UN agencies mobilizing to respond to Hurricane Matthew impact in Haiti, Cuba

The World Food Programme (WFP) was deploying logistics and assessment teams in coordination with the government of Haiti and international agencies to bring in much needed relief after Hurricane Matthew struck the small island country, a UN spokesman told reporters here Friday.

The WFP teams were also in Haiti to determine the hurricane's wider impact on the food and nutrition security of Haitians, the deputy UN spokesman, Farhan Haq, said at a daily news briefing here.

"At the time the hurricane struck Haiti, the agency had already pre-positioned sufficient emergency supplies to feed up to 300,000 people for a month."

Meanwhile in Cuba, the WFP has stocks to feed more than 25,000 people for a month as part of government-led efforts, he said.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said that some 500,000 children lived in southern Haiti, the worst-hit parts of the country, said Haq. "A UNICEF team has reached Les Cayes and has reported massive flooding."

It had prepositioned emergency supplies with national authorities to reach up to 10,000 people, he said.

"Additional water and sanitation supplies, such as water purification tablets, water bladders and plastic sheeting, have been dispatched to the most affected departments in the westernmost tip of Haiti."

UNICEF says it needs at least 5 million U.S. dollars to meet children's most pressing needs, including restoring health services to help prevent and treat malnutrition among young children and provide essential vitamins and anti-diarrhoea treatment; setting up temporary learning spaces so that children can resume their learning; and supporting child protection services to protect children from violence, exploitation and abuse, he added.

Haiti, still recovering from the catastrophic 2010 earthquake which killed hundreds of thousands of people, was hit hardest by Hurricane Matthew in the Caribbean region with more than 271 people reported dead as of Thursday evening.

As the death toll rises and crucial infrastructure crumbles, hundreds of thousands have been displaced. Enditem