Tacloban City—The European Union and the United Nations Development Programme on Tuesday turned over two newly built evacuation centers to Typhoon “Yolanda”-affected communities in Biliran province.
EU Ambassador Franz Jessen and UNDP Philippines Country Director Titon Mitra today led the turnover ceremony of the community evacuation centers to local government units of the municipalities of Cabucgayan and Biliran in Biliran province.
The construction of the evacuation centers is part of the EU’s package of assistance, through the UNDP-implemented Project Recovery consisting of 11 community evacuation centers, six of which have been completed, in the provinces of Biliran, Leyte and Eastern Samar.
With funding support of 9.7 million euro (approximately P508 million) from the EU and to be implemented until July 2017, Project Recovery complements the efforts of national and local governments in enabling the timely and sustainable recovery of Yolanda-affected communities and also builds their resilience to future natural disasters.
Project Recovery focuses on rebuilding disaster-resilient infrastructure, restoring livelihoods and jobs in farming and fishing communities, addressing land management issues and shelter construction models to ensure relocation of displaced populations, and strengthening capacities for and linkage of national and local governance disaster response and preparedness.
Guided by the principle of building back better and safer, the CECs are designed and constructed to withstand a 300 kilometers per hour wind velocity, integrates water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, and fitted with solar panels and generator set. These will also function as a multi-purpose community center during non-disaster events.
