News from the Field

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is shipping tents, blankets, sleeping mats, plastic sheeting, portable reservoirs, water purifying equipment, plastic water containers, and electric power generators as quickly as possible from its warehouse in Singapore to the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka.

Extensive damage has been reported in southwestern Bangladesh in the wake of Cyclone Sidr, a colossal category-4 storm that traversed the South Asian country on November 15 and 16. Waves as high as 5 meters have smashed low-lying, coastal areas in Sundarban and elsewhere, washing away entire villages.

In addition to human casualties, roads, bridges, communication infrastructure, farm crops, and livestock have been devastated. Official announcements as of November 18 place the death toll at over 1,800, with more than 3 million people being displaced and over 880,000 homes being completely or partially destroyed.

The Japanese government made a decision to provide emergency supplies worth 35 million yen on November 19 in response to a request from the Bangladeshi government.

JICA has been busy during 2007—the 20th anniversary of its program called Japan Disaster Relief (JDR)—providing emergency aid for major natural disasters to 15 countries, in addition to dispatching medical personnel and offering rebuilding assistance in troubled areas around the world.

JICA has been particularly active in recent months, sending relief supplies to the victims of the biggest floods to hit Mexico in half a century, Tropical Storm Noel in the Dominican Republic, Hurricane Felix in Nicaragua, flooding in Africa, and the massive magnitude-8.0 earthquake in Peru.