WRITTEN QUESTION E-0843/02

by Isidoro Sánchez García (ELDR) to the Commission

(26 March 2002)

Subject: Natural disasters in Latin America

As a member of the Delegation for relations with the countries of Central America and Mexico, the author of this question wishes to obtain information on the EU's interventions in the countries of Latin America in the area of the cooperative handling of natural disasters.

Can the Commission state what interventions have occurred in the countries of Central America and South America and in Mexico over the last five years, and provide a breakdown by country, type of intervention, cost and financial allocation, indicating the relevant budgetary details and heading? Can it also indicate the nature of any likely future action in this field in the short term?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(3 June 2002)

In response to natural disasters in the last five years in Central and South America and Mexico the following interventions have taken place in.

Humanitarian aid interventions Budget Line B7-210

The Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) has made decisions to fund projects in response to the natural disasters in Central and South America, which are listed in a table sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat (table 1). ECHO funds projects that are carried out by European non-governmental organisations, United Nations organisations and members of the Red Cross family. Interventions have been in the fields of the provision of food and nutritional complements, water and sanitation, medicines and emergency health provision, epidemiological surveillance, provision of esential relief items, temporary shelter and strengthening of agricultural production.

In the future, ECHO is ready to respond to natural disasters that will occur in the region. At present there are plans to take further decisions in the first half of 2002 for projects which follow up on the El Salvador earthquake last year and which continue to alleviate the problems caused by the drought in Central America.

Dipecho interventions Budget Line B7-219

ECHO is also active in the area of disaster preparedness, through its Dipecho programme. This programme addresses disaster mitigation and preparedness issues at regional level.

The Andean Community and Central America are two of the five priority regions for the Dipecho.

The objectives of Dipecho are to: boost local capabilities; set up early-warning systems; create small-scale mitigation projects; disseminate information and experience at local, national and regional levels.

Dipecho funding in these regions in the past five years is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat (table 2).

At present it is envisaged that Dipecho projects will continue to be funded in the Andean Community and Central American countries in 2002 and beyond.

Food security Budget Line B7-20

Two particular interventions under the Food Security budget line have taken place in Central and South America in the past five years:

- in 1998 interventions of EUR 20 389 036 were made to stimulate the recovery of productive capacity in countries affected by Hurricane Mitch and by drought and floods arising from El Niño;

- in 2001 EUR 727 882 was allocated for the distribution of seeds in response to the drought in Central America.

The detail of these interventions is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat (table 3).

The potential for future interventions in response to natural disasters under this budget line will be assessed on a case by case basis.

Rehabilitation Budget Line B7-313

This budget line was used in 1997 in response to Hurricane Cesar, to finance teams for the reconstruction and maintenance of embankments and riverbanks which had been damaged by the hurricane.

It has also been used for the Programme for the Reconstruction of Central America (PRRAC), which has been implemented since 1999 in the four countries most affected by Hurricane Mitch. The areas for intervention under PRRAC are water and sanitation, health, housing and education.

The detail of the interventions is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat (table 4).

Future interventions of this type will come under the Budget Line B7-310 (see below).

Financial and Technical Co-operation Budget Line B7-310

The programmed actions financed from budget line B7-310 have been designed taking into account the Commission communication on the link between emergency aid, rehabilitation and development(1). The programme constitutes a coherent package that ensures continuity with past and on-going actions, and complement the actions financed from other budget lines. It constitutes an important contribution to the fight against poverty (given that it is the poor populations that suffer the most from the consequences of natural disasters) as well as to regional integration.

The Commission has just approved the programming 2002-2006 for horizontal programmes for the whole Latin America in which EUR 40 million are foreseen for actions in the field of natural disasters. On the one hand, those actions will aim at improving mechanisms for coping better with the consequences of natural disaster. On the other hand, the credits foreseen will be used to implement the priorities expressed by the European, Latin American and Caribbean Heads of States and Governments in Rio in 1999, relating to supporting actions of common interest for Latin America and the Union in the field of natural disasters (actions such as enhancement of the co-operation between civil protection of the countries of both regions, the development of the relations between local communities of both regions on issues such as risk reduction).

Also, in the context of the 2002-2006 programming at regional level the Commission will shortly consider the approval of regional strategies for Central America and the Andean Community. Those strategies foresee actions related to natural disasters for an amount of respectively EUR 20 and 10 million. The regional strategies will aim at supporting regional initiatives and reinforcing regional co-ordination. They will focus on improving prevention networks together with stimulating the development of a common legal framework for regional prevention mechanisms in Central America, on reinforcing the civil protection and their regional co-ordination, and on improving the efficiency of risk management systems in the Andean Community.

Taking into account the consequences of recent natural disasters, the Commission 2002-2006 programming for some individual countries (Honduras, El Salvador and Venezuela) also includes actions at national level that will contribute to reduce the vulnerability of their population to natural disasters. Those actions mainly aim at contributing to a more rational use of the territory and a better and more sustainable management of natural resources.

In total, and according to the 2002-2006 programming for budget line B7-310, over the five next years, about EUR 155 million should be directly or indirectly devoted to natural disasters in Latin America. This important amount is justified in view of the extent of the problem in Latin America.

(1) COM(2001) 153 final.