24-03-2023 | di COOPI

Paraguay. With ECHO in flood-affected areas

From 11 to 15 March, Roman Majcher (Rapid Response Expert for European Union Humanitarian Aid in Latin America) and Fabiola Guerrero (Programme Coordinator COOPI-Cooperazione Internazionale Paraguay) travelled to the areas most affected by the recent floods, to carry out a needs assessment and to enable the state of emergency to be responded to as quickly as possible.

Since 17 February, the north of Paraguay has in fact been hit by heavy rainfall, which has caused the Paraguay River to flood heavily since early March. The rains also caused severe flooding, which prompted the government to declare a State of Emergency. The flash floods occurred in areas that had previously suffered a long period of drought, compromising the ability of communities to withstand further climatic shocks. State intervention was activated immediately, with support from the National Emergency Secretariat, Armed Forces, Police and local governments.

ECHO (European Union Humanitarian Aid) and COOPI first met the communities affected by the floods in Calaverita and Olería (Concepción), then those in Vallemi-San Lázaro and Puerto Casado, together with municipal and government representatives; they then reached the district of Carmelo Peralta, Puerto Sastre and Isla Margarita, and finally reached the Homeland-President Hayes.

The situation remains very unstable. According to information gathered, more than 50,000 people have been affected so far, mainly indigenous and very vulnerable people. Houses, schools, health centres, hospitals and other public infrastructure have been damaged by the rising waters and are in need of maintenance.
In the department of Alto Paraguay, the flooding blocked main roads, leading to the isolation of 12,000 inhabitants. In addition, the rising river and flooding are triggering an epidemic of mosquito-borne diseases (dengue and chikungunya) that is becoming worrisome as the weeks go by: the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare has reported about 15,000 new cases every week.

The situation in the country, already historically a victim of risks linked to climate change, could worsen further in the coming weeks and months due to the forecast of continuous heavy rains in the upper watershed of the Paraguay river, and it seems necessary to start with an emergency project.

COOPI, present since 2001 in the Chaco with indigenous community resilience and disaster risk reduction programmes, together with ECHO, is already responding to the emergency. The affected families urgently need food, water, non-food items (clothes, hygiene and cleaning products, kitchen utensils) and medical assistance.