Brussels (Special to ZennieReport.com) – Following the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Myanmar and the broader region last Friday, the European Union is channelling further assistance to strengthen relief efforts.
Concretely, the European Union has launched a Humanitarian Air Bridge operation, with the first flight departing today from Copenhagen to Yangon. The cargo of 80 tonnes of European Union owned supplies including tents, child protection kits, health and water and sanitation kits will be consigned to UNICEF. Supplies will be delivered to Mandalay for collection and distributed by European Union partners.
European Union Sending Team to Investigate
Furthermore, following the activation of the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, a team of 12 European experts from Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Luxembourg and Norway is being deployed to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur in the coming days to ensure assistance from European Union Member States reaches those in need. Sweden and the Netherlands have also offered to deploy other experts to another request, this time from the UNEP/OCHA Joint Environmental Unit. The European Union’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre has also deployed a liaison officer to Bangkok to ensure coordination with partners on the ground.
To ensure support within the most critical hours after the disaster, EU activated the Copernicus satellite service to facilitate impact assessment and released €2.5 million in humanitarian aid. Today the EU is also releasing an additional €500,000 contributing to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) emergency appeal.
Granting access to humanitarian organisations and ensure they operate in a safe environment, as well as protecting civilians, is crucial to deliver life-saving aid.
European Union Aid Background
The European Union has been providing humanitarian aid in Myanmar since 1994, with total funding reaching over €446 million. EU assistance includes food, nutrition, water and sanitation, shelter, protection, education in emergencies, and help to build disaster preparedness.
Just hours after the earthquake, the European Union released €2.5 million in emergency aid as the very first international donor to announce aid. This comes on top of the €33 million already allocated by the European Union to the humanitarian emergency at the beginning of 2025, totalling over €35 million.
European Union humanitarian aid is provided directly via thoroughly vetted humanitarian organisations across the country, wherever needs are biggest, in line with the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.