Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-03-01-Speech-3-110"
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"en.20000301.7.3-110"2
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"The Commission is following with very great concern, as I know all honourable Members will be, the emergency situation in Mozambique. The continuing torrential rains throughout the southern African region aggravated by the Cyclone Eline have led to the displacement of large numbers of people and there has been considerable damage to housing and infrastructure. About 800 000 people appear to have been affected by the floods, about 300 000 are in urgent need of food and other types of humanitarian assistance. Several people have lost their lives, many have disappeared, many have been injured.
The government of Mozambique has appealed for humanitarian aid from third countries. The international community including the United States of America, Switzerland, South Africa, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands have to date provided substantial assistance. My colleague Poul Nielson is literally on his way to Mozambique this afternoon and evening together with the Portuguese Secretary of State to assess the situation on the ground. Mr Nielson will be happy to report back to Parliament on the findings of his mission.
Just before I say a word about the assistance which has been given by ECHO so far, perhaps I can be allowed to make three rather personal remarks. First of all, from 1986 to 1989, I was an overseas development minister and I formed a particular attachment to the people of Mozambique. They were bravely dealing then with huge environmental and political problems, with the problems of poverty and the consequences of a bloody war. If ever a country deserved help from aid donors it was Mozambique.
Secondly, that feeling has been confirmed by the real efforts which Mozambique has made in the last few years to build a strong and prosperous economy and a stable society. Thirdly, we spent much of this afternoon in this Chamber discussing conflict prevention, how one could prevent crises happening or how one could respond to crises more effectively. We talked about the importance of the Commission developing a series of headline goals for non-military actions related to crises and, if I may say so, if ever there was a case where that is relevant, it is the disaster which has overwhelmed Mozambique.
Let me turn to the assistance provided so far. Last week ECHO decided to allocate EUR 1 million for flood relief, of which 600 000 will be dispersed through the Spanish Red Cross and 150 000 through MSF Luxembourg, for operations in Mozambique and EUR 250 000 to Botswana through the German Red Cross. These NGOs will address the most urgent need which is to move people in danger to more secure areas as well as providing health care, water and sanitation.
ECHO is currently preparing a second decision for a further EUR 2 million This decision will be implemented through UNICEF, Action Contre La Faim, COSV, Nuova Frontera and Vireaid pending, of course, the reception and examination of their final proposals. These NGOs will be concentrating on the areas of water and sanitation, provision of shelter, plastic sheeting, jerry cans, blankets, those sorts of things. They will be concentrating on the reinstallation of displaced people, on the further prevention of outbreaks of malaria, cholera and other communicable diseases, on the provision of supplementary food to malnourished and children at risk, on the provision of seeds and tools, on food security, on the rehabilitation of essential animal health structures and on the training of village livestock promoters.
A third decision will be considered in the light of the mission of Commissioner Nielson. The Commission is also preparing a medium-term Community response combining NGO co-financing with European Development Fund operations to help Mozambique to respond to the crisis situation in re-establishing the rapid pace of growth that Mozambique had worked so hard to achieve. It is envisaged that this response would link the current phase of emergency through to re-construction within a three to four years time horizon.
At times like this we are all aware of how much more we need to do to prevent disasters and to deal expeditiously with the disasters that we are not able to prevent. I am not sure that I can add very much at this stage to the analysis of what went wrong and what we can do better but obviously we must learn any lessons that are required from this terrible calamity. I repeat, Commissioner Nielson will be happy to report to Parliament when he returns from Mozambique and the scene of the disaster."@en1
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