Winter Emergency response activities shape up in Eastern and South Eastern Europe

Severe winter conditions have left hundreds of thousands isolated in Eastern European villages, without access to food and basic services. Thousands of families are facing great difficulties in assuring proper living conditions, especially heating, in their homes. There is also a high risk of floods following the period of cold weather and heavy snowfall.

Brussels, 27 February 2012 - Caritas organisations in Eastern and South Eastern Europe have started immediately relief operations to address the suffering of populations in their countries.

One particular example is that Caritas organizations from seven countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia) have joined forces with Caritas Europa in developing a single consolidated project proposal for their response activities.

The project, which is designed for a total of 180, 000 Euros, has the following purpose:

Two thousand seven hundred people living in communities in Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia will receive a range of basic needs provisions tailored to their assessed specific needs.

The project foresees the distribution of food packages, hygienic packages, bedding-materials, firewood and cleaning-up of wells, cellars, and courtyards from dirty water. The project will also provide necessary resources in case of serious floods may occur in the region during the spring period.

“I feel very excited about this project since it shows that Caritas organisations can achieve a far bigger effectiveness and efficiency when working together in terms of mobilising support quicker and targeting beneficiaries better with more appropriate services,” said Caritas Europa’s humanitarian officer Harald Happel.

“The chosen coordinated approach also ensures that all Caritas member organisations participating will be enabled to respond due to a fairer distribution of available funds in the network. This can be seen as a concrete expression of embracing the value and spirit of solidarity among each other in support of the people we are called to serve,” said Mr Happel.

This winter relief project has been initiated by Caritas Europa in close cooperation with the group of members organised in the South Eastern Europe Caritas Emergency Group (SEECEG), chaired by Caritas Romania. Caritas Romania is coordinating the response activities in the different countries and overseeing the implementation of the project.

For more information on the South Eastern Europe response project, please contact Thomas Hackl from Caritas Romania on emergency@caritas.org.ro. For more information on the Caritas Europa response work in Eastern Europe, please contact Harald Happel on hhappel@caritas-europa.org.

Watch video from emergency relief by Caritas Albania here: