Brussels, 28/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is to allocate €4 million in emergency humanitarian aid to flood victims in four Central American countries (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua). Funds have already been earmarked for this from the ECHO budget (European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office) and will soon be made available for the provision of food rations, healthcare, shelter, and access to drinking water and basic sanitation for the most vulnerable people caught up in the affected areas. Aid will be administered by the ECHO partner organisations on the ground to help some 100,000 people. Part of the funding will be investment in disaster risk reduction measures to mitigate the impact of future floods.
“Farmers have lost their crops in the inundated fields, families have lost their homes in high water and mudslides. The cost of food is rising and so is the risk of disease. We worry about the most exposed to hunger, poverty and extreme weather”, said Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.
The Commission, which sent a civil protection team to El Salvador, the country most affected by the flooding, also plans to step up means of assistance shortly in the area of civil protection, via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, in response to an official request from the national authorities.
Heavy rains that broke over the region on 10 October caused at least 105 deaths and left 650,000 in dire need, with 90,000 evacuated and 50,000 under temporary shelter. (AN/transl.jl)