OCHA mobilises $10.5 million for ‘Dry Corridor’
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher allocated the amount from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support communities.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher allocated the amount from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support communities.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher allocated the amount from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support communities.
• The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the agency responsible for coordinating humanitarian relief, has allocated $10.5 million to help people ahead of a severe drought across the so-called ‘Dry Corridor’ along the coast of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
• Roughly 90 per cent of Central America’s population live in the ‘Dry Corridor’.
• According to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), an estimated 2.7 million people there are in urgent need of food assistance as of early 2026.
• UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher allocated the amount from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support communities.
• The communities — many of them subsistence farmers — face failing crops, rising food insecurity and growing pressure on their livelihoods.
• This new funding will allow OCHA and its humanitarian partners to act early to reduce humanitarian needs, protect jobs and help families stay ahead of any shock.
• Some 150,000 people across the three countries will receive cash to purchase food, seeds resistant to drought and livestock feed, as well as health support and water and sanitation services.
Central American Dry Corridor
• The Central American Dry Corridor is a stretch of territory classified as tropical dry forest or dry tropics, which extends between Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.
• It is a geographical area of 1,600 kilometers long and 100-400 kilometers wide, covering 44 per cent of the surface of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.
• More than 10 million people live in the Dry Corridor.
• Many are dedicated to agriculture and small-scale production of basic grains.
• The area is highly vulnerable to extreme climate events, with long periods of drought and shorter periods of heavy rains that strongly impact the livelihoods and food and nutritional security of local populations.
• In the past decade, several El Nino events have affected the Dry Corridor and have lasted between 12 and 36 months. These extreme droughts have caused socioeconomic impacts in the Central American region.