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UNICEF launches appeal for Hurricane Mitch victims

This amount is part of a joint United Nations Inter-Agency Transitional appeal for $153 million for the tens of thousands of people affected by the hurricane in Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Belize.

"We have a huge task ahead of us," said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy, who recently returned from a visit to Honduras and Nicaragua, the two worst-affected countries. "Continuing humanitarian aid is needed to stave off potential child-killing diseases such as cholera and measles. Then there is the massive long-term task of rebuilding damaged and destroyed infrastructures."

In Honduras, UNICEF has already distributed thousands of gallons of clean water, and is helping to purify existing water sources. It has supported the distribution of food, medicines, oral rehydration salts, and other essential items for thousands of families living in shelters. UNICEF has also developed education materials to fight the spread of disease.

In Nicaragua, UNICEF focus has been to provide essential medicines, clean contaminated wells and restore other sources of clean water, and to improve hygiene in shelters. UNICEF has also supported activities designed to help communities, especially children, deal with the psychological trauma resulting from the disaster.

Although less seriously hit than its neighbours, El Salvador and Guatemala have also needed similar support on a lesser scale. In El Salvador, UNICEF has mobilised young adults to help in the relief effort. These "Municipal Defenders of Children" are a part of a growing network whose goal is to involve the community, especially young people, in the relief operation.

"A successful appeal will bring hope to millions of children and their families whose lives were totally uprooted by Hurricane Mitch." Ms. Bellamy said. "It will both save lives and help rebuild nations that have been literally shattered by this unprecedented disaster."

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