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Tag ‘Pakistan’

Disaster preparedness works – here is how

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

This year’s South Asian monsoon has once again uprooted people from their homes in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan – around 12 million are affected. The European Commission’s humanitarian aid teams have been assessing the needs in the flooded areas. Humanitarian assistance from the European Union – over €24 million – is already reaching the afflicted and the vulnerable in the worst flood-hit regions.

Destructive floods swept through that part of Asia last year as well, hurting especially badly the people that are already suffering from poverty and precarious livelihood Read the full entry

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Europe’s Day

Monday, May 9th, 2011

Today we remember and we celebrate. World War II, which took more than 50 million lives, ravaged Europe’s economies and reversed our continent’s development by decades, ended on 9 of May 1945. Five years later, on 9 of May 1950, the French foreign minister Robert Schuman offered a vision for an organised and united Europe, built on the shared peace and prosperity of its peoples.

In the less than a lifetime after these two dates, Europe has taken an enormous leap, made possible by the European Union. Read the full entry

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The World is Changing

Saturday, September 11th, 2010
© Behörden Spiegel/Hauss

Commissioner Georgieva in Bonn visiting the exhibition of the latest disaster response technologies

On Wednesday I had the opportunity to address the 6th European Congress on Civil Protection and Disaster Management in Bonn. It was an excellent event – a platform for generating new ideas, and a place to showcase technological advances, from disaster simulators to protection gear and equipment for disaster response.

My message was simple. The world is changing and the frequency and intensity of disasters are on the increase. The number recorded worldwide has risen fivefold since 1975. Because of this there is an urgent need to strengthen disaster management at all levels. This applies to local and national capacity, and it also applies to action at European level. Read the full entry

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Pakistan: Help makes the difference between hope and despair

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

In Pakistan I met a young man called Gul-a-Lala, which in Pashtun means “Flower of Paradise”. He is an Afghan refugee who lives in the village of Azakhel, in Nowshera district, which is north of Pakistan’s capital Islamabad. 

Gul-a-Lala escaped from war in Afghanistan to make a new life in Azakhel. But at the end of July the Monsoons arrived. His house was flooded together with the rest of the village. And when the waters receded they left behind a mess of bricks, broken wood and mud. Like many other victims of the floods in the north of Pakistan, he has been hit twice: he lost everything in the war and then he lost everything again with the floods. His traditional clothes were dirty, and his bare feet muddy.  When he knew who I was he asked me in perfect English: “What is Europe going to do to help us?”  For his village I had an answer – we were there to assess how a cash-for-work programme can help them rebuild, and relief is on the way. But this is just one drop in a sea of troubles. With more than 17 million people affected, spread all the way from north to south, and often in hard to reach places, Pakistan needs all the help it can get. Read the full entry

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One of the most dangerous jobs in the world

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

The picture you see attached is one of the images used for eye-catching banners that are currently exhibited on two main buildings in the heart of the European district in Brussels. They demand the attention of EU officials, Members of the European Parliament, journalists and many other passers-by. The message of the banners is simple and clear: “Don’t’ Shoot, I’m a Humanitarian Worker!”

This campaign marks the World Humanitarian Day. Seven years ago, on 19 August 2003, Sergio Vieira de Mello, a great humanitarian and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and 21 of his colleagues died when the hotel they were staying at in Baghdad was bombed. This day has now been given a special place in the calendar, to commemorate Mr. de Mello and his colleagues and all humanitarian aid workers who have lost their lives helping others. It is also a day that aims at t highlighting current humanitarian needs across the globe. This year’s theme is “I am a humanitarian aid worker”, which gives us all the opportunity to express gratitude to these courageous and dedicated people, and to raise awareness of the dangers and difficulties they face as they carry out one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Read the full entry

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