The European Commission adopted on 4 April a new humanitarian funding decision of 10 million euro aimed to help the Japanese population cope with the massive consequences of the disaster caused by the earthquake and tsunami. This decision boosts the aid already granted by the Member States and the Commission immediately after the disaster to more than 15 million euro. The new funding will provide assistance to more than 30,000 people, who live in temporary shelters and rely on aid for food, water, blankets and mattresses and other immediate provisions.

Since the early hours of the disaster that hit Japan on 11 March 2011 the European Commission has been in contact with the Japanese authorities and pursued ways to assist the afflicted population, through its humanitarian aid and civil protection department. After the disaster Japan asked for the EU to coordinate civil protection and humanitarian assistance, as well as all the in-kind offers from Member States. Under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism Participating 18 of the participating Member States have offered in-kind or financial assistance to Japan.

The new funding decision worth 10 million euro to assist Japan has been spearheaded by European Commissioner for International Cooperation, humanitarian aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva, who was the first high-level international politician to visit Japan after the disaster. As highlighted by Commissioner Georgieva, while the European Union supporting the affected people in Japan, it is also crucial to draw the appropriate conclusions and prepare for a world where disasters are both more frequent, and more destructive.

The decision will allow the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to distribute relief items to evacuees and other people in need in Japan, in partnership with the Japanese Red Cross Society. The European aid will target some 8,000 families in the affected provinces of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima.

Humanitarian Aid to Japan

Aid from the European Union reaches Japan as a coherent package of Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection. On 26 March, a European plane, provided free of charge by Lufthansa, brought to Tokyo 72 tons of relief items offered by the Member States. Further to this action, three other shipments of European relief aid have arrived in the country, including 50 radiation dose rate devices. Another flight with European assistance (food, tents, sleeping bags, gloves and rubber boots), provided free of charge by AeroLogic, DHL, and Lufthansa also reached Japan on 4 April.

A 15-member EU Civil Protection team has been working in Japan since 19 March. The experts, with support from the EU Delegation, have been working on solutions for the delivery of European assistance and have been coordinating the reception and onward transport of the aid in Japan.