UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / - 10 December 2007 --  The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is providing $500,000 to Save the Children to expand its emergency response and recovery efforts in Bangladesh where tens of thousands of cyclone survivors remain in critical need of assistance, the humanitarian agency announced today.

Since November 15, when a devastating cyclone hit the southern coast of Bangladesh killing more than 3,000 and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless, Save the Children has reached more than 130,000 families with the basic necessities of survival, including food and clean water, but tens of thousands more families still are in need of critical assistance.

"This new grant will help us keep thousands of additional children and their families alive and healthy who otherwise might not get our assistance," said Charles MacCormack, president and CEO of Save the Children. "Cyclone Sidr is an enormous catastrophe for an estimated 2.5 million people directly affected by the storm."

"Besides providing families immediate life-saving support, the grant will also help us assist families in the months ahead, especially those who lost much of their rice crop this year as a result of the storm," MacCormack said.  "We are anticipating severe food shortages in many of the villages where crops have been destroyed."

"People in Bangladesh urgently need emergency relief supplies, food, and access to clean drinking water," said Charles Lyons, director of special initiatives for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Global Development Program. "We are confident that with its strong on-the-ground presence and long history of development work in Bangladesh , Save the Children will respond to this crisis swiftly and efficiently."

Save the Children was one of the few humanitarian agencies with emergency responders positioned in the path of the storm.  Prior to the storm, the agency supported a large-scale evacuation, deployed staff and equipment, including rescue boats, and arranged for food and water purification supplies to be sent to the at-risk areas in anticipation of a needed response.

These preparations saved tens of thousands of lives. In 1991, a cyclone of a similar strength killed 140,000 people.  The agency is now distributing thousands of essential items for survival including food, plastic sheeting, water containers, and basic treatment for diarrhea as well as thousands of blankets and a growing number of water purification plants.

Save the Children has been working in Bangladesh since 1972 and in recent years has worked closely with local and national authorities to prepare coastal communities for a severe cyclone. The agency conducted an emergency cyclone drill for some 10,000 residents living in the area where the cyclone struck as part of its own preparations.  

Save the Children also provided relief and assisted with recovery efforts after floods left nearly two-thirds of Bangladesh under water in June and July.

Save the Children is the leading independent organization that creates lasting change for children in need in the United States and around the world. Save the Children USA is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance, a global network of 28 independent Save the Children organizations working to ensure the well-being and protection of children in more than 120 countries.

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States , it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle , the foundation is led by CEO Patty Stonesifer and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

Read more about Save the Children's response to the cyclone in Bangladesh

Labels: United Nations, U.N., Save The Children, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bangladesh cyclone 

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