UNDP provides help for schools in Fiji affected by cyclone

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is helping Fiji to reach out to communities severely affected by tropical cyclone Yasa.

The aim is to ensure schools are ready to open in January.

Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean, 1,100 nautical miles northeast of New Zealand.

According to Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC), the UN agency is helping to provide temporary classrooms and heal trauma.

The UN Resident Coordinator for Fiji, Mr Sanaka Samarasinha, said that one of the agency’s priorities was to ensure setting up of tents in schools as classrooms to meet children’s educational needs.

“We need to make sure that the kids are able to come back to school in a few weeks when school starts.

“We really need to move more quickly to make sure that it is not just the tents or repair or infrastructure but the environment is healthy for kids to move back,” he said.

The official said that the agency remained worried about the possibility of health impacts.

“We know after such a disaster, we have problems such as dengue, leptospirosis and typhoid.

“In the north, there is a hot spot anyway even without a disaster, so this is something the World Health Organisation, which is part of the UN, is looking at to make sure we prevent,” he said.

Tropical cyclone Yasa hit Fiji on Dec. 17 and 18, killing four people and causing a huge damage especially in the northern island of Vanua Levu.