The European Union (EU) offers 400,000 EUR (470,000 USD) to provide critical humanitarian assistance to families affected by severe flooding. (Photo: VNA/AFP) Phnom Penh (VNA) – The European Union (EU) is offering 400,000 EUR (470,000 USD) to provide critical humanitarian assistance to families affected by severe flooding, which has wreaked havoc across large parts of Cambodia since the beginning of October, Cambodia's Agence Kampuchea Presse (AKP) reported on October 29.
According to the European Commission, the aid will focus on addressing the urgent needs of the most affected people in the worst hit provinces in the country’s northwest.
“This contribution underlines our solidarity with the people of Cambodia, many of whom have suffered the loss of homes, livelihoods and belongings in the wake of the devastating floods,” Olivier Brouant, who oversees the EU’s humanitarian response in the Mekong region, was quoted as saying.
The funding, which is part of the EU’s Acute Large Emergency Response Tool (ALERT), will support Save the Children and World Vision in delivering much-needed assistance to those most in need. This includes the distribution of clean water, hygiene kits and other essential relief items while ensuring access to sanitation facilities and good hygiene practices.
As of October 28 evening, the ongoing floods have affected 121 districts and cities in the country’s 20 of the 25 provinces and capital city, claiming 44 lives.
A total of 149,857 families have been affected, of them 11,896 families have been evacuated to the safety ground.
Besides, 134,003 houses, 951 schools, 307 pagodas, 284,961 hectares of rice fields, 97,029 hectares of subsidiary crops, and many roads, bridges, canals have been flooded and damaged.
On October 17, the US Embassy in Phnom Penh announced that the US, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), provided 100,000 USD in immediate humanitarian aid to support response efforts to severe flooding in Cambodia./.
VNA
