Cuba – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, will assist approximately 1,600 families in the hardest hit municipalities by Hurricane Irma in the Villa Clara province, Cuba, delivering mattress and bed sheet sets.

The containers with the donated materials arrived on 23 October at Mariel port, in western Cuba and were transported to Villa Clara by train. It is expected that support will reach the beneficiaries in the coming days.

“The Cuban government provided precise information on the damages for each municipality in the country, which facilitates the task of determining both the amount and the destination of the materials. This IOM donation complements the recovery response from the national authorities to the housing needs,” said Sonia Karakadze, IOM Liaison Officer in Cuba.

Karakadze also explained that together with local authorities, she could verify the proper management of the containers, check the security seals, participate in the reception-storage-distribution process and receive accurate information about the destination of the donation. In addition, citizens collaborated in discharging and storing the humanitarian relief shipping.

Additionally, a container with 250-litre water tanks also arrived at Mariel port, which will be distributed in the province of Guantanamo, hit by Hurricane Matthew back in 2016.

Before, during and after the hurricanes, IOM has continued its close coordination with the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Investment (MINCEX) and the United Nations system to provide assistance to the most affected provinces and municipalities without duplicating efforts. 

Due to the severe damage caused by Hurricane Irma, Ambassador William Lacy Swing, IOM Director General, approved a donation of USD 100,000 of IOM funds to collaborate with the Government of Cuba in the process of emergency response and early recovery.

At the same time, IOM Cuba and IOM Regional Office for Central America, North America and the Caribbean are now working in the mobilization of new resources aiming to improve the quality of life of the population who saw their homes severely damaged or destroyed.

According to data of the National Defense Council, 158,000 of the houses have been affected to some degree; 14,657 have sustained severe damage and 16,646 partial damage; 23,560 lost their roofs, while more than 103,000 saw their façade damaged. 

For more information, please contact Sonia Karakadze at IOM Cuba, Email: skarakadze@iom.int, Tel: +53 724 1512