UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Ahead of the possible disaster which might be brought up by Hurricane Irma, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is busy preparing to supply relief material to the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
"The main concerns of UNICEF center around the supply of drinking water and food, and the health and protection of children and adolescents," UNICEF said in a statement on Wednesday.
If Irma stays on its current track as a category 5 hurricane, it will bring devastating damage within hours to parts of the Caribbean, affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of children, UNICEF said.
UNICEF's office in the region has activated its emergency protocols and is working with government officials in Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Sint Maarten, St. Kitts and Nevis, and the Virgin Islands, as well as the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba, which the hurricane is projected to hit next.
Supplies of drinking water, nonperishable food and medicines, and emergency kits are pre-positioned and ready for distribution in the most affected communities, UNICEF said.
The UN agency also activated its U-Report platform, which allows it to send urgent messages via Facebook and other social media platforms to young subscribers.
"Considering the possible magnitude that Irma represents, it is both hugely urgent and necessary to be prepared, informed and vigilant so that we try to avoid the impact on the most vulnerable, that is to say children," said Marita Perceval, Regional Director of UNICEF in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Irma, which has reportedly become "the most dangerous natural phenomenon" in the region this year, is likely to surpass the impact of Hurricane Matthew, which was a category 4 hurricane on a five-point scale and affected 3.2 million people last October - of whom 1.3 million were children.
