KATHMANDU: The United States, through its US Agency for International Development, has announced three new programmes worth up to $70 million (approx Rs 6.85 billion), aiming to help Nepali communities recover from natural disasters and other stressors. US Ambassador Peter W Bodde announced the support at a Resilience Summit organised in Kathmandu today. In a statement, the US Embassy in Kathmandu said that it wants to save and improve more lives while working under Nepal government, build inclusive economic growth and decrease need for humanitarian assistance. The Community Resilience Programme, with an aid of $70 million, would help in integrating disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation into USAID’s food and nutrition security efforts in Nepal. Another project worth $500,000 in eastern Nepal will be used to set up an early warning flooding system. Likewise another project worth $100,000 is related to science and technology competition which aims to find innovative solutions to ‘building sustainable food security’. While announcing the support, Ambassador Bodde said that resilience is essential to win the fight against poverty. “We know we cannot prevent floods and landslides, but we can work harder and strategically to ensure these shocks don’t devastate families or set back hard-won development gains,” he said. Govinda Pokhrel, Vice-chairman of National Planning Commission, said that the government views the resilience as a vital framework to help alleviate poverty and promote more sustainable development, lessening the impacts of disasters. Denmark pledges Rs 10.36 million KATHMANDU: Denmark on Wednesday pledged a donation of DKK 600,000 (approximately Rs 10.36 million) to support victims of recent floods and landslides in Nepal. The fund pledged by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark will be distributed by Dan Church Aid, according to the Danish Embassy in Kathmandu. The support will be used for construction of houses, livelihood restoration, WASH and disaster risk reduction measures to about 800 families.