UN appeals for US$71 mln aid for Kyrgyzstan: Ban
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![UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks at a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York, the United States, June 18, 2010. Ban Ki-moon said Friday that the world body is appealing for 71 million U.S. dollars of emergency aid for conflict-stricken Kyrgyzstan. [Shen Hong/Xinhua]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20100619/000cf1a48b7f0d86640401.jpg "UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks at a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York, the United States, June 18, 2010. Ban Ki-moon said Friday that the world body is appealing for 71 million U.S. dollars of emergency aid for conflict-stricken Kyrgyzstan. [Shen Hong/Xinhua]") |
| UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks at a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York, the United States, June 18, 2010. Ban Ki-moon said Friday that the world body is appealing for 71 million U.S. dollars of emergency aid for conflict-stricken Kyrgyzstan. [Shen Hong/Xinhua] |
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday that the world body is appealing for 71 million U. S. dollars of emergency aid for conflict-stricken Kyrgyzstan.
"At this very moment, OCHA is launching a 71 million dollar flash appeal for Kyrgyzstan," Ban told reporters at UN Headquarters, referring to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
John Holmes, the head of OCHA, is meeting with donor member states on this issue, he said.
"These are shortages of food, water and electricity in the affected areas, due to looting, lack of supply and restrictions on movement," Ban said. "Hospitals and other institutions are running low on medical supplies."
An estimated 300,000 people have been displaced in Kyrgyzstan, and up to 100,000 have fled to Uzbekistan, where some 80,000 are located in camps. "Tens of thousands more are reportedly waiting to cross the border," he noted, adding that another flash appeal for Uzbekistan will be launched next week.
The United Nations system, including the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and World Food program, has mobilized to provide and coordinate assistance, and his special representative for the region, Miroslav Jenca, is now in the Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan, he said.
UNHCR has delivered more than 200 tons of immediate, urgent food assistance, he said.
The secretary-general said he has been in touch with Kyrgyzstan 's interim President Roza Otunbayeva, Uzbek President Islam Karimov and many others to explore for restoring order, preventing further loss of life, and coordinating humanitarian assistance.
During his telephone talk with Karimov two days ago, Ban appreciated his willingness to accommodate more than 80,000 refugees who have crossed the border.
"I know that there have been difficulties in accommodating all of these 80,000 people and also feeding them, providing necessary assistance," Ban said.
Karimov told the UN chief that their capacity would run out within three to four days. "That's why I have immediately spoken with UNHCR and other UN agencies for mobilizing humanitarian assistance," the secretary-general added.
The deadly riots arising from clashes between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyzs in southern Kyrgyzstan has now caused the death of at least 191 people, with 1,972 others injured. But authorities warned that the actual death toll could be 10 times more.
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