UNICEF Received $9.3Mln In Emergency Funds For Haiti Out Of $73Mln Sought - Official

UNICEF Received $9.3Mln in Emergency Funds for Haiti Out of $73Mln Sought - Official

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has only received $9.3 million out of $73.3 million in emergency funds for Haiti that is part of a larger $122.2 million request to meet the humanitarian needs of Haitians, UNICEF Chief of Communications in Haiti Ndiaga Seck told Sputnik

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th October, 2021) The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has only received $9.3 million out of $73.3 million in emergency funds for Haiti that is part of a larger $122.2 million request to meet the humanitarian needs of Haitians, UNICEF Chief of Communications in Haiti Ndiaga Seck told Sputnik.

"Actually, we need funding to respond. After the earthquake, for instance, we launched it in a particular HAC, which was a humanitarian action for children. We definitely wanted an additional $73.3 million out of the $122 million that we asked before," Seck said. "So far, of the $73.3 million, we've received $ 9.3 million."

Seck said the amount of money UNICEF received is very low compared to all the different requests made to reconstruct, repair or build schools or repair or build hospitals.

UNICEF is the only United Nations agency that is providing potable and drinking water to the population in Haiti, he noted.

"We are working with the government. We're working with DINEPA, which is the national agency for portable water. In the area of the earthquake alone, we identified 1800 defects in the system to be repaired. So all of those are huge demand that UNICEF is addressing right now," Seck said.

The UNICEF official also said the funding is needed quickly to help assist Haitians recover from the recent devastating earthquake in August but also help children against malnutrition as well as provide healthcare aid.

"We also need funding for many children have problems nowadays, after the earthquake, they need to be reunified with their families. They need psychosocial support." he said.

Seck pointed out that UNICEF has 110 people working in Haiti and noted that the personnel do not face challenges in carrying out their jobs other than the issue of insecurity, which is the main problem for UNICEF staff as well as for other agencies and for the population of Haiti.

"Security is one of the difficulties that we have. But once it's solved, the UNICEF people are on the ground and working around the clock day and night to get these people what they need," he said.

More than 2,000 people died in the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti in August and also caused significant material damage. The natural disaster added to the long-term burden of poverty, gang violence and political crises following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July.