UN Chief Promises Quake Relief Support For Venezuela

NEW YORK, June 27 (NNN-Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has pledged the world body's full support for Venezuela's earthquake relief efforts, his spokesperson said Friday, reported Xinhua.

Guterres spoke by phone with Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez on Thursday night and "expressed his solidarity with the people and government of Venezuela following the devastating earthquakes," Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the secretary-general, said.

The secretary-general pledged "the full cooperation of the UN system" in support of the relief efforts led by the Venezuelan government, Dujarric added.

Meanwhile, the United Nations and its humanitarian partners are rapidly scaling up the response, conducting assessments and mobilising assistance, said Dujarric.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher has allocated US$15 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to support urgent life-saving assistance in Venezuela, the spokesperson said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is supporting coordination efforts on the ground, facilitating information sharing, and working with partners to help ensure the effective deployment of international search-and-rescue teams, he said.

According to Dujarric, a total of 30 of these teams are being deployed to Venezuela, with more than 1,600 personnel and 100 dogs coming from a wide variety of countries. 

--NNN-XINHUA