The EU has approved €24.5 million in humanitarian aid for vulnerable people in the Southern Africa and Indian Ocean region, the European Commission announced on Friday 9 April.
Of this amount, €7.86 million is earmarked to address the growing humanitarian needs related to the conflict in Cabo Delgado province, in northern Mozambique, where the security situation is deteriorating. These funds will support the provision of shelter, food, access to health care and protection for those displaced or affected by the conflict.
A €6 million package will support access to education for children across the region.
Eight million euros is intended to improve the preparedness of local communities for natural disasters in this region “highly vulnerable to various natural hazards, including cyclones, droughts and epidemics”, underlines the European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, in a statement.
In Zimbabwe, the aid will help alleviate food insecurity, as well as the effects of the socio-economic crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic.
In Madagascar, EU aid will address the severe food and nutrition crisis hitting the Indian Ocean country.
This humanitarian aid will be implemented by the humanitarian partner organisations of ECHO (the European Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)