EUROPEAN COMMISSION - PRESS RELEASE
EU humanitarian assistance to South East Asia
continues long after the cameras have left
Brussels, 12 March 2012 - The European Commission has allocated a further €11
million to the victims of the 2011 floods in South East Asia. This brings to €24
million the Commission's humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable among
the 7.5 million people hit by the typhoons, storms and floods that affected the region
towards the end of last year. People from four countries will benefit from this new
funding: the Philippines, Lao, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Kristalina Georgieva, Commissioner for international cooperation, humanitarian aid
and crisis response explained: "While the waters may have now receded the
humanitarian needs have not. Although the cameras have left and the headlines
have changed, we are not leaving until much-needed disaster prevention projects
have been carried out. This is essential so that we are not helping people back to
their feet only for them to get knocked down again in more floods next year".
These countries, well accustomed to storms and tropical depressions, endured
floods caused by major typhoons in September, October and December 2011. The
floods were on an exceptional scale, stretching the capacities of national and local
authorities to their limits and beyond. In rural areas large tracts of farmland were
ruined, in cities there was extensive infrastructural damage. As a result in the
Philippines it is expected that at least 150,000 people will remain in need of aid
throughout the coming months, in Cambodia estimates are as high as 250,000; in
Vietnam, 200,000; in Lao, 70,000.
Today's €11 million will go towards the recovery and rehabilitation, filling any gaps
that remain in national responses. The Commission's humanitarian aid is directed
towards the most vulnerable groups and communities, among whom particular
attention will be given to indigenous communities in the Pilipino region of Mindanao
where nearly 1,300 people were killed last year in Cyclone Washi.
Background
The €24 million of humanitarian assistance for the victims of the 2011 floods in
South East Asia include €10 million of funding in October 2011 which went to five
countries in the region following floods caused by typhoons and tropical
depressions. Another €3 million of funding came in December for the victims of
Cyclone Washi in the Philippines and the €11 million of follow-up funding today will
go towards recovery in four of the region's countries.
This latest funding will go towards disaster risk reduction measures and activities
aiming to increase the resilience of local communities to shocks caused by similar
floods and typhoons in the future. Building resilience is considered as a
fundamental first step in preventing similar hardship for these people due to floods,
tropical depressions and typhoons that are very common in this region.
IP/12/231
Funding disaster reduction projects of this nature, also gives a high economic
return; for every €1 spent there is a saving of up to €7 when disaster strikes. The
Commission has long been advocating for the effective and systematic integration
of disaster risk reduction into development, economic and land planning.
For more information
Commissioner Georgieva's website:
http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/georgieva/index_en.htm
The European Commission's humanitarian aid and civil protection:
http://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en.htm
Contacts :
David Sharrock (+32 2 296 89 09)
Irina Novakova (+32 2 295 75 17)
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