The activities proposed hereafter are still subject to the adoption of the financing decision ECHO/WWD/BUD/2014 /01000
AMOUNT: EUR 10 747 000
- CONTEXT
Central America is one of the most disaster prone regions in the world, in terms of recurrence of hazards, their severity and scope and the significant potential for major disasters. The region has also large populations living in poverty and insecurity and is increasingly suffering due to the elevated impact of disasters constantly eroding their coping mechanisms.
Humanitarian actions in Central America focus mainly on El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, and to a lesser extent on Costa Rica and Panama. The first four countries are situated in the middle income group of countries, ranking 107, 133, 120 and 129 respectively. The latter two are situated in the high income group of countries, ranking 62 and 59 respectively1.
This ranking hides however very significant regional and socio-economic disparities in countries that are among the most unequal in the world in terms of income, access to education, health, water, electricity and opportunities. Social inequalities are deepest in Honduras and Guatemala2.
In DG ECHO3's Global Needs Assessment El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras have a vulnerability index of 2 and a crisis index of 3, due to the high level of organized violence affecting these countries, which have homicide rates among the highest in the world4. Nicaragua has a vulnerability index of 2 and a crisis index of 1. Panama has a vulnerability index of 2 and Costa Rica of 1.
ECHO's Integrated Analysis Framework for 2013-14 identified high humanitarian needs in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The vulnerability of the population affected is assessed to be very high or high according to the country and the type of crisis (natural disasters, impact of violence and/or food insecurity).
The six countries have a total population of 43.6 million. In some countries, it is estimated that up to 84% of the local population lives in risk areas5.