22/10/2021 (Agence Europe) – The EU is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its Civil Protection Mechanism on Saturday 23 October. Created in 2001 to coordinate rapid assistance to people affected by natural disasters and other crises in Europe and around the world, the mechanism has been activated more than 500 times (including 102 times in 2020) in response to requests for assistance. It has provided millions of items of medical equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic and emergency equipment following earthquakes and floods. Among the largest interventions were: - floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2014; - tropical Cyclone Idai in Mozambique in 2019; - forest fires in the Mediterranean in 2021. “This is a concrete example of European solidarity in action”, Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said in a statement on Friday. (AN)