Brussels, 19/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is to allocate €5 million in humanitarian aid for the most vulnerable victims of the flooding in Bangladesh. The emergency aid, announced on 19 September, will come from the budget of ECHO, the Commission's humanitarian aid and civil protection wing, to meet the most pressing needs. It will provide food assistance, nutritional care, clean drinking water, shelter, sanitation facilities and access to healthcare to those who have lost their homes and livelihoods, and also disaster risk reduction in this country which is particularly prey to the threat of floods and soil erosion during the monsoon season.
“The humanitarian situation is dire in Bangladesh: hundreds of thousands of people are uprooted from their homes by the latest deluge. They are now living in appalling conditions in makeshift shelters or under the open sky. Europe's solidarity is called for, so the Commission will help fund the immediate needs of the most vulnerable among the affected”, said International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva.
An estimated one million people have been affected by the serious flooding which followed the torrential monsoon rains which hit the country at the start of August. Over 200,000 people have been forced to seek refuge elsewhere. Most of the flooded areas are expected to remain waterlogged for several months.
The Commission has conducted a needs assessment on the ground and has confirmed that there has been significant loss of crops, livestock and fish ponds, on which millions of Bangladeshis rely for their sustenance and income. The Commission, through its team in Bangladesh, is continuing to monitor how the humanitarian emergency is developing, while keeping in close contact with the partner relief organisations through which EU funding will reach the beneficiaries. (AN/transl.rt)