies call for help as food stocks run low in storm-ravaged Haitian city

UN Peacekeepers help with food, medical distribution
With the stocks of basic commodities such as rice close to running out, United Nations humanitarian agencies are asking UN peacekeepers and the Haitian Government to help open the port in Gonaïves, the city hit hardest by deadly Tropical Storm Jeanne last month.

Agencies have been able to distribute food to more than 54,000 families around Gonaïves in the past two weeks, but their plans for further distribution are being hampered by difficulties in bringing food in through the port, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today in a statement in New York.

At least 1,500 people were killed and more than 900 others are listed as missing in the wake of the floods and mudslides that followed the tropical storm as it ravaged the north of Haiti three weeks ago. Most of the casualties are in Gonaïves.

OCHA said it has contacted officials from the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and with the interim Government to help open the port, so that food can then be delivered to several distribution points established around the city.

The distribution of clean water is proceeding more smoothly, OCHA reported, adding that the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is also repairing water and sanitation centres attached to several schools in Gonaïves.

The statement added that the residents of Gonaïves still face serious problems as the slowly rebuild their lives again. Many streets and homes are buried in mud and many temporary shelters for the homeless do not have basic supplies or sanitation.

In the long term, the mud and debris left by Tropical Storm Jeanne could worsen the already massive erosion that leaves Haiti so much more vulnerable to natural disasters than its neighbours in the Caribbean region. The marine ecosystem may have also been damaged, threatening the livelihoods of people in the fishing industry.