PNoy meets EU rep Kristalina Georgieva. President Benigno Aquino III welcomes European Union Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Kristalina Georgieva during the Asia-Europe Meeting Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management at Diamond Hotel in Manila on Thursday, June 5. Also in photo is Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario. Gil Nartea
The European Union commissioner on humanitarian aid on Thursday announced a €30 million grant for the Philippine government to increase the EU’s reconstruction assistance in areas destroyed by super-typhoon Yolanda.
Kristalina Georgieva, the EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, announced the grant in Manila, where she is attending the Asia-Europe Meeting n Disaster Risk Reduction and Management.
Georgieva also went to Tacloban City to see the progress of EU-funded projects in the communities affected by the strongest typhoon ever in recorded history.
A statement from the EU delegation to the Philippines said, “EU-funded humanitarian actions have already greatly contributed to meeting the emergency needs of the survivors of the world’s most destructive typhoon ever recorded to have made landfall. But the road to reconstruction is still long.”
“My visit to Tacloban has been a stark reminder of the devastation which hit the Philippines last November,” Georgieva said.
“Seven months on, many survivors are still struggling to recover. The need for assistance remains, but my visit has also been full of encouragement. Everywhere I turned, I saw people rebuilding their homes, replanting their fields, or reopening their businesses,” she added.
“While there will always be a ‘before’ and an ‘after’ Haiyan, the survivors are getting back on their feet. And this €30 million grant with the Philippine Government is a confirmation that the EU will continue to support the recovery and reconstruction process,” Georgieva said.
According to the EU, the new funding comes from the European Commission development budget.
“It is aimed at supporting post-Yolanda/Haiyan reconstruction under the program’s support to the implementation of the country’s universal health care framework through the availability of essential medicines, improved quality of health services, improved health insurance coverage and support to the post-typhoon reconstruction plan of the Philippines’s government,” the statement said.
It added that particular attention was being given to the impact of the disaster on the poor and the most vulnerable members of the local population.
“In the current situation it is of great importance to combine short term relief operations with long term plans,” EU Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs said.
“Since the disaster we have been active in focusing our development cooperation on activities that help the affected communities to recover and reconstruct, but also to prepare for possible future typhoons. This will help to fight poverty immediately and at the same time make people’s lives and livelihoods safer in the long term,” he added.
The ASEM conference in Manila is expected to highlight lessons learned and best practices in the “Tacloban Declaration”, which will contribute to the post-2015 international framework on Disaster Risk Reduction. -NB, GMA News
