UN, El Salvador appeal for financial assistance to flood victims

The United Nations and the government of El Salvador made an appeal to international community on Tuesday for about 16 million U.S. dollars to assist 300,000 people stricken by severe floods in this Central American country, a UN spokesperson said here. Martin Nesirky, the UN spokesman, told a daily news briefing here that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) issued an emergent appeal for El Salvador, asking for 15.7 million dollars for the period between October this year and April 2012 to cover the needs of people in flood-affected regions in the east and center of El Salvador. "Although the Salvadoran government is responding quickly and effectively to the crisis, there are still significant humanitarian gaps in the response that this appeal seeks to fill," said the emergent appeal named El Salvador Flash Appeal 2011. The Flash Appeal aims to mobilize from the international community additional and complementary support for humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable groups of the affected population, including children, women, families living in shelters who have suffered livelihood devastation and isolated communities which heretofore have received very little assistance. "Key priorities include emergency shelter, the delivery of water, sanitation and hygiene services, meeting immediate food needs and access to healthcare," said Nesirky, citing UNOCHA. Some 56,000 people in El Salvador have been displaced and evacuated to shelters, 35 people have been reported dead, and about 69 percent of the country has been affected, said UNOCHA. The torrential rains have so far impacted five Central American countries including El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, as well as Mexico, affecting nearly 570,000 people and left more than 80 dead, Nesirky said.