€10.5 million in EU humanitarian aid has been released to help communities most affected by natural disasters and humanitarian crises in South and Southeast Asia, the European Commission announced on Monday 22 July.
Of this amount, €1.5 million in emergency aid is for victims of the worsening monsoons in India and Bangladesh, where more than 500,000 people have been displaced. The aid, channelled through partner organisations of the Commission's ECHO Humanitarian Aid department on the ground, will provide safe drinking water, sanitation and basic necessities to the most needy vulnerable people.
The remainder of the funding will support disaster preparedness throughout the region. €2 million will support several regional disaster risk reduction initiatives in South and Southeast Asia. €2 million is earmarked for Nepal to improve national and local disaster response capacities, particularly in cities. €1 million will go to the Philippines to strengthen disaster risk reduction and resilience building initiatives. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)