ADB provides $3 million for Tuvalu cyclone relief

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided a $3 million grant to the Government of Tuvalu to help fund priority early recovery activities and life-saving services following the onslaught of Tropical Cyclone Tino, which tore through the country on 17 January.

“The ADB grant was made available to the government through a fast-disbursing contingency facility to help them restore essential services,” said the Regional Director of ADB’s Pacific Subregional Office in Fiji Mr. Masayuki Tachiiri.

Damage assessments are underway by the government, with initial findings estimating that 50% of the population may have been affected. The country’s disaster management office reported that few of the country’s 14 islands were spared damage. Two hundred people have been evacuated on the main island of Funafuti alone, and there are reports of significant damage to infrastructure.

Funding will come from ADB’s Pacific Disaster Resilience Program, which was established in December 2017 to help strengthen the disaster resilience of Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu. The program was expanded in 2019 to also include the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Solomon Islands under a second phase. Pacific Disaster Resilience Program fills a financing gap experienced by many Pacific countries hit hard by disasters. It provides a predictable and quick-disbursing source of financing for early response, recovery, and reconstruction activities, and supports priority actions in disaster risk management in participating countries.

Original source: ADB
Published on 29 January 2019