About DIPECHO

The European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) is one of the world’s largest provider of financing for humanitarian aid operations. Through its disaster preparedness programme (DIPECHO) it assists vulnerable people living in the main disaster-prone regions of the world in reducing the impact of natural disasters on their lives and livelihoods.

The DIPECHO programme had been expanded over the years and now covers six disaster prone regions: the Caribbean, Central America, South America, Central Asia, South Asia and South East Asia. The projects funded by the programme include simple and inexpensive preparatory measures, often implemented by the communities themselves. They have proven extremely effective in limiting damage and saving lives when hazards suddenly strike. DIPECHO-projects will typically emphasize training, capacity-building, awareness-raising, establishment or improvement of local early-warning systems and contingency-planning. There are numerous examples that these simple and community-owned preparedness measures enable communities at risk to save their own lives and livelihoods when disaster strikes. As any other relief provided by DG ECHO, DIPECHO projects are carried out by European-based aid agencies and UN agencies in close cooperation with local NGOs and authorities.

Between 1996 and 2008, DIPECHO provided more than 165 million for almost 400 projects worldwide. These projects have demonstrated that simple and inexpensive preparatory measures, particularly those implemented by communities themselves, are extremely effective in limiting damage and saving lives.

For further info please visit: http://ec.europa.eu/echo/aid/dipecho_en.htm