27 October 2011
The Italian Directorate General for Development Cooperation’s Emergency Office has made two donations, each of 50,000 euros, to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in response to the emergency appeals for El Salvador and Honduras. The two countries have been hit by flooding caused by the 12-E tropical storm.
In the case of Honduras, the Italian donation will focus on 800 families (about 4000 individuals) living in the Choluteca and Valle districts. The Development Cooperation donation is intended to support the Emergency Response Fund set up by the IFRC for activities carried out in conjunction with the Honduran Red Cross Society. Planned activities include: local capacity-building by providing equipment for the teams engaged in search and rescue operations in the affected areas; monitoring, in coordination with the local civil protection authorities; and the distribution of food supplies, hygiene kits, drinking water and essential supplies (cooking utensils, blankets and water containers) to the families affected.
In El Salvador, 2000 families will benefit from Italian assistance for a period of 9 months. The appeal envisages multi-sector intervention to bring immediate relief to the flood-hit communities through the following initiatives: distribution of food supplies; distribution of essential supplies, drinking water and hygiene kits at the numerous community centres accommodating people evacuated from their homes and villages; repair of sanitation-health infrastructure; psychological counselling; emergency and first-aid training for volunteers; and initiatives to promote good hygiene practices in order to prevent the spread of disease.
