From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Mon May 25 2009 - 06:17:10 EDT
East Africa: EU Allocates Euro 54 Million for Humanitarian Needs in Horn
25 May 2009
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Addis Abeba — The European Commission disclosed that it was providing a total of €54 million in humanitarian aid to vulnerable people in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda.
The funds are channeled through the Commission's Humanitarian Aid department under the direct responsibility of Commissioner Louis Michel, it said in a statement on Friday.
Accordingly, the Commission allocated 6 million euros for health, food, water and sanitation actions targeting the most vulnerable people in Ethiopia, including refugees and IDPs.
Somalia will get €13 million to be used to assist victims of continuing insecurity and climatic hazards with a focus on health and nutrition, the provision of water and sanitation, food and food security for internally displaced people (IDPs) and the chronically vulnerable communities.
€3 million has been allocated to address the immediate acute needs of the most vulnerable people in Eritrea.
€22 million worth food assistance, benefiting Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Uganda will also be allocated to responding to nutritional insecurity, through food aid and short-term livelihood support to badly-affected communities in the Greater Horn of Africa.
Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda will also be beneficiaries of a €10 million drought response fund from the commission.
According to the commission, all the funded humanitarian projects are implemented by non-governmental relief organizations, specialized UN agencies and the Red Cross/Red Crescent movement.
"The Greater Horn of Africa faces humanitarian threats on a lot of fronts. In this region ravaged by extreme weather conditions, chronic conflict and deep poverty, millions of people are now on the brink of collapse.
"Our help is crucial in saving lives and tackling misery. The complementary decisions we have just adopted reflect our global approach in this region, which is designed to address these difficult humanitarian challenges consistently and effectively," Louis Michel was quoted in the statement as having said.
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