Following devastating flooding, Guyana has been invited to seek emergency support from the European Union (EU) under its Civil Protection Mechanism.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) said its Director General Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig updated Chargé d’ Affaires of the Delegation of the European Union in Guyana Evelina Melbarzde on the Level 2 flood disaster that has been declared in Guyana.
The meeting was also attended by CDC’s Senior Preparedness Officer Captain Lakshman Persaud and Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Olive Gopaul.
The statement said during the meeting, the EU Chargé d’ Affaires invited Guyana to request for the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism (EU CPM) to be activated.
“Once the Mechanism is activated the assistance is coordinated amongst 34 countries who participate in the EU CPM… I would invite you to formulate your request and tell us what exactly would be needed,” the Chargé d’ Affaires explained.
Melbarzde informed the CDC that if this mechanism would be launched it would not be linked to any EU projects that are currently being implemented in Guyana.
“By pooling together civil protection capacities and capabilities, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism allows for a stronger and more coherent collective response,” the CDC noted, while adding that in addition to the EU Member States, there are currently six participating states to the Civil Protection Mechanism (Iceland, Norway, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Turkey).
