UN resident coordinator in Cuba seeks $94.1 million to back new plan as energy crisis deepens

In a United Nations press briefing, Francisco Pichon, the UN resident coordinator in Cuba, outlined a restructured humanitarian action plan focused on an ongoing energy contingency and the remaining impacts of Hurricane Melissa. "We launched an action plan last November in response to Hurricane Melissa," he said, adding the plan was restructured 10 days earlier to place the energy crisis at the center of the response.

Pichon said the plan targets the critical needs of about 2 million people across 63 municipalities in eight provinces and seeks to mobilize $94.1 million, of which $26.2 million has been mobilized so far, leaving a funding gap of roughly $60 million. "We believe this is a very critical window of opportunity to mobilize the additional resources," he said.

The coordinator described the…