Department of Human Services to Oversee Distribution

Liannie Arthurs

The Ministry of Human Development is the chair of the relief and supplies committee for NEMO and act as the first responders in the communities affected by Hurricane Earl. Director Liannie Arthurs told News Five today that the Human Development Department has already identified key groups to benefit from the donation.

Liannie Arthurs, Director, Department of Human Services

“What we found through the feedback from our debriefings is that there were a lot of basic needs that also needed to be addressed especially for women and girls. And so we partnered with UNICEF, who provided initial hygiene kits so that we could do immediate distribution and we also approached UNFPA to identify and to request a similar response from them in terms of the provision of hygiene kits. And so UNFPA has now provided these dignity kits and so it will be our second phase distribution to the most vulnerable persons affected by Hurricane Earl. We still have persons that are displaced in rental agreements, awaiting NEMO’s phase two in terms of the repair and the rebuilding of their homes. And so those groups have been identified for these dignity kits. We also worked with an organization called Port Loyola Organization for Women; they go into the community to work with the elderly populations. So we find that these populations also need extra support in terms of basic needs and these hygiene kits will be very critical to meet some of those basic needs. We also partnered with the Belize Assembly for Persons with Various Abilities and assessed their clients that were displaced by Hurricane Earl. So that group has also been identified as a priority group for these dignity kits. And all of our teams that went to the different communities across the city also identified what we call special needs and vulnerable persons. So we are going to return to those persons with these kits because a lot of these people need ongoing support and this is all part of our humanitarian assistance to the community.”