UNICEF and Partners Respond to Hurricane Dean

UNICEF and other UN and humanitarian agencies were poised to help the authorities respond to the emergency needs of children and families in Jamaica as Hurricane Dean, a dangerous Category 4 storm, bore down on the Caribbean island nation today. In a live update filed by cell phone via the Uniwiki reporting system, a new emergency communications initiative, UNICEF representative in Jamaica Bertrand Bainvel said that between 32,000 and 150,000 people in 230 vulnerable communities could be affected by the potentially catastrophic hurricane. UNICEF estimates that children make up 40 percent of the population at risk in Jamaica. As part of a joint response effort, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, and the World Health Organization have pre-positioned medical equipment, water purification tablets, food stocks, and relief staff in Haiti for transport to Jamaica or elsewhere in the region, as needed. (Relief Web, August 20)UNICEF and other UN and humanitarian agencies were poised to help the authorities respond to the emergency needs of children and families in Jamaica as Hurricane Dean, a dangerous Category 4 storm, bore down on the Caribbean island nation today. In a live update filed by cell phone via the Uniwiki reporting system, a new emergency communications initiative, UNICEF representative in Jamaica Bertrand Bainvel said that between 32,000 and 150,000 people in 230 vulnerable communities could be affected by the potentially catastrophic hurricane. UNICEF estimates that children make up 40 percent of the population at risk in Jamaica. As part of a joint response effort, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, and the World Health Organization have pre-positioned medical equipment, water purification tablets, food stocks, and relief staff in Haiti for transport to Jamaica or elsewhere in the region, as needed. (Relief Web, August 20)