Brussels, 23/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has decided to grant €15 million in emergency humanitarian aid to the vulnerable populations of Zimbabwe. This funding decision was made on Friday 23 July.
The funds, to be taken from the budget of Echo (the humanitarian aid service of the Commission), aim mainly to re-establish the essential services of healthcare and drinking water supply, to provide short-term food security and to support the means for the populations to support themselves.
The provision of vital drugs and medical equipment, support for the emergency intervention teams for water, cleansing and health, cash transfers and voucher systems will be the main lines of intervention.
“Despite recent improvements by the Government of National Unity, the road to recovery is still a long one. If we want Zimbabwe to get back on the path towards longer-term development, we will need to carry on with our efforts to provide clean water and sanitation facilities to the population, alongside our food assistance programmes”, Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, stated in a press release.
The dollarisation of the Zimbabwean economy has improved the general availability of food in the country. For this reason, instead of distributing food, the Commission now feels that it is better to inject funds to improve food security by means of the purchases, in the country, of safe food in sufficient and adequate quantity, allowing the populations to get the nutrition they need. (A.N./transl.fl)