United Nations calls for 70.6 million dollars for Malawi disaster victims

United Nations and humanitarian partners in Malawi are calling for 70.6 million Dollars to assist 1.1 million people affected by Cyclone Freddy.

United Nations Resident Coordinator in Malawi, Rebecca Adda-Dontoh says Freddy’s passage has caused death, destruction, displacement and devastation on a horrifying scale at a time when Malawians were already facing high levels of food insecurity and a cholera outbreak.

Adda-Dontoh adds that humanitarian partners continue to support government’s relief efforts but the needs are truly enormous, with some Traditional Authorities in Nsanje and Phalombe districts still unreachable by road.

According to Dontoh the revised Malawi Flash Appeal outlines the contribution of humanitarian partners to government-led responses to floods and cholera in Malawi.

The Flash Appeal aims to provide an integrated response—including shelter, nutrition, health, water, sanitation and hygiene, and protection—for those hardest-hit by the crisis, while ensuring communities are at the centre of the response.

The Flash Appeal requirements for the Freddy response come on top of 45.3 million dollars called for earlier this year by humanitarian partners for cholera response, bringing the total revised Flash Appeal to 115.9 million dollars.

The UN resident coordinator says Malawi continues to face its deadliest cholera outbreak in recent history and health concerns are rising following the passage of Cyclone Freddy.

She says had visited displaced people in Blantyre and was inspired by their incredible resilience as well as determination to move forward, despite the tragedy they have endured.

The UN Resident Coordinator says Malawians have mobilized themselves to support one another in this time of tremendous need therefore international community must step-up its solidarity.

According to government Cyclone Freddy left a trail of devastation across 15 districts in southern Malawi where at least 676 people died and this figure is expected to rise in the days ahead, while 659,278 people were displaced in 747 camps