The appeal aims to help more than 166,000 people in the country who have been left affected by the cyclone and are in need of life-saving assistance.

 

Eleven days ago a tropical cyclone hit Vanuatu, Tuvalu and a number of other Pacific islands with winds of 250kmph and gusts of 320kmph that caused widespread damage to agriculture, infrastructure and affected services such as electricity and communications.

 

Osnat Lubrani, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for the archipelagic nation, said people affected by Tropical Cyclone Pam face immediate risks to their health and wellbeing, as well as threats to their livelihoods and future resilience to disasters.

 

‘Today we stand with the government of Vanuatu and urgently seek the support of the international community at a time of immense need,’ Lubrani said.

 

‘Although the people of Vanuatu have shown immense resilience and strength at this difficult time, more urgent assistance is required to ensure that Vanuatu can focus on recovering from this disaster – and that potentially life-threatening impacts from disease, food insecurity and a lack of shelter can be avoided.’

 

Around 75,000 people are in need of shelter and 110,000 people do not have access to drinking water.  

 

The fund is expected to cover the needs of affected people until the end of June 2015.

 

The UN Children’s Fund (Unicef) has appealed for $4.8m to meet the immediate needs of around 82,000 children in the Pacific.

 

Unicef spokesman Christophe Boulierac said around 82,000 children, or two-thirds of Vanuatu's youth, were in need of humanitarian assistance.

 

Boulierac added that Unicef was already on the ground providing treatment for diarrhoea, care of newborns and nutrient supplements while also protecting children from violence, exploitation, and abuse.