Essential medical supplies and front-line medical teams are being sent to Burkina Faso by the EU Humanitarian Air Bridge, the European Commission announced on Tuesday 23 June, the day the first of two dedicated flights took off for Ouagadougou.
The aim is to help this African country to combat the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and to meet enormous humanitarian needs. “The country is in the grip of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, that continues to be fuelled by non-state armed groups”, said Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič in a statement. The release of €10 million for humanitarian organisations active in the field was also approved.
The European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, and the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Amélie de Montchalin, were on board the first flight to meet the President of Burkina Faso, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, members of the government and humanitarian organisations. Mrs Urpilainen announced on Tuesday that €60 million in direct budget support will be disbursed in July for Burkina Faso as part of the EU's overall response to the coronavirus in the EU's most vulnerable partner countries.
The organisation of the two humanitarian flights is the outcome of a cooperation between the European Commission, Denmark and France. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)