ECHO increases aid to disaster prone regions

Communities vulnerable to natural disasters in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan will benefit from a new 3 million euros [US $3.2 million) Disaster Preparedness Action Plan launched by the European Commission and managed through its Humanitarian Office (ECHO). “In disaster-prone countries such as Tajikistan, this type of initiative will help save lives,” ECHO correspondent for Central Asia, Cecile Pichon, told IRIN from the Tajik capital, Dushanbe on Thursday. Over the past decade, some 2,500 people have been killed and 5.5 million (10 percent of the total population) affected by landslides, earthquakes and floods in the Central Asian nations of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. “Most of the money will be spent in Tajikistan as it is the most vulnerable country in the region,” she added. “The overall objective is to strengthen the capacity of local communities to foresee and respond to disasters and to protect them from likely disasters through small-scale infrastructure works,” she explained. This will be achieved through disaster preparedness training, radio communication systems and public awareness campaigns. People living in areas prone to avalanches, mudslides and flooding will be protected through the construction of barriers, reinforcement of mountainsides and the strengthening of river beds and banks. The projects will be carried out by 10 international organisations in conjunction with leading local and national disaster response actors such as the Tajik Red Crescent Society and the government’s Ministry of Emergencies Situations. ECHO allocates some eight million euros [$8.6 million] worldwide every year through its Disaster Preparedness programme (DIPECHO) for projects to reduce the impact of natural disasters. Since 1998, the humanitarian office has provided nearly one million euros for adhoc disaster preparedness in Central Asia. This latest decision signals an extension of ECHO’s aid contribution to Central Asia. The funding is in addition to a ten million Euros ($10.6 million) released on Thursday for core humanitarian operations in Tajikistan over the next 12 months. The increased was welcomed by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs [OCHA] in Dushanbe. “Tajikistan is one of the most natural disaster prone countries in the world and last year together with the Ministry of Emergencies we logged over 70 incidents of natural disasters,” humanitarian affairs officer for OCHA, Paul Handley told IRIN from the Tajik capital. In order to be able to better co-ordinate assessment and response to these incidents, OCHA initiated in mid 2001 an interagency forum known as REACT (Rapid Emergency Assessment and Co-ordination Team). It comprises of representatives from UN agencies, NGOs, donors and the Ministry of Emergencies Situations who are able to mobilise in times of crisis. The REACT team was mobilised on numerous occasions in 2002 under OCHA leadership, notably in response to an earthquake east of Dushanbe in January; an earthquake in northeastern Tajikistan (Gorno-Badakhshan) in March and several major landslides in April. In addition to this there were devastating floods in Badakshan in June which resulted in loss of life and significant population displacement, and numerous outbreaks of infectious disease around the country including typhoid and measles.