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EU provides P8.6M aid to Karding-affected areas

October 21, 2022 Cristina Lee-Pisco 285 views

THE European Union (EU) is providing €150,000 (over 8.6 million Philippine pesos) in humanitarian aid to over 35,000 people in Central Luzon and Calabarzon who were affected by typhoon Noru, locally known “Karding.”

The EU funding supports the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) in delivering assistance to families most affected by the storm through the distribution of emergency relief items, such as shelter materials, food, water containers, and hygiene kits.

Multi-purpose cash grants will be provided to allow people to meet their basic needs. The funding will also contribute to providing medical support to those injured by the storm and repairing schools.

This 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).

On September 25, typhoon “Karding” made landfall on Polillo Island off Quezon province as a category 5 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour near its center.

Considered the most powerful storm to hit the Philippines so far this year, the storm left a trail of destruction in many areas across six provinces in the archipelago nation, leaving close to one million people affected, some 4,000 of which were displaced.

More than 6,000 homes were flattened, while some 50,000 others sustained damage. Karding also caused damage to several schools, health centers, infrastructure, and vast areas of agricultural land.

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 human-made crises.

Through its European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), the European Union helps over 120 million victims of conflicts and disasters every year.

The European Commission has signed a €3 million humanitarian contribution agreement with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to support the Federation’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (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. The contribution agreement between the IFRC and ECHO enables the latter to replenish the DREF for agreed operations (that fit in with its humanitarian mandate) up to a total of €3 million.

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