Bolivia - With emergency funding from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) IOM Bolivia is providing assistance to vulnerable populations recently displaced by heavy rains and subsequent flooding in the city of Cobija in northern department of Pando in Bolivia.

Some 1,200 persons were evacuated after their homes flooded; 30 percent of the homes were totally destroyed. 

“Although the persons whose homes were damaged have managed to return and are making repairs, those who lost their homes are still living in shelters,” explains Horacio Calle, Head of the IOM Office in Bolivia.

IOM is providing hygiene kits and mattresses to the most vulnerable, including indigenous populations, living in 11 shelters.  The IOM team worked with officials to assess the needs at the shelters and is carrying out improvement to basic services in the shelters.

With the Government of Bolivia funding and leading the rebuilding efforts, IOM is deploying an expert on reconstruction, risk reduction and emergency management to support the needs assessment and advice on reconstruction.

Working with the Vice Ministry for Civil Defense, IOM held a four-day workshop on shelter management to strengthen technical capacities at the municipal, departmental and national levels.

For more information please contact Horacio Calle, IOM Bolivia; hjcalle@iom.int; Tel: +591 2 2369044