He referred to as for solidarity with the individuals of the 2 international locations and spoke of the tragedy of individuals trying desperately for his or her family members for days on finish.
In Libya, “some have misplaced 50 or extra relations”, he mentioned.
Rapid deployment
Requested whether or not the UN was “prepared” when catastrophe struck, Mr. Griffiths answered: “unequivocally, sure.”
He informed reporters that inside 24 hours of the earthquake which shook Morocco’s Atlas Mountain vary final Friday, the UN deployed a catastrophe evaluation and coordination (UNDAC) group of 15 individuals out of Geneva and key workers from the area.
Want for coordination
That group was now being redeployed to Libya with the consent of the Moroccan authorities to assist important coordination of the humanitarian response to the lethal floods.
“In case you don’t have coordination, there’s chaos. And that loses lives,” Mr. Griffiths insisted.
Morocco: Second section
The UN Emergency Aid Coordinator mentioned that in Morocco, the earthquake had claimed practically 3,000 lives. Though the early figures had been “horrible sufficient”, they’re more likely to be overtaken by occasions as rescuers work by way of the rubble.
He highlighted the nation’s “distinguished historical past” of build up response capacities in recent times.
The UN humanitarian chief pressured that the response within the nation was shifting from the preliminary section, when the main focus is on discovering survivors and offering for the internment of these killed, to section two, the place supporting the survivors with assist – shelter, meals, medication – turns into the principle precedence.
Libya: 900,000 individuals affected
In Libya, the place the UN already had a humanitarian presence on the bottom, a “utterly totally different disaster” unfolded, Mr. Griffiths mentioned, that was “appalling, surprising, unimaginable in its penalties”.
There was hypothesis that some 20,000 individuals might have misplaced their lives within the large flooding triggered by Storm Daniel over the weekend. Entry to the town of Derna, the epicentre of the tragedy, remained troublesome.
The UN reduction chief mentioned that 900,000 individuals within the nation had been affected, “on high of a scenario the place 300,000 individuals in Libya already wanted humanitarian assist”.
Serving to humanitarians do their job
Mr. Griffiths described the challenges on the bottom within the response to the catastrophe in Libya.
These included coordinating with the internationally acknowledged Authorities and the de facto authorities within the east, discovering the “full extent” of the catastrophe, as floods and torrents have destroyed buildings and sludge was nonetheless concealing the “stage of loss of life and want”, in addition to “getting the appropriate assist to the appropriate individuals on the proper time”.
“That’s why coordination is so essential,” he mentioned. “It’s not a bureaucratic concern, it’s a prioritization concern. Serving to key humanitarian businesses to do the job they achieve this effectively.”
Pressing attraction
On Thursday, the UN launched a flash attraction for Libya simply over $71 million focusing on 250,000 individuals for the following three months.
The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator within the nation, Georgette Gagnon, was main the organisation’s response efforts and a coordination hub has been established in Benghazi.
Mr. Griffiths detailed probably the most pressing wants in Libya: gear to search out individuals within the sludge and the broken buildings, shelter, meals, clear water and sanitation, in addition to key major medical care, as the specter of cholera looms giant.
He mentioned the chance of opening a maritime route to herald assist to Derna, as requested by the town’s mayor, made “full sense”, and pressured the urgency of concurrently supporting individuals fleeing to the south, away from the catastrophe space.
The UN reduction chief additionally underscored the necessity for psychosocial care, a “big concern” given the extent of the trauma brought on by the catastrophe.
“Huge reminder” of local weather challenges
Mr. Griffiths pressured that in Libya, “local weather and capability have collided to trigger this horrible tragedy”.
He referred to as the disasters in each international locations a “deeply surprising” and “large” reminder of local weather and its presence.
“We face a extremely troublesome 12 months forward and authorities capacities will probably be stretched to the restrict in each these international locations,” he mentioned.
