Head of the Echo South Asia Francesco Cristiano Mandra presented the outlines of Dipecho Bangladesh programmes to be carried out by its partner organisations to raise awareness about disaster among the vulnerable groups.

The Echo will spend 18 million Euros to promote disaster management preparedness in four countries-Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

The Dipecho is a one-year programme intending to reduce damage to lives and properties taking actions prior to disasters caused by earthquakes, typhoons, floods and droughts through its national and international partner organisations.

The 2nd Dipecho action plan includes, among other things, emergency response programme, advocacy and public awareness, early warning systems, dissemination of information, training and capacity building and mitigation work.

The Echo Strategy-2004 has a total budget of 443 million Euros for Dipecho programme, 10 percent of which is reserved for meeting primary emergency needs.

Disaster Management and Relief Minister Kamal Ibne Yousuf inaugurated the Dipecho Programme-2004.

"Bangladesh is synonymous to disasters and preparedness is of paramount importance in mitigating the loss of lives and properties," he said.

The programme aims at coordinating disaster management preparedness of the government, donors, NGOs and individuals.

At the inaugural ceremony, the Dipecho partners- ActionAid, Oxfam, DCA, IFRC, and TDH presented highlights of their share in the disaster management programmes.