‘We are about to initiate the UN funding appeal and response plan to support the humanitarian response, but also the early recovery for the next six months’, he said, speaking via video link from Barbados.

‘This is a crisis that is going to last certainly more than six months in the sub-region, in Saint Vincent, and other islands.’

Mr. Trebucq said right now, water is ‘priority number one’, as service has shut down in many areas and supplies are being transported from sister Caribbean nations.

‘Priority number two is really about shelter management’, he continued, highlighting the need for cots and basic hygiene items.

Relatedly, UN agencies, in collaboration with the European Union, are also working to provide experts who will devise a plan for the clean-up of volcanic ash in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the other affected islands.

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