Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-03-16-Speech-4-185"
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"en.20000316.6.4-185"2
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"As you are aware, I visited Mozambique on 2 and 3 March, together with the Portuguese State Secretary, Mr Amado. We were able to visit some of the flood-affected areas, including the Chaquelan settlement where more than 28 000 people were already at that moment being assisted, thus witnessing at first hand the consequences of the flood disaster, and also witnessing the immediate effect of some of our assistance.
From the onset of the crisis the Commission has addressed the consequences of the floods in Mozambique in a comprehensive manner. We have directed our attention to the following areas of concern: immediate relief, resettlement, rehabilitation, macro-economic stability and long-term development.
On the rescue, search and recovery phase: the situation is that the Commission does not have instruments that are geared to this type of intervention. Member States have the logistical capacity which is needed for these kinds of activities. For the relief emergency aid and resettlement phase, the Commission has approved two ECHO decisions for a total of EUR 2.7 m for Mozambique, and we are preparing a third decision for EUR 5.5 m. These cover food aid, water and sanitation, essential relief items as well as the small-scale rehabilitation of essential health infrastructure and preparation for cholera epidemics. In addition, EUR 1.4 m from the food security budget line have been made available locally to the delegation and the government of Mozambique. The Commission is planning to fund the delivery of seeds and tools to the peasants to promote replanting as soon as the flood-waters recede. In addition to the action already funded in Botswana, the Commission is currently carrying out a humanitarian need assessment in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Madagascar.
Turning to the rehabilitation phase, during my visit I announced an initial amount of EUR 21 m in additional funds from the development budget, of which 5 to 10 m will come from the NGO co-financing budget line and the balance from redistribution of earlier EDF funds. The Commission is insisting on the need for reinforced coordination with the government around the shared comprehensive reconstruction framework. A donor core group is meeting every week in Maputo with the government at ministerial level. The EU presidency and the Commission delegation are members of that group. The Commission intends to contribute to the preparation of the international donor conference that will be convened probably by the end of April. The Commission will provide its funding for the rehabilitation requirements in strict coordination with EU Member States and the other donors.
As to macro-economic stability and long-term development: proposals intended to help Mozambique maintain macro-economic stability are currently being appraised by the Commission with the government and the World Bank. Additional resources, up to EUR 15 m, could be made available. To maintain the rapid growth achieved by Mozambique in recent years, pre-disaster levels of cooperation will be maintained and stepped up. This will result in disbursements for this purpose estimated at EUR 150 m this year as compared to EUR 100 m last year. Within the framework of the Community we will contribute EUR 1 bn for debt relief to ACP countries. Within this, Mozambique figures among the retroactive cases and will be eligible for debt relief under the enhanced HIPC initiative this year.
Concerning coordination with other donors and aid agencies: the Mozambique government, in conjunction with the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA), provides the principal platform for coordination of rescue and relief as expressed in the consolidated appeals they have made. This local ownership of the coordination process should not be challenged by outside donors, at least not as long as it works reasonably well, and this – the UN organisations in Maputo informed us – is in fact the case.
Constraints have been identified in this terrible disaster case. The magnitude and sudden onset of the flood disaster in Mozambique has left the Commission, as well as Member States and other donors, with the question of whether relief response could not have been speedier, as has also been pointed out in this debate. I am at present seeing how we can overcome these constraints to humanitarian assistance in order to provide assistance from the Community even more quickly and efficiently than at present. But it should not be forgotten that this was actually a catastrophe that had many surprising elements, nor was it particularly easy for Member States to mobilise and deploy very sensitive and difficult hardware such as helicopters with extreme rapidity. This is not easily done.
Finally, I would like to emphasise the figures concerning the international response. The overall figure of funding for this disaster now stands at about EUR 109 m globally, of which more than EUR 91 m come from the Commission and the EU Member States. It has already been said in this debate that the European response has, relatively speaking, shown that Europe actually cares. In money terms we have contributed quite well. This is not the whole answer to the problem, and we will continue to find better and quicker ways of responding."@en1
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