IOM Guatemala and its partners have distributed 900 emergency kits
to families affected by Tropical Storm Agatha.

With funding from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF),
IOM and its UN partners are providing emergency assistance
including hygiene kits, water containers, kitchen sets, mattresses,
pillows, sheets, and clothing for 2,400 families living in
temporary centres, as well as rehabilitating ten public buildings
that are used as shelters during emergencies.

IOM and its partners, including the NGOs CARE, Catholic Relief
Services (CRS), COOPI, ESFRA, and SHARE, and local governments and
communities, are focusing their assistance on six departments
located in the central plateau and in the south (Guatemala City,
Escuintla, Solola, Quiche, Chimaltenango, and Izabal).

"The vast majority of the affected families being assisted by
IOM are indigenous persons, therefore it is important to respect
the ethnic and cultural needs of this population," explains Delbert
Field, IOM Chief of Mission in Guatemala.

"These families lost most, if not all, of their meagre
belongings.  Many women were left with just the clothes they
were wearing, so our emergency assistance includes appropriate
dresses for these women," adds Delbert.

This week, in San Lucas de Tolimán, IOM and CRS
distributed 150 huipiles, the dress worn by indigenous women in
Guatemala, to women directly impacted by the storm.  The
dresses were made by local weavers thereby contributing to the
economic recovery of the affected areas.

IOM, UNFPA and UNICEF are also providing psychosocial and
medical support, as well as games, books, and painting supplies to
children and adolescents living in shelters.

As part of the United Nations Flash Appeal for USD 14.3 million,
IOM has requested USD 1 million to provide emergency repair kits to
families who are able to repair their homes, and to support local
governments in the construction of temporary shelters for 200
families whose homes were completely destroyed.

Tropical Storm Agatha, the first of the 2010 hurricane season,
made landfall on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala on 29 May, dumping
more than 400 mm of rain in a short period of time and affecting 21
of the 22 departments of the country.  According to official
figures, 3,934 homes were completely destroyed, leaving 96,500
people homeless and living in collective centres.

For more information, please contact:

Karla Villamar

IOM Guatemala

Tel: + 502.23.33 6536

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