Brussels, 17/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - In order to help Yemen face the massive humanitarian requirements caused by years of armed conflict and a mass influx of refugees from the Horn of Africa, the European Union will increase by €15 million its emergency assistance to a country which is still the victim of a “forgotten crisis”.
Kristalina Georgieva, the European Commissioner for international cooperation and humanitarian aid, announced the news from Yemen on Monday 17 January, where she is carrying out a joint mission with Antonio Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to assess the targeted needs of the country (EUROPE 10293). As a sign of this reinforced commitment to Yemen, the Commissioner inaugurated, on the same day, a humanitarian office of the Commission, which has just opened in the country.
“We intensify our efforts to help Yemen deal with an increasingly complex humanitarian crisis (…). The country generously hosts a large refugee population, coming mainly from conflict-ridden Somalia. But there are also hundreds of thousands of Yemeni who are internally displaced by the conflict in the North, and who are also in dire need of assistance (…). I call on the international community to join us in addressing these humanitarian needs", said Kristalina Georgieva.
During this mission, the Commissioner has travelled to North Yemen and visited refugee camps in the south of the country. She has held talks with high-ranking civil servants, representatives of the international community and with representatives of the armed movement Houthi.
Last year, the Commission spent €10 million on humanitarian aid the Yemen. The ECHO office in Yemen will work with humanitarian organisations on the ground to facilitate the assessment of needs, control the channelling of the funds and the impact of the aid, and to improve the coordination of international humanitarian aid, the European Commission stresses. (A.N./trans.fl)