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The first DIPECHO Action plan in South Asia was launched in 2001 covering five countries: Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. During this period eight projects were implemented for a total cost of €2.8 million with a focus on flooding.
After an evaluation of this first Action plan, it was decided that the local community-based approach used successfully in DIPECHOI would be continued. The decision was also made to concentrate on fewer countries, specifically Bangladesh, India and Nepal.
The second DIPECHO Action plan was launched in 2003 with a €2.5 million budget, supporting 10 projects across the three countries. This Action plan was completed in mid–June 2005.
The current third DIPECHO Action plan for South Asia is the result of wide-ranging consultations held in April and May 2005 among more than 150 humanitarian aid and disaster preparedness professionals from NGOs, international organisations, local authorities and the scientific community. They identified the most urgent needs and the communities and regions most vulnerable and also at what level DIPECHO’s assistance would be most effectively targeted: grassroots, local, national or regional.
As a result, Pakistan was included for the first time in the action plan for South Asia. DIPECHO continues to provide support in India and Bangladesh, two countries also frequently hit by natural disasters.
Nepal, a country in the throes of a conflict ignored by the media, has come out as being in need of more substantial support. It is victim to disasters all year round and lives under constant threat of a major earthquake in the Kathmandu valley.
By its support to the region, the European Commission aims to continue promoting the objectives confirmed at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe (Japan) in January 2005.
For more information, see:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/echo/field/dipecho/index_en.htm
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