Guernsey’s Overseas Aid & Development Commission has agreed an Emergency Aid Award to the British Red Cross, following the eruption of the Hunga Tonga Ha’api volcano in Tonga and the huge destruction across that Country caused by the consequent Tsunami.
The donation of £25,000 will help to provide blankets, hygiene kits, water filters and shelter kits. The Red Cross is working to address the immediate and urgent needs of those worst affected with thousands of homes destroyed and little access to clean water in some areas.
Tonga consists of 169 islands of which 36 are inhabited. Although the Tonga Red Cross, as part of its disaster preparedness plans, had previously pre-positioned relief supplies for 1,200 families, this has proved to be insufficient when 85,000 people have been affected out of a population of 110,000.
The Commission normally only supports countries in the lowest quartile of the United Nations’ Human Development Index, which are the very poorest countries of the World.
Although Tonga is in the second lowest quartile, Commission policy allows exceptions where a disaster has wiped out very small communities’, such as small island nations, infrastructure and the ability to respond.
The Commission’s policy recognises that islands can be totally devastated by a disaster in a way that bigger places are not. Larger places have alternative infrastructure and people can be displaced to, and cared for in, different parts of the country. Small islands, even where nominally wealthier, do not have the ability or resilience to bounce back if their core infrastructure and public services are wiped out without support and aid from other jurisdictions.
Deputy Chris Blin, the President of the OA&DC, said: “As fellow Islanders, the population of the Bailiwick of Guernsey can perhaps appreciate a little more than some the very difficult situation the Tongans are in. This is further exacerbated by Tonga’s remoteness. It is over 1,000 miles from New Zealand and 2,000 miles from Australia.
“Having previously spent some years living in Vanuatu, which is located approximately 1,200 miles from Tonga, I am aware of the impact this type of disaster can have on the Pacific Islands and especially how these Island groups are far less developed to what we are accustomed to in the Northern hemisphere. It therefore is only right that we recognise the awful challenges they face and assist in some small way.
“Although a number of nations are providing aid, it has very recently been reported that there is still a $1.6 million funding gap. The British Red Cross state that 50,000 people are still struggling to gain access to drinking water and sanitation.”
Main picture shows Tongan Red Cross emergency teams providing relief from pre-positioned supplies to people affected by the tsunami in Tonga. Photo: Tongan Red Cross.
