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UN helps Moldova recover from 2007 drought

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Moldova, 27 February 2008/New coverage 9 June 2008—Five UN agencies have banded together to help Moldova recover from last year’s devastating drought, providing emergency aid to vulnerable families and agricultural supplies to help struggling farmers recover. In total, the $8.5 million programme has helped 135,000 people.

Moldova, the poorest country in Europe, was struck in 2007 by the worst drought in modern memory. The drought hit 80 per cent of the country’s territory and decimated farming —a particular threat given that Moldova depends on agriculture for one-fifth of its GDP.

The five UN agencies —the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), UNICEF, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the World Food Programme (WFP)—responded to a July 2007 appeal for help from the Moldovan Government.

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Within months the UN had launched an US$8.5 million assistance program, with funding provided by the European Commission, Austria, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. The program is designed not only to meet current emergency needs but also to assist farmers recover lost livelihoods. So far, it has:

Distributed oil, rice, sugar, flour, and other staples to pregnant and nursing women in the 19 worst-affected districts;
Provided 20,500 families with seeds, fertilizers, and fuels needed to plant more than 10,000 hectares of winter wheat;
Delivered 9,000 tons of livestock fodder to 20,000 farming households; and
Procured seed corn for more than 30,000 farming households to allow them to start spring planting.

Thirty-six vulnerable communities within the 19 most severely affected districts are benefiting from cash-for-work support to undertake small scale labour intensive public works.

“In all, more than 135,000 people hit by the drought have received assistance,” said Kaarina Immonen, the UN Resident Coordinator in Moldova. “Since 40 per cent of the population survives on agriculture, help from the UN and donors has been crucial.”

“The international community plays a vital role in supporting countries like Moldova so that they don’t lose years of development progress through an act of nature,” said Kemal Dervis, the UNDP Administrator. “Through quick and decisive action, we worked together not only to save lives, but also to secure their future.”