Malawi, UN say funds inadequate to support flood victims

LILONGWE, march 30 (Xinhua) -- The Malawian government and the UN Humanitarian Country Team released a joint appeal on Friday, calling for adequate aid to support 869,000 People affected by floods following Cyclone Idai, which has killed 60 People since early march.

Among the affected, about 87,000 People are completely displaced and in need of immediate assistance, including 10,000 children and 45,000 women who stayed in over 170 displacement sites, according to the three-month Response Plan Appeal.

Out of a total of 45.2 million U.S. dollars that the country requires to contain the situation, only 14.6 million dollars has been received, leaving a gap of more than 30 million dollars, the appeal said.

"This is a three-month Response Plan Appeal (march-May) and it is targeting 162,240 households, including the 87,000 displaced People who are camped in the various sites," the appeal read.

The assessments conducted by inter-agencies established needs in the areas of agriculture, food security, shelter and camp management, health, nutrition, education and water, hygiene and sanitation, among others.

Food security and agriculture are among the needs that have been hit most by the funding shortage, according to the appeal.

The floods have also disrupted education as 80 percent of the camps accommodating the displaced People are schools.

"There is need to move the camps to decongest the areas and to enable classes to resume," reads the appeal.

The UN team and the Malawian government have expressed fear that failure to adequately respond to the current humanitarian needs in Malawi "is likely to have far-reaching consequences."

Cyclone Idai hit southern Africa early this month. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday described the cyclone as one of the worst storms that hit Africa. The storm also hit Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

As of Tuesday, the death toll in the three countries exceeded 700, with hundreds still missing, according to various official sources. On Tuesday, Guterres urged countries to donate to a 281.7-million-dollar flash appeal.