Brussels, 08/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 8 April, the European Commission announced that the European Union is to mobilise €122.5 million to help Ethiopia address the immediate needs of people affected by a drought, which is made worse by one of the most extreme El Niño weather phenomena on record.
The new funding combines a humanitarian response to cover the immediate needs of the most vulnerable people with rapid assistance for reconstruction.
“With over 10 million people currently struggling to find food, the humanitarian situation is very worrying”, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides stated. Meanwhile, European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica said that the EU support aims at combining short-term lifesaving with “strengthening Ethiopia's resilience by addressing the root causes of fragility and vulnerability”.
Following on from the annual meeting of the European Commission and the African Union Commission, which was held in Addis Ababa (see other article), Stylianides and Mimica were able to see the seriousness of the situation on the ground when they visited Dire Dawa, one of the regions most affected by El Niño. European Commission Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue Valdis Dombrovskis and European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility Marianne Thyssen also made this visit.
Ethiopia is currently the country hardest hit by El Niño - the extreme weather phenomenon which strongly impacts the food security, health, access to water and hygiene conditions of millions of people. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)