UN announces $5m relief fund for Bangladesh flood victims

United Nations (UN) will give $5 million as flash flood relief for Bangladesh flood victims.

After a coordinated appeal by the UN country team in Bangladesh, Martin Griffiths, under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, announced the allocation on Thursday.

The funding will come from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which aims to kick-start relief efforts in a coordinated and prioritized manner when a new crisis emerges.

Over 7.2 million people have been affected by recent floods in the country and over half of those affected need humanitarian assistance.

UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Gwyn Lewis said, “The scale of the floods in the region are more dramatic than any that have been experienced in recent memory. Many families have literally lost everything they own. Many are still living in shelters: the floods waters are receding very slowly and their homes are completely destroyed. There is an urgent need to scale up our support to the Government’s emergency response.”

This brings the current funding of the Humanitarian Response Plan to $12 million, which is approximatively 20% of the necessary $58.4 million that were identified.