Honduras launches $280 million U.N.-backed humanitarian aid plan

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras and the United Nations launched on Thursday a humanitarian aid plan aiming to reach more than 2 million of the Central American country's most vulnerable people, the groups said.

The plan requires some $280 million in funding to help those hit by recent crop failures caused by drought, historic flooding from tropical storms and insecurity caused by drug trafficking and gangs, the United Nations said in a statement.

The funds will come from the Honduran government, humanitarian organizations and other donors, it said, adding the plan would be presented later this month in Geneva in the hope of attracting support from other countries.

Nearly 100 projects will be funded under the plan this year, including food supply and crop restoration programs, assistance to deportees and internally displaced people as well as health and water access programs.

Humanitarian need has risen in Honduras in recent years, aggravated by the rising cost of living, natural disasters and violence, the United Nations said, with 74% of Hondurans living in poverty and 3.2 million people in need of aid.

(Reporting by Gustavo Palencia; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Robert Birsel)