According to a press statement issued by the British Embassy in Kathmandu, the UK´s new disaster preparedness program will strengthen Nepal government´s disaster risk management policy and support improved building code of compliance. [break]It will scale up community-based activities to build the resilience of 4 million people to earthquake and other disasters.
The announcement comes after the visit of UK´s Minister for International Development Alan Duncan to Nepal earlier this week. Minister Duncan held meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar and also visited National Emergency Operation Center.
"I am very pleased to announce this package of UK Funding to improve national disaster management and emergency response capacity and reduce the vulnerability of 4 million people to disasters. This is a part of an increased focus on disasters as a new and vital part of DFID´s work," the statement quoted Minister Duncan as saying. "In Nepal and internationally, we should be asking ourselves now what we can do to help Nepal to reduce the risk."
The aid money will help reconstruct at least 162 schools damaged in the Sikkim earthquakes in September 2011, and develop a national and international emergency response and train 4,000 volunteers across Nepal in the search and rescue and first aid.
"I have been extremely focused on the earthquake risk in Nepal since my first visit to Nepal as a UK Minister. An earthquake in Kathmandu has all the components of a cataclysmic tragedy. This is a risk that the UK cannot ignore," said Duncan, who has been closely involved throughout the development of the new program.
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