Brussels, 11/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - The EU is to grant a further €30 million in aid to the Horn of Africa to help a million people in Somalia and Ethiopia, the European Commission announced on Thursday 11 October. This additional aid will come from the Commission's emergency aid reserve (EAR) and will bring aid granted to that region to €162 million this year. The main objective is to finance immediate life-saving activities with an important share of the funds dedicated to helping build the resilience of vulnerable communities to withstand future disasters. The new funding measure, which goes to promoting long-term solutions to the Horn of Africa's chronic problems (risk of drought, insecurity, weak communal ability to withstand shocks, precarious livelihoods), will target local communities and those displaced by conflict and hunger.
Thanks to heavier rainfall and sustained humanitarian assistance, the food situation in the region has improved compared to last year's acute humanitarian crisis, although there is still much to be done to cover the needs of the most vulnerable communities. “Thanks to sustained humanitarian assistance and better weather conditions, the situation in the region has improved but more than nine million people in the Horn of Africa still need food, shelter, water and protection. There are more than 1.5 million internally displaced people and 1.2 million refugees in the region”, said Kristalina Georgieva, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.
In Somalia, over two million people are still suffering from a food shortage and remain dependent upon humanitarian aid. In Ethiopia, the number of people who need humanitarian aid has increased by 16% since the beginning of this year, and recent flooding has affected over 100,000 people. Also, Ethiopia hosts more than 368,000 refugees from neighbouring countries and Somalia has more than 1.3 million internally displaced persons.
Funds will be channelled through the EU's SHARE strategy (Supporting Horn of Africa Resilience) and will be implemented by the humanitarian partners of ECHO on the ground (United Nations agencies and NGOs). (AN/transl.jl)