The UN releases a million dollars in emergency funds for Saint Vincent and the Grenadillas

The United Nations on Thursday released $ 1 million from its emergency fund to provide aid to the Caribbean nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines following a series of devastating volcanic eruptions, the agency spokesman said.

The funds will allow “provide urgent humanitarian assistance to affected people, especially those who have been evacuated “Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for Secretary General Antonio Guterres, said in a statement.

The agencies of the HIM-HER-IT They will be able to distribute clean water and hygiene kits, as well as money so that the most vulnerable can buy food, he said.

Some 20,000 people were evacuated from the vicinity of the La Soufriere volcano in San Vicente, which erupted last Friday for the first time since 1979.

Aerial view today from a drone showing the lava rivers caused by the recent eruptions of the Pacaya volcano from the El Patrocinio village of San Vicente Pacaya (Guatemala). (Photo: EFE / Esteban Biba). (Esteban Biba /)

Some 4,500 people are in shelters and the country’s airspace is closed.

“Most of the homes in San Vicente are without water and most of the 110,000 inhabitants of the country have been affected by the ashfall”, Dujarric said.

Eruptions have continued to occur on a daily basis, with ash clouds covering the country and reaching the surrounding islands.

Photograph provided this Saturday by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) showing houses and streets covered in ash after the eruption of the La Soufriere volcano, on the north side of Barlovento, in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. (Photo: EFE / Cdema). (CDEMA /)

The HIM-HER-IT It said Wednesday that depending on the winds, volcanic eruptions could cause an environmental and economic impact in Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Martinique and Guadeloupe.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines It is the smallest state to have served on the UN Security Council, where its two-year term as a non-permanent member ends in December.