EC funding for disaster preparedness

The European Commission has approved 2.5 million euros (US $3.06 million) to fund a second Action Plan to help vulnerable populations in Central Asian countries to improve disaster preparedness in the region. Funds will be allocated via the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) to finance projects to be implemented by the national Red Crescent Societies, local authorities and NGOs, and will support activities to strengthen local capacity on preparedness, prevention and mitigation. "We have decided to expand the DIPECHO (Disaster Preparedness ECHO) programme for Central Asia in view of its needs, because in the region disasters are often of a small or medium scale but with a very high social and human impact," Cecile Pichon, an ECHO official responsible for Central Asia, told IRIN on Wednesday. Across the region, natural catastrophes have killed about 2,500 and affected 5.5 million (10 percent of the total population) over the past decade. In 2003, in Tajikistan alone, 120 incidents of flooding, avalanches and landslides were recorded as well as 12 significant earthquakes, according to ECHO statistics. Most of the funds will be allocated to projects in Tajikistan, seen as the most vulnerable of the five Central Asian countries. But disaster prone regions in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan will also be targeted. "Tajikistan is a mountainous country and landslides directly affect the population who are already living in very poor conditions. They directly affect their livestock, their houses and worsen their economic and social situation," Pichon said. With the new funding, local response capacities will be strengthened through local disaster management plans, early warning systems, disaster preparedness training, radio communication systems and public awareness campaigns. "Our partners also train the communities to prepare themselves in order to have the knowledge to avoid the consequences of a [natural] disaster, both human and economic losses," Pichon explained, while saying that they also have a project focused on strengthening local capacities in health and sanitation to prevent outbreaks of infectious diseases. Between 1998 and 2002, ECHO provided up to 1 million euros ($1.22 million) for ad hoc disaster preparedness activities across the region. In April 2003, ECHO launched the first disaster preparedness plan for Central Asia worth 3 million euros ($3.67 million). "This is the second action plan we have in the region. The DIPECHO project has a direct impact on the life of the communities, which is very important, but it is a long term process and we hope we can continue having such funding for the region because we feel it is very important to prevent and to help before, rather than respond after, the disaster has happened," she claimed. According to the "Reduction of catastrophe risk: the task of development" report, published this year by UNDP, developing countries suffer the consequences of a natural disaster more than developed states. Statistics in the report reveal that 11 percent of the people experiencing natural disasters live in low-developed countries, but they account for over 53 per cent of the total number of registered fatalities.