EU Provides $170K in Aid to Belize for Wildfire Recovery

The European Union (EU) has pledged to render humanitarian aid to Belize in the amount of 170 thousand Belize dollars, the equivalent to 80 thousand Euros.  The EU is making the contribution through the Belize Red Cross Society with funding from the Federation’s Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF).  According to the EU, access to this fund is allocated to small scale disasters for immediate disbursement, once requested the Red Cross Society.  The funds are to be used to assist two hundred families, primarily the farmers who have lost their crops in the recent wildfires.  The assistance is expected to manifest through health and sanitation services as well as water provisions.  In its statement, the EU noted, that its relief assistance is an expression of European solidarity with people in need all around the world. It aims to save lives, prevent and alleviate human suffering, and safeguard the integrity and human dignity of populations affected by natural disasters and man-made crises.  According to reports, the wildfires in the past two to three months have damaged more than 32 thousand acres of farmlands, as well as some 200 households.  The estimated total in damages in the south and the west currently stands at eight million US dollars.