New facilities have been opened to extend and boost humanitarian emergency response operations at the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) run by the World Food Programme (WFP) in Brindisi. The facilities occupy an area made available to the Italian Government inside the former United States Air Force (USAF) base at San Vito dei Normanni.
New Memorandum of Understanding
The opening ceremony was attended by the WFP’s Executive Director, Ertharin Cousin, and the Director General of Italian Development Cooperation, Giampaolo Cantini, along with representatives of other authorities at the national and local level. Cousin and Cantini signed a new Memorandum of Understanding between the WFP and the Farnesina’s Directorate for Development Cooperation.
The new agreement further strengthens Italy’s support for the network of Humanitarian Response Depots in the context of changing international scenarios, taking into consideration the effectiveness and speed of response in recent years. The efficacy of humanitarian initiatives originating from Brindisi is illustrated by the recent intervention in the Central African Republic, assistance for the Syrian population and, in May, by the 9 flights sent to help the people of Serbia and Bosnia so badly affected by the serious floods.
Italian investment in the Brindisi base
This year, Italy has invested about 4 million euros in the Brindisi base (2 million in direct funding and 1.9 million for Italian Development Cooperation operations). Our country is the biggest donor and actively promotes the involvement of numerous other donors in UNHRD initiatives. 15 humanitarian missions by land, sear or air were conducted in 2013 and 8 in the first 5 months of 2014.
The new facilities at San Vito dei Normanni, covering about 150,000 square metres, will boost overall capacity thanks to a new training centre, ample storage space for emergency supplies, and new coordination offices. It will now be possible to return the area occupied to date by UNHRD to the Ministry of Defence, with the exception of a storage area for air operations materials.
Use and efficiency of the base
The new facilities at San Vito will provide storage for emergency response equipment and essential supplies such as food products to prevent and treatment malnutrition, medicines and other medical supplies, and equipment and supplies to help people affected by natural disasters, or refugees and displaced persons from conflict zones. Since 2012, 13 partners have used the base itself or store their humanitarian response stocks in Brindisi.
