On Tuesday 20 October, the European Union was due to announce €43.6 million in additional support this year for three Sahel countries - Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger - at a virtual ministerial round table on the Central Sahel jointly organised by the EU, Denmark, Germany and the UN.
The figure was announced by the Commission before the start of the afternoon session of the ‘Sahel Now’ conference, which was attended by representatives of the three African countries in question and by donors.
The aim of the conference was to discuss the long-term prospects of countries caught in a spiral of violence and serious humanitarian crises and to mobilise more support for the region.
“The security, social and humanitarian situation in Central Sahel is only deteriorating. In face of this dramatically worsening situation, together – the international community and the governments concerned – we must do better, more and act fast”, said Janez Lenarčič, the Commissioner for Crisis Management.
13.4 million people in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are in need of humanitarian assistance.
€20 million of the aid announced by the EU will go to the World Food Programme to help the most vulnerable.
“We hope to assist 65,000 people next year with this project”, said Jutta Urpilainen, the Commissioner for International Partnerships.
Since 2014, the EU and its Member States have mobilised around €8 billion to stabilise the Sahel region. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)