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| Floods 2004 |
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A draft "flash appeal" prepared by a visiting UN (United Nations) team for assistance to the flood victims of Bangladesh was yesterday sent to the Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) in Geneva. A United Nations source here said that the draft of the appeal would be sent to all the UN headquarters in New York and Geneva. And after approval, the appeal to the international community through all the multilateral and bilateral donors is likely to be launched tomorrow (Wednesday). "The appeal would be for basic assistance to be utilised over the next six months," the source said. He said the 'flash appeal' has been made for international assistance to meet immediate needs of some 3 million flood-stricken people in Bangladesh. However, the UN team maintained confidentiality about the amount it plans to seek from the international community in emergency assistance. The need assessors have taken into account agriculture, fisheries, livestock, households, educational institutions, embankments, and bridges and culverts that have extensively been damaged in the devastating floods, the source said quoting from the draft. The draft has been prepared and assessment made on detailed information provided by 10 ministries, including the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management. UN resident representative Jorgen Lissner, WFP Country Representative Douglas Casson Coutts and UNDAC leader Allan Matthews had a meeting with Food and Disaster Management Minister Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf on Sunday before finalising the draft. Meanwhile, a source at the food and disaster management ministry said that a meeting has been convened for next Sunday by the government to discuss the situation with ambassadors, mission chiefs and donor representatives. Food and Disaster Management Minister Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf and Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan are likely to attend the meeting with the foreign diplomats and mission chiefs. "The UN draft has been finalised for the first phase of the relief operation. The rehabilitation programme will be undertaken in the second and the third phases, and the government will seek assistance through the Economic Relations Division," the food minister said. Meanwhile, the Canadian International Development Agency has doubled its food assistance (wheat) to 90,000 metric tons this year in view of the exigencies of flood. The People's Republic of China has decided to provide $100,000 in cash and construction material (CI sheet) worth $1 million.
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