More than 2,000 families left homeless by the massive February
earthquake and subsequent tsunami will directly benefit from the
1,507 emergency shelters being built by IOM and its partners in the
badly affected southern regions of Maule and Bio Bio.

IOM is working with the Government of Chile, local authorities
and NGOs in the construction of the shelters, with funding from the
UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), and in the
distribution of 620 home repair kits and 620 hygiene and kitchen
kits to families who lost most of their belongings. 

The shelters were designed based on a local model which
maximizes the available surface and incorporates external thermal
insulation and waterproofing.

Viviana Mellado, Acting Chief of the IOM Mission in Chile, says,
"We are advancing at a fast pace with the construction.  We
have managed to forge a good working relationship with all of the
partners involved in this project, so this will allow us to finish
on schedule and to continue working with the affected
communities."

According to the Government of Chile, some 160,000 homes (37 per
cent of them in the Bío Bío Region) were damaged
beyond repair.  Official estimates place the number of persons
in need of emergency shelter support at 100,000.

For more information, please contact:

Viviana Mellado

IOM Santiago

Tel: +56 2 2746713

E-mail: "mailto:vmellado@iom.int">vmellado@iom.int