UN agency to fund post- flood intervention in Anambra

By Vincent Ujumadu

THE United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund, CERF, is to finance the post- flood emergency intervention being implemented by the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, in Anambra State.

The world body has already begun the assessment of the level of destruction done to public utilities and other facilities in the affected seven local government areas of the state.

The  local government areas affected in Anambra are Ayamelum, Anambra East, Anambra West, Awka North, Ogbaru, Ihiala and Ekwusigo.

Residents of the affected areas, who relocated to safer places in the wake of the flood, have returned home, only to be faced with the challenges of resuming their normal life, as schools, markets, churches, health facilities and sources of water supply were destroyed.

The UNICEF Enugu Field Office WASH Specialist, Mr. Timi  Kiabuku said at Achala in Awka North local government area during the stakeholders meeting with the affected communities said the ongoing UNICEF response to the Anambra flood emergency is determine the needs of the affected communities.

According to him, with funding from CERF, there is hope that some of the damaged facilities due to the flood would be revamped.

Kiabuku said: “UNICEF’s response will focus on three sectors  namely child protection, health and WASH.

“For  child protection, the response will focus on protection concerns in three key areas which include the provision of psychosocial support for flood-affected children, the prevention of family separation and the reunification of separated and unaccompanied children, as well as the strengthening of community-based protection systems related to GBV.

“For  health, the response will focus on emergency primary health care services to address waterborne and vaccine-preventable childhood diseases by ensuring continued access to health services via mobile brigades, prepositioning essential medicines and supplies, and improving health-seeking behaviours through community engagement.

“Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, WASH, response, on the other hand, will focus on the distribution of critical supplies, the provision of essential services, including water system rehabilitation, rehabilitation and desludging of sanitation facilities in schools and Primary Health Care, PHC facilities and conducting hygiene promotion campaigns”.

He said that in Awka North where four communities namely Awba Ofemili, Ugbenu, Ugbene and Achala were affected, UNICEF officials would visit them to assess the situation.

Already, UNICEF has brought a number of items that would be distributed to the communities to the victims in the seven local government areas.

The chairman of Awka North local government, commended the international agencies for their intervention, adding that it would require a lot of funds to return life to normalcy in the affected communities.

He observed that with every facility in the communities destroyed, his local government has been assisting as much as it could, noting, however, that the people who are mainly farmers require funds to start the new farming season.

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