European Comission to fund disaster risk reduction programs in Philippines and elsewhere

Manila Bulletin (Philippines): The European Commission (EC) will be funding disaster risk reduction programs amounting to P10-million in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, as part of its commitment to assist countries highly at risk to natural disasters. Key disaster risk reduction stakeholders, including those from the European Commission Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) and the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) gathered in Manila on Thursday to review good practices and identify priority areas for future interventions.

…“Both the Philippines and the European Union have recently approved Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Strategies. This is an important and timely milestone in our efforts to reduce the burden of disasters on the poor and vulnerable and on countries subject to pragmatic natural disasters like the Philippines,” Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines Alistair MacDonald said.

"This will mean that our interventions will better take into consideration the effects of natural disasters on the poorest populations most especially in the light of climate change, and thus the need to strengthen the Philippines' capacity to adapt to the effects of global warming and reduce the risks of natural disasters. These interventions will take into account the importance of establishing coherence between climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction,” he added….