UNICEF working with partners to deliver essential water and sanitation supplies to cyclone affected families on Ambrym island!

UNICEF and Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) volunteers loading latrine squat plates to be delivered to communities on Ambrym island who lost their homes in Category 5 Cyclone Pam last month.
© UNICEF PACIFIC/2015/Hing

Port Vila, Vanuatu - UNICEF has partnered with a local NGO in cyclone-affected Vanuatu to deliver vital water and sanitation supplies to 555 households on Ambrym island. With UNICEF’s support, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is delving water, sanitation and hygiene kits (containing water containers, buckers, soap and water purification tablets), water tanks and latrine squat plates to communities on Ambrym island who lost their homes in Category 5 Cyclone Pam last month.

Although South-East Ambrym (where the supplies will be distributed) wasn’t hit as badly as South Ambrym, community access to water has been badly affected.

“These water, sanitation and hygiene kits will be used to help with the hygienic storage of water and the squat plates will help ensure safe access to pit latrines, while the water tanks will store filtered water,” ADRA Country Director, Mark le Roux explains.

© UNICEF PACIFIC/2015/Hing

ADRA is shipping the water, sanitation and hygiene kits to Ambrym for distribution through localm trunks via ADRA’s existing network. It is also working with UNICEF to distribute water, sanitation and hygiene kits and supply clean water to communities in Efate and Tanna.

UNICEF’s coordination and logistical support to the WASH cluster in Vanuatu has to date contributed to 23 percent of the affected population (approximately 25,000 people) having access to hygiene kits. An additional 40,000 people are currently being targeted with hygiene kits distribution while a further 3,500 UNICEF water, sanitation and hygiene kits will soon be distributed as part of additional supplies recently arrived from Copenhagen.