Sumario: 28 February 2008, Brussels - Following the deployment of experts to assess the situation in flood-hit Bolivia, the European Commission has launched a humanitarian decision for €2 million. The funds, managed by the Commission's Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO), under the responsibility of Commissioner Louis Michel, will target around 110,000 people living in the worst affected areas of the country.
"Bolivia has made a great effort to respond to what are the worst floods in many decades," said Commissioner Michel. "But the sheer scale of the catastrophe and the fact that the situation is still deteriorating has put an enormous strain on local capacity. On 12 February, President Morales of Bolivia officially declared a state of national disaster. Since the beginning, we have monitored closely the humanitarian situation through our own assessment missions and those of our
operational partners present in the field. We can now take a decision based on identified needs. The partners we have selected are already working in the field."
The funding will be used to help 22,000 families (around 110,000 people) living in the most severely affected areas, notably in the Beni and Santa Cruz departments, which are struggling to cope with floods for the third year in succession.
Key actions to be funded include:
• Management and provision of proper temporary shelters;
• Immediate distribution of safe drinking water;
• Provision of basic household items such as hygiene kits, kitchen equipment and water filters;
• Supply of food rations for people accommodated in public shelters and those returning to their homes. Most vulnerable communities have lost their main food and income sources in the floods;
• Provision of emergency primary health care (medicine kits, outreach to isolated communities) and psychosocial support for displaced people.
The Commission will also continue to support and strengthen disaster preparedness activities.
These actions will complement seven ongoing projects in the Santa Cruz, La Paz, Pando, Beni and Cochabamba departments under the Commission's disaster preparedness (DIPECHO) programme. DIPECHO projects in the affected areas, with their emphasis on training for local communities, have already proved their worth in ensuring a more effective and organised response to this latest natural disaster.
In Bolivia, such disasters occur frequently with devastating consequences. People are particularly vulnerable during the November to March rainy season. Over the past three months, the so-called "La Niña" effect, involving the cooling of Pacific Ocean waters, has led to intense and continuous rains across Bolivia. The country experienced very serious flooding last year linked to "La Niña" and experts indicate the phenomenon is even stronger this season. By mid-February 2008, increasingly heavy
rains were being reported throughout the country, especially in Santa Cruz and Beni, where river levels were rising rapidly. Water levels more than 50 cm above last year's maxima have been recorded in Trinidad. A red alert has been declared in all nine departments of Bolivia, compared to six in 2007.
More information on Commission's humanitarian aid:
http://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en.htm
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