UN Acting Resident Co-ordinator & Donors Meet in Dhaka - 2004-08-04

The acting UN resident coordinator expressed fears on Wednesday, a week ahead of the launch of the UN appeal for aid, Bangladesh would need at least a year to recover from the destruction the devastating flood inflicted on its economy.

Douglas Casson Coutts, acting resident coordinator, also feared in the wake of the grave food insecurity and unemployment, the flood-hit rural people are bound to migrate to the cities that are already overwhelmed.

Emerging from the meeting, Coutts told reporters that donors were 'fairly favourable' in responding to the grave situation and the UN plans for post-flood assistance.