CERF allocates $4.4 million for flood-affected people in Benin

A woman walk through houses devastated by floods [Photo: UNICEF]

27 October 2010: In response to floods that destroyed the country, CERF allocates $4.4 million to aid 390,000 flood-affected people in Benin.

Some $1.8 million has been allocated to the World Food Programme (WFP) for emergency food assistance for the affected people. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has received $1.5 million for acquisition of tents for 15,000 people left without shelter due to the flood. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will use $754,000 for nutritional support for children and water and sanitation (WASH) programmes for affected people. Finally, $328,000 has gone to the World Health Organization (WHO) to fight against potential epidemics in 12 regions of the country affected by the floods.

Benin is currently facing a heavy disaster arising from successive and unexpected climatic shocks.  Since the end of September 2010, unseasonably heavy rains fell across the entire country, causing substantial flooding that left hundreds of thousands of people homeless and caused massive destruction of community and individual assets.

Though flooding occurs annually in Benin during the two seasonal rainy seasons, the gravity of this year’s flooding is unparalleled by anything the country has experienced during the last century. As a result, the numbers of affected populations and impact of destruction are much higher, posing a serious threat to basic human health and safety conditions.

The floods have worsened an already precarious nutritional situation in the most vulnerable regions of the country. In addition, food insecurity is further exacerbated by a heavy dependence on agriculture, the key economic sector in Benin contributing to 33.2% of GDP (2009). The flood damages caused to farmlands and crops threaten the upcoming harvest, which could have long-term repercussions for the country.

Overall, the reports issued in October indicate that 42 out of Benin’s 77 communes have been affected thus far. The flooding has affected at least 359,000 people and resulted in 43 fatalities. 100,000 people are left without shelter, 278 schools are flooded and 12,000 tons of food items and 133,000 hectares of crops have been destroyed.
   
[last updated: 10 November 2010]