Out of a total of €181.5 million in humanitarian aid from the EU budget in 2023 for West and Central Africa - one of the poorest and most fragile regions in the world - up to €111 million will go to West African countries. The total envelope and the new country allocations within it were announced by the European Commission at a bilateral meeting with ECOWAS on Monday 6 February in Brussels.
€25.5 million in new money is earmarked for Burkina Faso, €26 million for Mali, €6.5 million for Mauritania and €20.5 million for the Central African Republic, plus a regional envelope of €500,000.
€102.5 million had already been announced on 23 January for vulnerable populations in the Lake Chad Basin affected by the deteriorating humanitarian situation (see EUROPE 13105/21).
“The delivery of humanitarian aid is increasingly difficult, not least because of the growing disregard for international humanitarian law. While sustainable solutions are needed, the recently announced EU funding will help meet the growing humanitarian needs across the region, reflecting the EU’s solidarity with the most vulnerable people”, comments European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič in a statement. He adds that more than 38 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in the region, that food insecurity is at record levels and that “the security situation remains very worrying”.
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, and the Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, participated in the meeting. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)