St. Vincent and the Grenadines Volcanic Eruption Emergency Project VEEP will be mirrored by WFP and other agencies in Africa and other parts of the globe. This was disclosed by Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves earlier this week.
The US$44 million Volcanic Eruption Emergency Project (VEEP) was launched on July 28, 2022. Under VEEP, the government was better prepared to respond to potential emergencies and restore critical services after the eruptions of the La Soufriere volcano.
“The World Bank, UNICEF, and WFP want this programme to be run in Africa and other parts of the Caribbean” .
“You see what is happening on your television screens in Turkey and in Syria with the earthquake; when they are building back, this programme will be used. Their governments will have to give the people who suffer some money. I don’t know if they are going to give them as much money as we give here, but this kind of program is going to be there because you have to keep lives and livelihoods going”, Gonsalves stated.
Gonsalves said when UNICEF, WFP, and World Bank officials came to SVG following the eruptions, they praised the program. Gonsalves said that because of the decisions that the government took in the early days of COVID, they were able to roll out these programmes fast.
VEEP, the Volcano Recovery Project, won the World Bank’s Vice President Award in 2022.
Elad Shenfeld, the World Bank’s senior disaster risk management specialist, made the announcement in Kingstown on Thursday, July 28.
VEEP won the VP award based on the World Bank’s core values of impact, integrity, respect, innovation, and teamwork.
Shenfeld said at the time that the project was a great achievement that showed how professional, dedicated, and good SVG’s government skills were.
