25 Jun 2018

UN relief team trucks on with relief efforts in PNG Highlands

From , 3:02 pm on 25 June 2018

United Nations aid workers helping provide relief for victims of Papua New Guinea's earthquake disaster in February have returned to the capital of Southern Highlands province.

They were forced to pull out of Mendi earlier this month after political unrest broke out, and PNG's national government declared a state of emergency.

Unrest in Southern Highlands, combined with ongoing violence in neighbouring Hela province, has proved a big obstacle to post-quake relief efforts.

The magnitude 7.5 quake claimed around 150 lives and caused widespread devastation to communities in these two Highlands provinces.

Last week, the UN returned to Mendi.

Tthe UNICEF Emergency Response Team Lead in the area, Ali Aulia Ramly, spoke about the resumption of humanitarian relief activities to Johnny Blades who began by asking about the situation in Hela where the UN had earlier pulled out from also.

Members of a quake-hit community in PNG's Hela province, March 2018.

Members of a quake-hit community in PNG's Hela province. Photo: PNG PM Media Office