Guyanese UN official seeking US$8.5B to to help region
A Guyanese-born United Nations official is seeking US$8.5B to fund emergency response programmes for humanitarian aid to millions of people in the Caribbean and around the world in 2013.
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos says many persons are displaced from their homes, hungry, unprotected and vulnerable, living with the consequences of natural disasters and violent conflict.
The funding call is made under the annual Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) that, since its launch by the UN General Assembly in 1991, has become a central tool used by the world body to plan, coordinate, fund, implement and monitor activities.
Amos said the appeal is directed at governments, private individuals and businesses, among others, as she called on them to “contribute to saving lives in 2013.”
She highlighted that 520 un agencies, non-governmental and other aid organizations have come together to launch the call with the aim to “deliver aid in an effective and coordinated way.”
Amos said that last year’s CAP appeal for US$7.7B to help 51 million people in distress remained 40% underfunded.






