Pre-Positioned Aid Helps Flood Survivors Worldwide

AmeriCares Global Pre-Positioning Initiative, launched in early 2012, has already helped crucial aid quickly reach flood survivors in Pakistan, the Philippines, Colombia, India and Indonesia – aid that is put in place before disaster strikes.AmeriCares Global Pre-Positioning Initiative, launched in early 2012, has already helped crucial aid quickly reach flood survivors in Pakistan, the Philippines, Colombia, India and Indonesia – aid that is put in place before disaster strikes.The initiative, aimed at drastically reducing the amount of time it takes to respond, awards grants of up to $10,000 to partner organizations in countries susceptible to natural disasters. The funds are used to purchase emergency supplies such as water purification tablets, mosquito nets, sleeping mats and personal care items that can be distributed to people in need within 72 hours of a disaster.To date, 13 partners across 11 countries have received grant awards. Already, five of these partners have mobilized their pre-positioned emergency supplies to help thousands of people affected by severe flooding:

• In June and July, more than 2 million people in the Assam region of India were affected by the worst flooding since 1998. The AmeriCares India team responded immediately, supporting nearly 1,200 affected people with water purification tablets and other relief supplies.
• In August, people in the Amban province in Indonesia faced flooding and landslides. The pre-positioning grant helped our partners quickly provide relief supplies, water purification tablets and other items to assist nearly 600 displaced survivors.
• Just hours after Tropical Storm Saola struck the Philippines in August, our partners had enough supplies on hand to help 1,000 families throughout the affected regions. These supplies were especially helpful to survivors, some of whom were found stranded on rooftops with no belongings.
• Partners in Colombia and Pakistan put the global prepositioning grants to work helping families in need in the aftermath of severe flooding. In Colombia, our partner distributed water purification tabs and hygiene kits, benefitting 2,000 people. In Pakistan, the distribution of hygiene kits served approximately 1,500 people.

These grant-funded supplies help curb the spread of infectious disease and provide comfort to displaced families while we work with partners to prepare additional shipments of emergency medical and humanitarian aid. Other countries involved in the Initiative include El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Myanmar and Sri Lanka,AmeriCares has provided medical relief and humanitarian assistance to millions affected by natural and man-made disasters for 30 years, including earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, Pakistan and Japan, the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia and Hurricane Katrina in the United States. In 2011, in response to one of the worst U.S. tornado seasons in decades, AmeriCares delivered nearly $3 million in aid for survivors, including $600,000 in disaster recovery grants to help more than 62,000 people recover and prepare for future emergencies.Donate Now