Pretoria responds to call for help

South Africa has announced that it will send a relief mission to cyclone-ravaged Madagascar on Tuesday. The Department of Foreign Affairs said the mission would "lend a hand to the government and the people of Madagascar, to deliver humanitarian aid to the victims of the recent cyclone". Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana requested assistance from President Thabo Mbeki, following the devastating impact of Cyclone Gafilo on the Indian Ocean island. "Accordingly, and in a gesture of friendship to the people and government of Madagascar, the South African government is dispatching four Oryx helicopters and one fixed-wing cargo plane, which will be used in a joint operation with UNICEF [UN Children's Fund] and the World Food Programme (WFP) to deliver food and medicine to areas whose infrastructure was destroyed by the cyclone and, therefore, not easily accessible," a South African government statement said. In addition, the government was sending a team of air traffic controllers from the South African Defence Force, logistics and medical officers, with foreign affairs officials to assist in coordinating the effort. On Friday the UN launched a flash appeal to raise US $8.7 million to address the urgent relief needs of some 309,500 people affected by Cyclone Gafilo, which struck Madagascar twice in two weeks. Gafilo was the worst cyclone to hit the country in 20 years. It killed an estimated 74 people and damaged more than 117,000 hectares of agriculturally productive land. Initial estimates suggest some 200 schools and 200 health centres were also damaged or destroyed. The government estimates the total economic impact of the cyclone at more than US $250 million, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). "The UN flash appeal for Madagascar is designed to meet the immediate requirements of the most affected population for the next three months. As people's ability to feed themselves has been seriously affected, WFP seeks US $5.6 million through the appeal to feed up to 110,000 people for the months ahead ... UNICEF has appealed for about US $1.7 million to meet water and sanitation requirements, address the nutrition needs of children, and to provide shelter, blankets, and educational supplies," OCHA noted. UNICEF's response will also seek to ensure that children are inoculated against measles and other childhood diseases, and give people access to malaria prevention and treatment. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), in partnership with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), has appealed for US $1.1 million for seeds to enable farmers to replant as soon as possible, while the World Health Organisation needs some US $106,000 to procure urgently required medical supplies, and improve and restore medical facilities. The United Nations Development Programme has requested US $69,900 to reinforce the coordination capacity of the government. OCHA said Madagascar was prone to natural disasters, including endemic drought in the south, currently threatening some 130,000 people, and recurrent cyclones and annual flooding, which affect most other parts of the island.