New York, US (PANA) - Hundreds of thousands of people are still struggling with the severe impacts of devastating floods that swept through East Africa and the Great Lakes region between April and May this year, the UN refugee agency said on Friday.
In the hardest-hit countries – Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Somalia – many refugees’ homes have been destroyed and critical infrastructure damaged, UNHCR Special Advisor for Climate Action Andrew Harper, said.
He warned that there was also high risk of flooding in Sudan and South Sudan, where heavy seasonal rains were affecting areas hosting thousands of people fleeing the year-long deadly conflict in Sudan.
A UN statement said the UNHCR official also highlighted severe vulnerabilities in Chad, which has welcomed 600,000 Sudanese refugees since the start of the war, and where heavy rains are now damaging fragile refugee shelters and infrastructure in the east.
As the situation is expected to worsen over the course of the year, UNHCR launched an appeal on Friday for nearly $40 million to assist and protect 5.6 million refugees, returnees, internally displaced people and local communities in Burundi, Ethiopia, Somalia, Rwanda, South Sudan and Sudan.
-0- PANA MA 29June2024
