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China

UNICEF External Situation Report China Earthquake - 21 May 2008

Attachments

Major Developments

General

The death toll from the earthquake rose to 40,075 nationwide with 247,645 injured and 32,361 people missing. (Updated as of 6 pm 2008-05-20)

More than 5 million people are homeless in Sichuan province. Tents and other temporary simple shelters are most needed. The government issued an urgent appeal for tents.

Ministry of Education (MOE) reported that 6,898 school buildings collapsed and 4,800,000 students have been affected in Sichuan by 20 May.

In total, 14.5 million people live in the worst-hit areas have been heavily affected by the earthquake, including 3.4 million children under 18, 740,000 children under 5, and 3.8 million women aged 15-49.

In the worst-hit areas, the local government has launched an emergency evacuation of 9,000 residents near mountains for fear of severe landslides possibly caused by aftershocks or heavy rainfall. The area has been cordoned off and is under continuous monitoring.

Most of the lakes and damaged dams in Sichuan are currently reported as safe but at risk due to heavy rain and aftershocks. Evacuation plans have been developed. Military troops and construction teams have been deployed to divert the flow of water from the affected lakes and dams. (see map)

The search for lost family members and effort to identify orphans continues. The local Civil Affairs Departments are preparing orphan adoption campaigns to start when the identification process is completed.

Ministry of Finance (MOF) reported government emergency spending in the total amount of RMB11.727 billion (RMB8.679 billion from the Central Government, and RMB3.048 billion from sub-national governments).

The State Council decided that temporary relief in the form of subsidies and grain needs to be provided to those who lost their house, productive assets and income as a result of the quake. Accordingly, Ministry of Civil Affairs (MOCA), MOF and the State Grain Administration jointly issued a Circular, requiring the provincial Civil Affairs Bureaus, Finance Bureaus and Grain Bureaus of Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Chongqing, Yunnan to provide such relief. The Central Government is to allocate earmarked funds for this purpose and have relief grain transported to the relevant provincial bureaus from state grain reserves.

UNICEF

A Handover Ceremony was held on 21 May by the United Nations in China and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to deliver the US$7million emergency relief grants from the UN Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF). Mr. Wang Yi, First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Mr. Mr. Khalid Malik, UN Resident Coordinator to lead the event.