Irish aid planes to help Asian flood victims

Two planes carrying more than €100,000 of aid have been ordered to help relief efforts in flood-hit areas of Sudan and Pakistan, it was revealed today.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern called for the airlifts after heavier-than- normal rains caused widespread disruption in the two countries.

The relief packages are being taken from Irish Aid stocks at the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) in Brindisi, Italy and are being sent to charity GOAL.

“By pre-positioning such essential relief items, Irish Aid is now in a position to significantly speed up its response to humanitarian emergencies,” Mr Ahern said.

“These supplies meet many of the immediate shelter, housing, water and sanitation needs of those affected by humanitarian emergencies.

“I am particularly pleased that the Irish NGO Goal has been one of the first to access the humanitarian relief supplies pre-positioned by the Government under its rapid response initiative.”

The first airlift, which took off last weekend, included 3,000 tarpaulins for use as temporary shelters and 2,200 mosquito nets for families made homeless by floods in Kassala, Sudan.

Abnormally heavy and early rainfall led to extensive flooding there leaving an estimated 335,000 people homeless and scores dead.

The second airlift, which leaves for Pakistan on Saturday, will be carried out in conjunction with Norway, the World Health Organisation and the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

It includes 10 collapsible 10,000-litre water tanks, over 7,000 tarpaulins for temporary shelter, 1,800 mosquito nets and 7,650 blankets.

The aid comes after 500,000 euro of government money was given to charities to deal with the crises in Pakistan and Sudan and a further 500,000 euro was passed on to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).