The 50-MT rice contributed by the Republic of Korea has been quickly released through the automatic trigger mechanism under the APTERR Tier 3 programme to provide immediate emergency assistance to people severely affected by floods and landslides in Lao PDR. These disasters were caused by a series of tropical storms, including the recent tropical storm Wipha.
The rice is underway to support affected households in the five hardest-hit provinces, including Borkeo, Xayyabouly, Vientiane, Khammoune and Salavan. The APTERR Secretariat continues to closely collaborate with the Lao governments led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare as well as the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), in monitoring and assessing the evolving disaster situation to ensure that timely and effective assistance reaches those in need.
The 50-MT rice is part of the total of 3,000 MT contributed by Korea and prepositioned in Lao PDR earlier this year with aims of enhancing country’s food security and emergency response capacity.
The automatic trigger release allows the APTERR Secretariat to verify and approve the release of up to 50 MT of rice for immediate response, even while the formal trigger release request is still undergoing preparation for approval by the APTERR Council. This significantly accelerates emergency response operations in the disaster-affected APTERR countries, enabling faster support to those affected without delay.
Photo credit: Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare of Lao PDR and APTERR
