Brussels, 17/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission decided this week to make 7 million EUR available under the humanitarian aid budget to help Southeast Asia to prepare itself better for disasters and to protect itself against them. The decision was adopted under the fifth DIPECHO (Disaster Preparedness ECHO) action plan and will go to help the most vulnerable local communities, and will benefit one and a half million people in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, East Timor and Vietnam.
Southeast Asia is one of the regions of the world hardest hit by disasters. The most recent ones, such as the earthquake in Yogyakarta (Indonesia) in May 2006, landslides in the Philippines in 2006, the cyclones which regularly hit the Philippines and Vietnam, and the tidal wave at Pangandaran (Indonesia) in July 2006 have highlighted the increasingly urgent need to carry out actions to prepare for disasters in the region, the Commission stresses in a press release. (hb)