Brussels, 28/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - €18 million are to be made available by the European Commission to improve maternal and infant healthcare in Côte d'Ivoire, under a debt-reduction and development contract (C2D) signed by Côte d'Ivoire, France and the Commission, it was announced on Wednesday 27 November. The agreement has made possible the transfer of that same sum to the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO) - the first time ever - with a view to ensuring a smooth transition between humanitarian aid and the sustainable development of the national public health services sector.
Over the next three years, funding should ensure free access to healthcare for one million pregnant women and for children under five in the regions most affected by the clashes that erupted after the disputed 2010 elections.
The aim is to “reduce maternal and child mortality rates together in Côte d'Ivoire while helping the country through the final phase of recovery after the elections”, underlines Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response. She went on to add: “This is the first time that debt-reduction funds from a member state of the European Union are transferred to ECHO in order to improve the quality and accessibility of maternal and child health services”.
The “Partnership for Transition” in Ivory Coast was initially established between ECHO and the president of Côte d'Ivoire at the end of 2011. The first phase of this partnership provided support to 2.2 million Ivoirians through the provision of €36 million in aid to health care, food security and social cohesion programmes. The tripartite debt reduction contract at the origin of the new funding had been signed in December 2012.
Since the post-electoral crisis of 2010-2011, the European Commission has disbursed €99 million in humanitarian aid for the vulnerable populations of Côte d'Ivoire. (AN/transl.jl)