United Nations Radio

The United Nations on Tuesday launched a US$33.5 million appeal, this to assist victims of the devastating Wenchuan earthquake that hit China on 12 May, killing nearly 70,000 people, injuring hundreds of thousands and leaving over five million people homeless.

The UN Appeal addresses the needs of the poor and vulnerable among the affected population, who while surviving the 8.0 magnitude earthquake, are now in the process of rebuilding their lives.

It focuses on nine sectors -shelter; health, nutrition and HIV/AIDS; water and sanitation; protection of vulnerable groups; education; livelihoods; environment; ethnic minorities and coordination and communication.

UN Resident Coordinator in China Khalid Malik says "it is the hope of the United Nations and the international community that China will quickly recover from this enormous tragedy..."

The UN has already provided over US$17 million in assistance, of which US$8 million came from its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) in humanitarian relief immediately after the earthquake.

This is Donn Bobb reporting for United Nations Radio.

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