DHAKA, Aug 3, 2020 (BSS) – The European Union (EU) has provided aid for 25,000 flood affected people in some of the hardest hit areas in Jamalpur, Sylhet, Sirajganj, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and Tangail districts.
“In response to severe flooding that has affected nearly one-third of Bangladesh, the EU is providing EURO 100,000 (nearly TK one crore) in humanitarian aid funding to assist the most vulnerable communities,” an EU’s press release said here today.
The EU funding supports the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) in delivering much-needed assistance through the distribution of cash grants that will cover the most urgent needs for those worst affected by the floods.
The aid will also help evacuate people to safe shelters with their assets and livestock, deliver food packs, water purification units, tarpaulins and essential household items, as well as provide first aid treatment.
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), said the release.
The EU feared that loss of crops and agricultural land would significantly impact on Bangladesh’s long-term food security and the health system, already strained by the pandemic, to be burdened even further.
Through European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), the European Union helps over 120 million victims of conflicts and disasters every year while it has signed a EUR 3 million humanitarian contribution agreement with the IFRC to support the DREF.