EU to focus on reducing risks of disasters and conflicts, humanitarian aid chief says
BANGKOK (AlertNet) – The European Union is maintaining its humanitarian aid levels despite a global economic downturn and aims to focus on reducing risks of disasters and conflicts in the next few years, the bloc’s aid chief has said.
Kristalina Georgieva, Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, also vowed to “do anything we can” to help Japan to deal with the impact of its devastating earthquake that has killed at least 10,000 people.
The European Commission earmarked €850 million ($1.18 billion) for humanitarian assistance in 2011, Georgieva said in an interview with AlertNet.
More than €560 million ($781 million) will be spent to help with ongoing crises in Sudan, Darfur and Sahel. The rest is slated for unpredictable natural disasters and conflict, Georgieva said.
“We take strategic decisions on the crises we can predict,” Georgieva told AlertNet on Monday after visiting refugee camps in along the Thai-Myanmar border.
“We know where the protracted crisis are, we know that Sudan is going to go through a difficult separation process. We know that there are countries that are vulnerable to extreme weather. We know that food prices are going up and there needs to be a cushion for the most vulnerable people in poor countries.”
Last year, the Commission set aside €800 million ($1.11 billion) for humanitarian aid but ended up spending more than €1.1 billion ($1.5 billion) by tapping an emergency reserve fund to provide assistance after the Haiti earthquake and severe flooding in Pakistan.
“My prediction is we will have to again tap into emergency reserve (this year),” Georgieva said, citing North Africa as one of the major concerns.
“In the world we live in there is no way humanitarian money will go to meet all the needs,” she said. “We have to also work on reducing these needs by investing in resilience of communities and resilience to disasters for poor people in poor countries, and also building the bridge between investment in relief and investment in development.”
REGIONAL FALLOUT
Georgieva said she expected regional implications from the Japanese disaster, in particular for poor people.
“That means the vulnerable people are going to get hit twice,” she said. “They are going to get hit by what’s happening in North Africa and the impact on oil prices. Of course the Japanese economy will recover and the investment in reconstruction gives a boost like we saw in Chile but there will be ripple effect on the poor people.”
The European Union, one of the world’s biggest providers of humanitarian aid, would do everything it could to help Japan, she added.
“Twenty of our member states have already made concrete offers of assistance that range from experts to material support that may be needed in such circumstances like water purification, mobile hospitals, mechanical bridges, structures and also high-competence expertise.”
She also announced €22.3 million ($31 million) in aid to Myanmar and Thailand for 2011. The bulk of the money is going to be spent on providing help to vulnerable communities in Myanmar, including those affected by cyclone Giri, which caused severe damage in parts of the southeast Asian country.
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