Brussels, 16/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - As soon as the scale of the tropical cyclone, Pam, was known and which devastated the Vanuatu archipelago on 14-15 March, the European Union expressed its condolences to the survivors and its solidarity with this partner country, which is one of the poorest countries in the world. The European Commission immediately matched its words with action by earmarking €1 million on Saturday 14 March, in humanitarian emergency aid to help the victims who had survived this disaster in this South Pacific island country and member of the ACP group of countries (African/Caribbean/Pacific).
The €1 million in initial emergency aid corresponds to the maximum amount that ECHO (the Commission humanitarian aid and civil protection service) can release in a 72-hour time frame. More funds will be mobilised as soon as the humanitarian needs have been evaluated. Two experts have been sent out to the country by the Commission to contribute to this exercise and coordinate the assistance with humanitarian partner organisations working on the ground.
'Pam' coincides with UN conference on reducing risks of natural disasters
The initial aid will focus on the needs of the most vulnerable sections of the population and will be used to fund shelter, the provision of medicines and access to drinking water.
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Vice-President of the Commission, Federica Mogherini provided assurances that “Europe stands with compassion with the families of the victims in Vanuatu and will be part of the immediate response and recovery effort.”
“It is with great sadness that I learn about the tragic loss of life and scale of destruction caused by Cyclone Pam. My thoughts go to the victims and their families. The European Union stands by the people of Vanuatu …,” said Christos Stylianides, European commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management, adding, “This storm is a stark reminder of the gravity and urgency of the challenge facing the international community. In a world increasingly prone to natural catastrophes, we must work closer together to better prepare for and reduce the impact of such disasters.” Commissioner Stylianides was speaking in Japan, where he was participating in the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (Sendai, 14-18 March). A new global plan for reducing the risks of natural disaster is expected to be adopted during this conference, which is due to take over (post-2015) from the Hyogo framework, which covered the 2005-2015 period.
Louis Michel MEP (ALDE, Belgium), the co-president of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, also expressed his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and praised the rapid response of the European aid efforts to Vanuatu, where the next meeting of this assembly of MEPs and their ACP colleagues is expected to be held in June.
With winds of up to 340 km an hour, Cyclone Pam (category five, the highest) left six people dead and more than thirty injured, according to a provisional record released by the authorities but these figures may increase. This disaster is among the most serious that the region has ever experienced and has caused considerable damage to housing and infrastructure. Entire villages have been destroyed. The fact that Vanuatu consists of 80 small islands makes the rescue operations particularly difficult in this small country, which is one of the most vulnerable to climate change, a phenomenon that the national authorities said was behind this disaster. (Aminata Niang)