Europe injects $10 million to shield Central America from disasters

Following a year of deadly storms, Europe is moving to pad out Central America´s finances toward disaster preparedness with a $10 million fund, according to the European Commission´s Guatemala office.

The money will be deposited into a disaster preparedness fund of the European Commission´s Humanitarian Aid department, called DIPECHO, started in 1996, the CE office said in a statement.

The commission said DIPECHO will be used to carry out 20 new projects across the region aimed at enhancing Central America´s response to natural disasters, helping some 600,000 residents.

Since Central America entered DIPECHO in 1988, the international aid package has put some $22.5 million toward financing nearly 70 projects.