The World Food Program (WFP) informed EFE which estimates that currently some 700,000 Cubans, more than 7% of the population, need their help as a result of the powerful Hurricane Melissa passing through the east of the island.
The preliminary calculations of this agency United Nations they count on Half of that group of people needs material support for three months and the rest need it for half a year.
A first part of the aid – 617 tons of rice, grains and oil – is already on the ground thanks to the United Nations Anticipatory Action for emergencies in Cubawhich anticipated, among its assumptions, the passage of a hurricane, and prepared for the arrival of Melissa.
Next, the reserves that the WFP already had stored in different parts of Cuba will be transferred to the four most affected provinces (Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo and Holguín), and in particular, to the twenty municipalities that are estimated to have been most affected.
But in order to meet its projections for the next six months, the agency indicated that It requires up to 30 million dollars, of which 25 million dollars are for basic foodstuffs.
WFP in Cuba: “We are already assisting the victims”
The director of the WFP in Cuba, Etienne Labande, highlighted the collaboration with local authorities and specifically with the Civil Defense, the highest organization for disaster management in Cuba.
“We are already caring for the victims thanks to a very strong collaboration with the Civil Defense and all the previous work that we have been doing together. All the Anticipatory Action is bearing fruit now,” he explained to EFE.
Other United Nations agencies focused on minors (Unicef), health (PAHO) and development (UNDP) also participate in the Anticipatory Action Plan for Cuba.
This Wednesday, 2.6 tons of medical supplies arrived in Cuba.
This Thursday, the Cuban Foreign Ministry thanked the UN and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) on social media for their “immediate response” to the hurricane.
