BANGLADESH: Thousands of Bangladeshis are still homeless and depedent on aid after a devastating cyclone

The Bangladesh army is supervising relief operations for cyclone survivors but food, clothing and shelter are not reaching all those in need. Thousands of families along Bangladesh's battered coastline are living in the open, as early winter cold and fog make their lives even more miserable a week after the cyclone that killed around 3,500 people. Donor representatives in Dhaka on Thursday (November 22) pledged up to 200 million U.S. dollars (USD) for immediate aid and long-term rehabilitation, disaster management ministry officials said. But the help can't come soon enough. "The water supply is a real problem. People don't have access to clean water or sanitation, to you know, have all been destroyed," said Bridget Steffen, a child protection officer from Save The Children Many of the survivors were children who can be seen living in makeshift shelters. "Save the Children is appealing for funding from everyone to give as much as they possibly can to this crisis. We need urgent funds to be able to really address the needs of the children and the whole population in this area that has experienced such devastation. And we appeal to everybody, all viewers to give as much as they possibly can to help these people," she said. The World Food Programme has said they needed 45 million USD immediately to run survival food-aid for the next three months. U.S. navy ships USS Essex and the USS Kearsarge, each carrying 20 or more helicopters, were expected to arrive at Chittagong port on Saturday (November 24) or early Sunday (November 25). The fresh aid pledges were made at a meeting of donors including the European Union, United States and Japan in Dhaka on Thursday. The United Nations said it was making available a second round of emergency funding for cyclone victims, bringing the total to nearly 15 million USD. Bangladesh army medics have been supervising relief operations, but there is still not enough to go around. "We have set up this clinic here, we are giving outdoor treatments for the patients suffering from fever and diarrhoea, simultaneously we are supplying dressing facilities for the outpatients injured during the storm on the other side," said Major Kabir as an army doctor put a new dressing on an injured local. Cyclone Sidr was the worst disaster to hit Bangladesh since 1991 when a cyclone killed 143,000 people.

ITN Source | November 23, 2007

Tags:. .suffering. .injured. .treatments. .survival. .patients