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Commission decision of 26.2.2013 financing humanitarian actions in the Caribbean from the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) (ECHO/-CR/EDF/2013/01000)

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Dominican Rep.
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ECHO
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Brussels, 26.2.2013
C(2013) 1209 final

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000, as first amended in Luxembourg on 25 June 2005 and as amended for the second time in Ouagadougou on 22 June 2010 , and in particular Article 72 thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 617/2007 of 14 May 2007 on the implementation of the 10th European Development Fund under the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement , and in particular Articles 5.4 and 8 thereof;

Whereas:

(1) On 24 October 2012, Hurricane Sandy (Category 1 on the Samir-Simpson scale) hit Jamaica. Although outside of the direct track of eye of the hurricane, the Dominican Republic received heavy rainfall causing significant flooding and damage;

(2) Approximately 485,621 people have been severely affected by the event, with damage to 28,559 houses in both countries. Many key parts of infrastructure such as government buildings, schools, health centres, bridges, aqueducts and telecommunication have been seriously affected;

(3) The southern Dominican province of Azua (population of around 200,000) declared a state of emergency and requested assistance;

(4) Mission of the ECHO office in Santo Domingo was deployed to the southern province of Azua to assess the humanitarian situation and needs;

(5) The first humanitarian actions of the European Commission responding to the hurricane were implemented on 3 November 2012 under a DREF operation and a small scale humanitarian response in the Dominican Republic. At a moment when the scale of the disaster was still unkown, the purpose of these operations was to address the most urgent needs in the water, sanitation, health and relief items sectors. No actions have yet been supported in Jamaica. Despite these interventions, there is a need for further humanitarian assistance which will be covered by this Decision;

(6) To reach populations in need, aid should be channelled through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or international organisations including United Nations (UN) agencies. Therefore the European Commission should implement the budget by direct centralised management or by joint management;

(7) For the purposes of this Decision, the Caribbean countries involved are Jamaica and Dominican Republic;

(8) An assessment of the humanitarian situation leads to the conclusion that humanitarian aid actions should be financed by the European Union for a period of 18 months;

(9) The use of the 10th European Development Fund is necessary as all the funds for ACP countries in the general budget are entirely allocated;

(10) It is estimated that an amount of EUR 1,500,000 (EUR 1.000.000 for the Dominican Republic and EUR 500.000 for Jamaica) from the Caribbean's allocation for unforeseen needs (B-envelope) of the 10th European Development Fund is necessary to provide humanitarian assistance to populations directly affected by the hurricane. The activities covered by this Decision may be financed in full in accordance with Article 103.3 of the Financial Regulation applicable to the 10th EDF , together with Article 277 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012 of 29 October 2012 on the rules of application of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union('the Rules of Application of the Financial Regulation') ;

(11) The Commission will inform the EDF Committee within one month of the adoption of the Decision and this in conformity with Article 8 of the Council Regulation (EC) No 617/2007.