Brussels, 12/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - Vulnerable sections of the population in Sudan and Southern Sudan will be benefiting from an additional €30 million in humanitarian emergency aid, according to a European Commission announcement on 12 December. The funds will come from the Commission's humanitarian aid and civil protection services (ECHO). Aid will focus on displaced persons and the increasing number of those who have been obliged to flee the conflict zones in South Kordofan and Blue Nile State in Sudan, mainly in South Sudan and Ethiopia.
Kristalina Georgieva, the European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response emphasised that, “the conflict in the border region has turned more than 210,000 people into refugees. Another 650,000 are internally displaced. These numbers keep rising. On top, food prospects are dire for more than half of the population, as floods and war have damaged the harvest. We have to react fast before it's too late. And reports about the situation in South Kordofan and Blue Nile are very worrying”. More and more refugees are arriving in already-full camps in South Sudan. They are completely dependent on humanitarian assistance and increase the risk of cholera. Almost half of the South Sudanese population, 4.7 million people, suffers from food insecurity. (AN/transl.fl)