As flooding continues in Bulgaria, UN agencies stand ready to offer further help

With 20,000 people in Bulgaria in need of food, bedding, hepatitis vaccine, antibiotics and insect repellent due to heavy flooding, United Nations agencies are continuing to provide emergency aid, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest update today.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has provided blankets, kitchen utensils, water purification tablets and oral re-hydration salts, while OCHA has made a $30,000 emergency grant to its local office for emergency response coordination. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) will also provide an emergency cash grant.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO), which already conducted a rapid health assessment last month, remains ready to assist with a similar assessment following heavy rains last weekend, which compounded flooding that has affected more than a quarter of the country’s 7.5 million people, causing 20 deaths and an estimated $630 million in damage.