200 “most vulnerable” families affected by floods to get cash and vouchers with latest EU funding

The European Union is committing some E150,000 in “humanitarian funding” to support people affected by the recent flooding in Guyana that will see immediate relief including cash vouchers for the “most vulnerable” families.  All ten administrative regions have been affected by unprecedented flooding. with the Civil Defence Commission estimating that  more than 36,000 households across 300 communities have been severely affected.

“With EU funding, the Guyana Red Cross will identify the 200 most vulnerable families and deliver to them Cash and Vouchers so that they can purchase what they most urgently need to help them through the difficult period of dislocation,” EU said on Friday morning through a statement released by the local office.

The EU funding will contribute to enable the Guyana Red Cross to provide families with kitchen sets, solar lamps, durable mosquito nets to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne diseases such as Dengue, Chikungunya or Zika. Families will also receive hygiene kits, jerrycans, household cleaning kits and water treatment tablets to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases which are likely to increase due to the persistence of stagnating water, the statement explained.

“The intervention will last for three months and aims at providing immediate support to 500 vulnerable families currently living in temporary shelters in the most severely affected regions of Upper Takutu, Upper Essequibo, Upper Demerara and Berbice,” .

The current EU humanitarian funding will be channeled towards the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in support of their Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) and will be implemented by the Guyana Red Cross society which is present in all affected districts. the statement explained.

 “This humanitarian grant of EURO 150,000 is already complemented by the intervention of the French Red Cross, which was coordinated by the Embassy of France in Suriname and channeled via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism,’ Ambassador Ponz Cantó is quoted as saying/ 

The funds will also be used to equip shelters with first aid kits and people will receive 5,000 N95 masks and 1,000 flacons of hand sanitizer to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.