EU-Africa: Commission, €26 million in additional aid to South Sudan, Uganda, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to address humanitarian crisis

“The Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes regions continue to face multiple and overlapping humanitarian crises, aggravated by conflict and climate-related disasters. To help mitigate the consequences, the Commission has allocated additional humanitarian funding of €26.7 million to South Sudan, Uganda, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, primarily to support newly displaced people fleeing conflicts and climatic events”, the European Commission announced in a statement today, specifying that in “South Sudan, where around 2,000 people arrive daily from neighbouring Sudan, the additional funding of €6.4 million will support humanitarian response in the border areas. Out of the new arrivals – refugees and South Sudanese returnees – 70% are women and children, and 1 in 5 are malnourished”. In Somalia, “around 2 million people will require emergency humanitarian assistance as a result of conflict, floods and cholera outbreak before the end of 2023. The additional €5.5 million will support the overall humanitarian response in the country”. €1.5 million “will strengthen food security in Uganda, for a refugee population of more than 1.5 million”. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, €13.3 million will support the “scale-up of the humanitarian response amidst escalating violence and a deteriorating humanitarian situation”.
Valentina Bombelli