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The disaster managing entity of Guatemala has awarded the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) for its support to the country. The award is will be granted today to the EU ambassador to Guatemala, Stella Zervoudaki, along with ECHO humanitarian expert Benoit Collin on behalf of the for Central America team.
“ECHO is among the institutions that during 2013-14 have been outstanding in their support for preparedness, mitigation, humanitarian response, rehabilitation and reconstruction," the National Coordinating Agency for Disaster Reduction (CONRED in Spanish) said in a statement. The award is a tribute to European "continued solidarity", it added.
Guatemala is part of Central America, the second region in the world most vulnerable to climatologic risks after South East Asia. Ranked fifth in the world in infant malnutrition, it is currently suffering a very severe drought which, compounded with the loss of income derived from the coffee rust plague, is compromising the food security of thousands. ECHO has for the last four years supported farmers living in drought-prone areas through the Drought Resilience Initiative, aimed at helping them cope better with the effects of scarce rainfall.
Overall, the EU has devoted €51.2 million to humanitarian aid in Guatemala since 1994, responding to internal displacement, droughts, Hurricane Stan or Tropical Storm Agatha, among other emergencies. Almost one third of the funding has been allocated to Disaster Risk Reduction and Preparedness activities, mainly through the DIPECHO programme, created to build response capacities at the local, community, authorities and public institutions' levels to face disasters more efficiently in the world’s riskiest regions.
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