The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will establish a new fund that will enable it to immediately provide financial aid to developing member countries (DMCs) hit by natural disasters.
The ADB Board of Directors approved the establishment of the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund (APDRF), which will provide grants of up to 3 million USD to help DMCs meet the immediate costs of restoring life-saving services following a declared disaster.
The financial assistance will bridge the gap between existing ADB emergency loans and grants, Nam News Networks quoted the bank as saying in its press release on Apr. 13.
“ADB has an existing emergency assistance loan that is designed for longer term reconstruction and rehabilitation. While this mechanism allows for quick fund disbursement, it still takes at least 12 weeks before funds can be made available to affected DMCs,” Neil Britton, ADB Senior Disaster Risk Management Specialist said.
The new APDRF will complement ADB's existing mechanisms and allow for the disbursement of additional funds almost immediately, he added.
The Asia and Pacific region is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of natural disasters. In 2008, among the top 10 countries worldwide with the highest number of disaster-related deaths, nine were in Asia.