THE UNITED NATIONS WORLD FOOD

Published purpose

November 1, 2011 - Since the first week of October, large parts of Central America have experienced torrential rains, leading to severe flooding and landslides in several countries. In El Salvador, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) reports that approximately 1500 mm of rain fell over the country between 10 and 18 October 2011, the highest level in 50 years. According to the UN, the number of affected people in El Salvador stands at approximately one million. Government agencies report that flooding has impacted 181 of the country’s 262 municipalities, has lead to 35 deaths, and displaced approximately 60,000 into 638 evacuation shelters across the country. Further, 2,000 square kilometres of land have been flooded, equivalent to 10% of the entire national territory, while there has been significant damage reported to the country's transportation, health, water, and sanitation infrastructure. With CIDA support, the World Food Programme (WFP) aims to provide food assistance to meet the immediate needs of food insecure populations in 11 departments in El Salvador affected by the flooding and rains. The project also aims to protect livelihoods and avoid a deterioration of the nutritional status of affected families. Specific activities include: the distribution of fortified biscuits to isolated and flooded communities; the distribution of emergency food rations to populations in temporary shelters that have not received assistance from national authorities; and, the provision of supplementary feeding rations to children less than five years of age and pregnant and lactating mothers in shelters.