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BEIJING, CHINA - THE United Nations on Wednesday launched a US$33.5 million (S$45.1 million) appeal to aid relief efforts in southwest China where a magnitude-8.0 earthquake on May 12 left nearly 70,000 people dead.
'It is the hope of the United Nations and the international community that China will quickly recover from this enormous tragedy,' Mr Khalid Malik, UN resident coordinator in China, said in a statement.
The appeal will address the needs of the poor and vulnerable among the affected population, who are trying to rebuild after having survived the devastating earthquake, the statement said.
The disaster not only devastated lives and livelihoods, but also destroyed services and infrastructure, it said.
In Sichuan and neighbouring Gansu and Shaanxi provinces, an estimated five million buildings collapsed, 21 million buildings were damaged and over 40 million people were affected by the earthquake.
The UN has already provided over US$17 million in assistance, of which US$8 million came from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) in the form of humanitarian relief immediately after the earthquake, it said. -- AFP
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