Charity
EU to assist victims of Typhoon Damrey
  • | VET | December 14, 2017 04:05 PM
The European Commission has provided 200,000 euro ($237,000) in humanitarian aid funding to assist the worst-affected communities from Typhoon Damrey, which wreaked havoc across large parts of Vietnam’s central and south-central regions in early November.

A house is damaged by the Typhoon Damrey in the central region of Vietnam in November. Photo: European Union


The aid will meet the urgent needs of more than 10,000 people in the provinces of Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, and Khanh Hoa.

The EU-funding supports the Vietnamese Red Cross Society (VNRC) in delivering much-needed assistance through the distribution of tarpaulins, shelter tool kits, household kits, and water purification tablets.

In addition, cash grants are being provided to ensure the most vulnerable families can meet their basic needs and sustain their day-to-day livelihoods. As outbreaks of water-borne and mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and typhoid are common following flooding, disease prevention activities are also being conducted.

The funding is part of the EU’s overall contribution to the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

Considered the strongest tropical system to strike south-central Vietnam in the last 20 years, Typhoon Damrey made landfall in Khanh Hoa province on November 4, killing over 100 people and affecting more than 4 million, including close to 400,000 in need of urgent assistance.

More than 3,000 homes were destroyed and nearly 140,000 others damaged, while some 130,000 ha of arable land were inundated, significantly impacting livelihoods. Although water levels have receded, humanitarian needs remain immense and the local capacity to respond has been stretched following the large scale of the disaster.

The EU, together with its member states, is the world’s leading donor of humanitarian aid. Relief assistance is an expression of European solidarity towards people in need around the world. It aims to save lives, prevent and alleviate human suffering, and safeguard the integrity and human dignity of populations affected by natural disasters and man-made crises. The European Commission through its European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) helps over 120 million victims of conflicts and disasters every year.

The European Commission has signed a EUR 3 million humanitarian contribution agreement with the IFRC to support its DREF. Funds from the DREF are mainly allocated to “small-scale” disasters - those that do not give rise to a formal international appeal.

The DREF was established in 1985 and is supported by contributions from donors. Each time a National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society needs immediate financial support to respond to a disaster, it can request funds from the DREF. For small-scale disasters, the IFRC allocates grants from the Fund, which can then be replenished by the donors.

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