UN seeks $17 million to assist Honduran flood victims

United Nations agencies and their non-governmental organisation (NGO) partners today appealed for more than $17 million to provide food, shelter, health care, water and sanitation over the next six months to some 270,000 people affected by severe floods in Honduras.

The funds will also support emergency logistics and early recovery projects in the Central American nation, where heavy rains brought on by a tropical depression earlier this month caused rivers to swell and in some areas change their course.

“The resulting flooding and landslides have caused loss of life and injuries,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement. They also destroyed over 72,000 hectares of crops and inflicted severe damage on infrastructure.

The hardest-hit areas include Copán, Ocotepeque, Cortés, Atlantida and Yoro departments across the north of the country, but the central and western regions of Honduras were also affected.

“Living conditions for some of the most vulnerable communities will remain precarious for several months, and failure to intervene with assistance could lead to extreme poverty and worsening malnutrition,” OCHA cautioned.

The funds requested will support projects proposed by nine UN agencies, the International Organization for Migration, and Plan International, in coordination with the Government of Honduras.