Brussels, 04/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - For 2014, €142 million in humanitarian aid will be made available by the European Commission for the Sahel in order to respond to a new food and nutrition crisis which has hit the entire region, and the humanitarian needs of many people in Mali, in the north of the country. This aid was announced by the Commission on Monday 3 February, the same day as the UN launched a three-year plan in Rome for nine countries of the region (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Chad), hoping to raise $2 billion from international donors for 2014.
Close to three million Sahelians require urgent food assistance, including more than 800,000 people in the north of Mali, whilst 20 million people in the region suffer from food insecurity.
The European aid will be divided up as follows: €7 million for emergency aid to the victims of the food and nutrition crisis in the entire Sahel region; 28 million for the victims of the crisis in Mali; €7.5 million for the victim of the food crisis in Nigeria; €29.5 million to help Chad face an influx of refugees; and €2 million for North Cameroon. An additional €18 million in development aid will be earmarked for relief and rehabilitation assistance to rebuild resilience in northern Mali. This funding will prioritise life-saving nutrition care for children and mothers and provide food assistance, access to basic health services and clean water for the most vulnerable people. It will also ensure that hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people in West African countries continue to receive vital aid.
“We need to act quickly if we are to get vital aid to the most vulnerable people who continue their struggle to survive as a result of food insecurity, natural disasters and conflict. As we help people to survive our focus continues on building the resilience of the local population”, stressed Kristalina Georgieva, Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.
In 2014, acute malnutrition rates continue to exceed the alert thresholds in many regions of Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Chad. The lean season, the difficult months between two harvests when food and resources become scarce, has started early for many in the Sahel. One and a half million children are at high risk of severe malnutrition this year. The number of children under the age of five suffering from malnutrition in 2014 has been estimated at five million, around one and a half million of whom will be victims of severe malnutrition.
Since the beginning of the Sahel crisis in 2012, the European Commission has mobilised €383.4 million in emergency aid for both the Sahel and Mali crises (funding of access to basic health and nutrition services, clean water, shelter and food). Since early 2012, the humanitarian aid made available to Mali stands at €132 million.
In 2013, the UN's call for Sahel requested $1.7 billion, 63% of which has been provided. (AN/transl.fl)