EU-Africa: 210 million in humanitarian aid. Food, social and health crises. Special attention for children

The EU allocates to the Sahel and Central Africa a humanitarian budget of €210 million in 2021. The funding will support humanitarian projects in the following eight countries: Burkina Faso (€24.3 million), Cameroon (17.5), the Central African Republic (21.5), Chad (35.5) Mali (31.9), Mauritania (10), Niger (32.3) and Nigeria (37). Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, said: “Worsening instability and armed conflicts, together with the COVID-19 pandemic and natural hazards, are having a devastating impact in the Sahel and countries in Central Africa. The EU remains committed to help reduce suffering among people in need in the region. While humanitarian aid is there to bring emergency relief, longer-lasting improvements can only be brought about through the political will of national governments and good governance”. The funding, the Commission explains, is targeted to provide life-saving assistance to the people affected by conflict and to the communities hosting people who had to flee; to provide protection to vulnerable people and support the respect of International Humanitarian Law; to support measures to address food crises and severe acute malnutrition among children under 5; to enhance the immediate response in terms of basic services to the most vulnerable population, especially as concerns health care for all or education for children caught up in humanitarian crises; and to strengthen fragile communities’ preparedness for crises, such as mass displacements of people, or recurrent food or climate-related crises.
Valentina Bombelli