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EU Commission approves €25m humanitarian aid for South Asia earthquake victims

Summary: EU Commission approves €25m humanitarian aid for South Asia earthquake victims (16 December 2005: Brussels)

FR - DE

The European Commission has adopted a €25 million humanitarian aid decision to provide further relief assistance to victims of the South Asia earthquake. This raises the amount of humanitarian aid provided by the Commission to €48.6 million - €43.6 million already announced (IP/05/1332) and an additional €5 million obtained through resource reallocations in the humanitarian aid budget.

The Commission has also pledged a further €50 million for rehabilitation and longer-term reconstruction in the affected areas, bringing the total Commission aid package to €98.6 million.

Louis Michel, Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, declared: "The situation is grim for people living in the areas affected by the earthquake. The effects of the winter weather are increasingly being felt and it is essential that the international community step up its efforts to relieve the suffering."

Sectors covered by the decision include:

- shelter (winterised tents with stoves, small-scale rehabilitation, emergency shelter kits);

- non-food items (blankets, sleeping bags, generators, diesel fuel, tarpaulins, ground sheets, stoves, fuel and kitchen sets);

- water (water supplies, including rehabilitation of local water points and networks);

- sanitation (latrines, hygiene kits, community hygiene sensitisation);

- healthcare (primary healthcare, referral hospitals, psychosocial assistance, rehabilitation, immunisations);

- logistics (airlift of humanitarian goods and personnel, land transport, storage);

- nutrition (livestock, fodder, seeds, and agricultural kits)
Commission humanitarian funds are channelled through operational partners (UN agencies, the Red Cross/Crescent and NGOs). The Commission has been encouraging partners to submit detailed project proposals as soon as possible so that they can be examined in parallel with the formal decision process. This helps to speed up the delivery of the aid that is so vitally needed in the earthquake zone.

Relief agencies face enormous challenges in this remote region. With the onset of winter, the Commission is very concerned that a secondary humanitarian disaster may occur if people remain stranded in mountainous areas unable to gain access to assistance. The latest reports from Commission humanitarian experts in the field are that delivery capacity is now improving rapidly, but a big effort is needed to reach people beyond the main hubs.

  • Ref: EC05-435EN
  • EU source: European Commission
  • UN forum: 
  • Date: 16/12/2005


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See also
 

European Union Member States