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Nicaraguan Caribbean neglected says Unicef

Managua, Mar 11 (EFE).- Unicef's regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Jean Gough, has warned of institutional neglect of Nicaragua's North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (RACN) that was hit four months ago by the powerful hurricanes Eta and Iota.During a six-day tour of Nicaragua, Honduran Gough visited four communities in the RACN hit by the two hurricanes – category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, of a maximum of 5 – and said in an interview with Efe the impact was big and the need to find solutions for the population there is urgent. (Camera: UNICEF)SHOT LIST: SOUND BITES OF DIRECTOR FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN OF UNICEF JEAN GOUGH (IN SPANISH)TRANSLATIONS: Because really in these communities the evacuation was massive, I think it is something that must be recognized because despite all the impact that there was and that most of the houses lost their roofs, they fell, they were also razed, in Wawa Bar there is a boat that is at the center of the community that you may have seen in the media and that shows the impact. The impact was great and the recovery is going to be long too. Because the communities also lost their crops, they are engaged in fishing, many lost their tools, their little boat, their fishing, and all these types of tools take time to rebuild. Well, from UNICEF we made a call for resources and we asked for 20 million dollars, of that we have 50 percent and that is the reason behind my visit and my conversation with you this afternoon is to try to draw attention to the needs of this region. Because this region has disappeared from television screens and we need to make the needs of these communities more visible. And that was our interest, to come here and really talk with the families, talk with the children and to make the crisis that exists there and in isolated populations more visible.