Benin floods leave 64 thousand children in need of aid

46 million US dollars in aid is urgently needed to help the victims of devastating floods in the West African Nation of Benin, according to the United Nations. For the past five weeks, Benin has been severely affected by floods due to an unusually heavy rainy season. Twice the amount of rain normally expected has lashed the country, displacing nearly 200,000 people and affecting another 600,000.

The flooding has affected nearly 2 million people across Central and West Africa. Catholic Aid agencies have joined other NGOs, UN agencies and government representatives to form the National Crisis management Team to better respond to the crisis.

Nardos Bekele-Thomas is the UN Country Representative and Coordinator of UN operations in Benin. She told Emer McCarthy that “around 64 500 children under five are amongst those affected”. She adds that “water borne diseases such as cholera and malaria are not the biggest threat to the population, with 46 cases of cholera deaths already reported”. Listen: