Emergency Aid for Flood Disaster in Bangladesh

September 14, 2004

On September 14 (Tue), the Government of Japan decided to provide, through the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), emergency assistance of about $940,000 (about 103 million yen) to provide wells for drinking water to the People's Republic of Bangladesh, which has sustained damage from floods.
Torrential rains in the monsoon season in July this year flooded vast areas of Bangladesh, leaving more than 700 people dead and afflicting more than 35 million people (as of September 14). Japan therefore decided to have the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers provide Bangladesh with water cleaner tablets and other relief goods equivalent to 10,000 dollars, and on August 6 also decided to extend assistance in kind (medicines and daily necessities such as clothing and soap) of about 28 million yen. Japan has decided to extend this emergency assistance in response to U.N. international appeal to the international community, and Japan further intends to extend another assistance --- food aid through the World Food Programme (WFP) --- in response to the appeal. Thus, Japan's cumulative total of assistance for this flood disaster in Bangladesh will be about 6.2 million.
The Government of Japan has decided to extend this emergency assistance from a humanitarian point of view for the disaster-afflicted people, taking account of the friendly relations between Japan and Bangladesh.

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