BY VANESSA GONYE THE European Union has donated US$1,547 million to Care International Zimbabwe to strengthen disaster preparedness structures and systems in Manicaland, Mashonaland Central and Matabeleland provinces.
The funds will be made available through the EU’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, and will be implemented in collaboration with government and Caritas Zimbabwe.
The project, in part, seeks to help strengthen and standardise Zimbabwe’s Civil Protection (CP) structures to improve efficiency and effectiveness of disaster preparedness and response.
In a statement yesterday, Care Zimbabwe country director Patrick Sikana said the funds would greatly assist the country which has been prone to disasters, many of which erupt suddenly, leaving extensive damage in communities due to ill preparedness.
“In the recent past the southern African region has been faced by severe weather, such as the El Nino-induced drought, localised flash floods, storms and cyclones such as Idai and Eloise. These disasters affect the most vulnerable households in Zimbabwe, particularly women and girls, and many continue to experience loss of crops, livelihoods and shelter, and reduction of resilience to recover from such severe shocks and stresses,” he said.
“This project will go a long way in supporting preparedness systems in the targeted districts prone to disasters through setting up proper and sustainable systems for cash preparedness, stockpiling, access to emergency non-food items, improving the safety, security, and management of selected evacuation centres. We will achieve these through working closely with the Civil Protection Unit, Meteorological Services department and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority.”
The project will also focus on the roll-out and deployment of inclusive community-led early warning and early action plans and tools in selected districts, especially locations prone to rapid-onset natural disasters, such as flooding and cyclones.
The plans will also harness Indigenous knowledge systems, linking them to meteorological forecasting systems.
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EU Humanitarian expert, Sylvie Montembault said: “We need to galvanise communities throughout southern Africa to be more aware and prepared for the sudden onset of natural disasters.
“For every Euro or dollar invested in disaster preparedness, we save US$7 or Euros in damages or reconstruction costs, and enable communities to overcome such disasters much quicker. Preparedness also saves lives.”
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