Copyright: UNICEF/Gomez Mother and child in El Muelle neighborhood Bilwi, Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, on November 5, 2020.
In early November, Hurricane Eta, a category 4 hurricane, made landfall in Central America causing landslides, flooding, and displacing thousands of people. Two weeks later, Hurricane Iota, also a category 4 storm, made landfall about 15 miles from where Hurricane Eta touched down, compounding the destruction in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. It is estimated that 3.4 million people, including 1.3 million children, are in need of urgent assistance. Exacerbating the issue, with increasing numbers of people in shelters, there is an increased concern about how the effects of these storms will further the spread of COVID-19.
In response to this profound and urgent disaster, we are committing $50,000 from the Bain Capital Relief Fund to support UNICEF, an organization at the forefront of the relief and rebuilding effort in the region. UNICEF is directly addressing the immediate need for medical assistance, food, and shelter as well as making plans to support the region and its children as they rebuild and grapple with the trauma of this disaster.
With this donation, the Bain Capital Relief Fund will have donated a total of $1M to disaster relief efforts around the world since the fund was created in 2018. To date, the Relief Fund has supported recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, Hurricane Michael in Florida, the Camp wildfire in northern California, Cyclone Idai in Southern Africa, flooding in Nebraska, Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas, the bushfires in Australia, the explosion in Beirut, and now Hurricanes Eta and Iota in Central America.
