Key messages
Disasters caused by natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, hurricanes, landslides and droughts frequently impact Central America and Mexico. The European Commission has provided humanitarian aid such as temporary shelter, food assistance, clean water and proper sanitation in all the major crises that have impacted the region in the past 20 years.
Vulnerability to disasters is extremely high due to unplanned urbanisation, climate change, widespread poverty and high levels of violence. Disaster Risk Reduction* (DRR) is therefore a priority in order to mitigate these challenges.
About one third of the assistance has been channeled to increase the resilience* of vulnerable communities and their institutions, by identifying risks and taking measures to reduce them to be better prepared to respond to natural hazards.
In the framework of the EU Children of Peace initiative, the Commission is one of the few donors addressing the specific humanitarian consequences for children of high levels of violence in Mexico and the Northern Triangle of Central America (El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala).
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