COVID-19 Coronavirus: EU, 50 million in humanitarian aid for Africa, Syria, Yemen, Palestine and Venezuela

“The Coronavirus pandemic is creating a humanitarian crisis of an enormous scale in some of the most fragile countries in the world. The pandemic threatens food security in countries where public health systems were already weak before this new crisis. We must act now to leave no area of the world unprotected. This is in our common interest. And it is crucial that humanitarian actors continue to have the access to carry out their life-saving work”. Janez Lenarčič, European Commissioner for Crisis Management, explained the reasons behind today’s decision by the European Commission to allocate an additional €50 million in humanitarian aid to “help respond to the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs caused by the Coronavirus pandemic globally”. The new funding will “help vulnerable people facing major humanitarian crises, notably in the Sahel and Lake Chad region, the Central African Republic, the Great Lakes region in Africa, Eastern Africa, Syria, Yemen, Palestine and Venezuela, as well as the Rohingya”. The funds “will provide access to health services, protective equipment, water and sanitation”. They will be channelled through non-governmental organisations, international organisations, United Nations agencies, and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Valentina Bombelli