UN Releases $1M in Emergency Funding for St. Vincent

UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations on Thursday released $1 million from its emergency fund to provide aid to the Caribbean nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines following a series of devastating volcanic eruptions, the body's spokesman said.

The funds will provide for "urgent humanitarian assistance to impacted people, especially those who have been evacuated," Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. U.N. agencies will be able to distribute drinking water and hygiene kits, as well as money for the most vulnerable to buy food, he said. About 20,000 people were evacuated from the vicinity of the La Soufriere volcano on St. Vincent, which began erupting last Friday for the first time since 1979.