UNICEF is on standby and ready to respond after heavy rainfall caused flash flooding in the Solomon Islands capital of Honiara over the weekend.
UNICEF Australia’s colleagues in New Zealand have said there have been casualties and more than 10,000 people have been evacuated with conditions expected to worsen.
UNICEF NZ programs manager Hamish Lindsay said UNICEF was working closely with the Solomon Islands National Disaster Management Office and other agencies to ascertain the impact of wild weather whipping the islands.
Mr Lindsay said UNICEF was on standby to provide emergency supplies including access to clean water and sanitation for disease prevention, education support for children where schools had been damaged or destroyed and post-emergency child protection.
“In the aftermath of any emergency situation the key concerns will be around access to clean, safe drinking water, food, shelter and sanitation,” Mr Lindsay said.
“UNICEF has prepositioned emergency supplies ready to mobilise in Honiara and Suva including soap, water containers, purification tablets, and water containers.
“UNICEF can also provide tents, tarpaulins and education kits for students displaced by the disaster as well as crucial psychosocial support. Some schools are already being used as evacuation centres so this will directly impact education needs.
Electricity supply in Honiara has reportedly been damaged but the mobile phone network appears to be functioning.
Source: UNICEF Australia
Ryan Fritz
Ryan Fritz started The Advocate in 2014 to provide not-for-profits and charities another media platform to tell their worthwhile hard news stories and opinion pieces effortlessly. In 2020, Ryan formed a team of volunteer journalists to help spread even more high-quality stories from the third sector. He also has over 10 years experience as a media and communications professional for not-for-profits and charities and currently works at Redkite, a childhood cancer charity.
