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UN agencies and partners work to help survivors of Indonesia earthquake

UN agencies and partners work to help survivors of Indonesia earthquake

Five days after an earthquake rocked Indonesia’s Yogyakarta region, United Nations agencies and their partners from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) continue to support the Government’s efforts to help tens of thousands of survivors who are in dire need of food, medicines and shelter.

Measuring 6.2 on the Richer scale, the earthquake caused more than 5,000 deaths and damaged or destroyed over 100,000 homes, over 200 schools, and about 600 government buildings and places of worships.

More than 22,000 patients have been treated in 29 local and field hospitals and mobile clinics, officials from the UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement today. However, they added that local health facilities continue to be overwhelmed because many people have no homes left to return to.

The Ministry of Health has dispatched 10 mobile clinics, medical teams, and three trucks of medicine, they said, adding that the World Health Organization (WHO), which is providing new emergency health kits, will cover the operational costs for these clinics.

Meanwhile, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) plans to dispatch supplies to meet the emergency needs of pregnant women and other reproductive health services.

For its part, the UN Children Fund (UNICEF) has established a water and sanitation office at the local State-Owned Water Company and is providing 22 trucks to supply 320,000 litres of clean water per day. That capacity will be increased to 45 trucks supplying 720,000 litres in coming days. UNICEF has also released some 12,000 hygiene kits for 60,000 people. It also intends to undertake a measles and vitamin A vaccination programme.

OCHA officials said the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has distributed 310 tents in Klaten and 800 in Bantul areas. Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has provided 2,000 heating stoves and 2,000 plastic mats to an NGO partner in Bantual District. Similarly, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has transported 74 tonnes of relief supplies to the affected areas.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has distributed 30 metric tomes of fortified biscuits and has dispatched 10 mobile warehouses to Yogyakarta.