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| Citi Foundation grants form a significant part of Citi's community investment in Asia Pacifiic. |
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| View Citi Foundation grants |
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| According to the Pacific Disaster Center, Asia Pacific is one of the most disaster-prone regions in the world. With 53% of the world's population and 20% of its land area, the region experiences disproportionate loss of life and devastation every year due to natural disasters. The incidence and severity of disasters are likely to increase with population growth in the most vulnerable areas, such as low-lying coastal land and earthquake zones. |
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| Citi Asia Pacific has a strong tradition of supporting communities when these are hit by disasters. Since 1999, the Citi Foundation has given US$8.4 million in |
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| disaster relief and rebuilding grants to help local communities recover from natural disasters in Bangladesh, Guam, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. |
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| In addition, Citi Asia Pacific's businesses give cash and in-kind donations, facilitate employee fundraising and volunteering, and use our networks and expertise to help affected areas. |
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| Citi recognizes that although most disasters cannot be predicted, we can help vulnerable communities be better prepared by building knowledge, strengthening local support networks, and planning for contingencies. |
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Strengthening the Capacity of the World Food Program
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| In January 2007, the Citi Foundation awarded the World Food Program (WFP) www.wfp.org a US$3.2 million grant to enhance WFP's ability to assess food security and vulnerability in crisis-prone countries, before and during humanitarian emergencies. Known as SENAC (Strengthen Emergency Needs Assessment Capacity), this three-year initiative has already helped WFP to better prepare for and respond to emergencies in a total of 16 countries. |
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| Countries in Asia that are benefiting from the SENAC project include Laos and China. In 2007, for example, WFP conducted a Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis in Laos, which has allowed the national government, WFP and other aid agencies to provide more efficient food aid assistance targeted at the most vulnerable and malnourished people in the country. |
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Helping Communities Hit by Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh
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| In November 2007, a devastating cyclone hit the coastal areas of southern Bangladesh killing at least 3,000 people and affecting more than 1 million. Cyclone Sidr was one of the worst storms in |
| Bangladesh's history, flattening houses and schools, damaging roads and bridges, and destroying crops, livestock and fishing gear. Many communities lost both their incomes and their assets. |
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| Citi quickly provided support on several levels: |
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The Citi Foundation gave a US$50,000 disaster relief grant to the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society www.bdrcs.org. |
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Employee donations, locally and from overseas, were matched by Citi to give an additional US$15,000 to the Chief Adviser's Relief and Welfare Fund www.cao.gov.bd for house rebuilding in the affected areas. This amount included Citi Bangladesh employees forfeiting funds (US$50 each) that had been earmarked for their year-end celebrations. |
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Citi Bangladesh formed a Sidr volunteer team that initiated an appeal among different stakeholders and collected more than 7,500 pieces of clothing, 2,000 bottles of drinking water, and other much-needed items such as kitchen utensils. Citi volunteers were actively involved in the delivery and distribution of these supplies in coordination with Uddipan www.uddipan.org, a national voluntary development organisation that worked extensively in the cyclone-affected areas.
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To support reconstruction efforts, Citi volunteers have visited the affected areas with staff from CARE www.carebd.org and identified schools that were damaged. In 2008, Citi Bangladesh has secured funding for the reconstruction of these schools and Citi volunteers will work closely with CARE in the design and construction. |
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After launching an appeal for disaster relief items, Citi Bangladesh volunteers went to the cyclone-affected areas to distribute supplies.
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| Cyclone Sidr in November 2007 was one of the worst storms in Bangladesh's history, flattening houses, damaging roads and bridges, and destroying crops and livestock. |
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