The European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, was on a mission to the Central African Republic on Friday 8 May, a country to which frontline humanitarian personnel and emergency humanitarian cargo were being transported the same day via the air bridge established by the EU as part of its overall response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This bridge can be a lifeline for some of the world’s most vulnerable communities”, the Commissioner said Friday. He was able to discuss the situation in the country with the UN Humanitarian Coordinator (UN OCHA) in CAR, Denise Brown. He was also scheduled to meet with the President of CAR, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, and humanitarian organisations.
The first flight in collaboration with France, in consultation with OCHA and the French branch of the World Food Programme, took off from Lyon on Friday with 75 aid workers from various NGOs and 13 tonnes of cargo on board. Two more planes will take off in the next few days with an additional 27 tonnes of supplies, the Commission said.
Rather than returning empty, the planes will repatriate European citizens and third-country nationals.
The establishment of this air bridge was announced on 23 April by High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell to overcome the difficulties in delivering aid to some of the most vulnerable non-Member States (see EUROPE 12473/24). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)