The activities proposed hereafter are still subject to the adoption of the financing decision ECHO/WWD/BUD/2015/01000
AMOUNT: EUR 23 000 000
1. CONTEXT
This HIP covers the response to natural and man-made disasters as well as disaster preparedness, disaster risk reduction and resilience activities in South Asia. For the response to natural and man-made disasters, this HIP focuses largely on Bangladesh, India and Nepal, with the potential for interventions to new disasters also in Sri Lanka .
These countries have been included because of their high exposure and vulnerability to natural disasters. As regards disaster preparedness, disaster risk reduction and resilience activities, the focus will be on specific actions in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka, as well as support to regional initiatives.
South Asia is a densely populated region, with close to 1.4 billion people, i.e. approximately 1/5 of the world population. The region is prone to a variety of natural disasters (floods and droughts, landslides, GLOF3 , cyclones, earthquakes, storm surges, tsunamis, fires) and is the theatre of a number of internal conflicts and political volatility, with ensuing risks of violence. South Asia experienced the greatest reported number of climate-related disasters and the highest number of deaths in the period 1970-2012. The impact of disasters is not felt uniformly. The poor are typically the worst affected as they tend to live in vulnerable areas, have less capacity to deal with loss of income and assets, and limited access to risk sharing mechanisms. Growing concerns about the impact of climate change are also of particular relevance in this part of the world. Factors such as demographic pressure, poor urban planning, settlements in high-risk areas and reduced livelihood options entail a high vulnerability to more frequent, more intense and more unpredictable disasters. Urban communities are increasingly at risk.
About 70% (32.5 million) of the world's children suffering from Global Acute Malnutrition live in South Asia, with their numbers particularly high in India and Bangladesh.
Recurrent natural disasters not only affect the food and nutrition security, health and livelihoods of communities but also expose them to protection risks such as the exclusion of extremely vulnerable individuals, with the elderly, female headed households and children being forced to fend for themselves, as men seek work in the cities; early marriage, trafficking and exposure to sexual and gender based violence are some of its negative consequences.