Brussels, 06/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission approved, over the last few days, several humanitarian aids to countries or people in distress. Below are the beneficiaries and the amounts allocated from the ECHO budget (Community humanitarian office):
Burma: EUR 1 million to 150,000 women, sick children and displaced persons. This aid will enable to finance projects, over the next nine months, in the sectors of health (basic and preventative care to reduce the death rate of children in particular) and water (purification and renovation of distribution networks), in the framework of the assistance programme implemented by ECHO partners (Action contre la faim France and Medecins sans fronteires Holland) around Rangoon and in the west of the country.
Congolese and Angolan refugees in Zambia: EUR 2 million in emergency aid and humanitarian aid to refugees having fled the conflicts in their countries. This financing will support the efforts deployed by ECHO partners (World Food Programme, MSF Netherlands, International Red Cross Federation) to help: a) Congolese refugees in the new camp of Kala (establishing new refugees, management of camp and supply of health care); b) the 8,500 Angolan refugees, newly arrived (temporary shelters, water, sanitary infrastructure, household equipment and transport) and the 10,000 Angolan refugees located in the Nagweshi camp (improvement of health care).
Young children in North Korea: EUR 600,000 to finance new winter clothes for 36,000 children from 4 to 7 years old in the mountains of the north Pyongan province and the distribution of 9,000 blankets to the victims of flooding. The ECHO partners are German Agro action and the International Red Cross Federation. This financing raises to EUR 7.3 million the aid provided, this year, to North Korea. The total funds mobilised by ECHO since 1995 total EUR 37.6 million.
Tajikistan, Armenia and Georgia: EUR 4 million to the victims of drought that, this year, have affected Central Asia and the Southern Caucuses. This total is divided as follows: a) EUR 3 million to Tajikistan for emergency aid over the next ten months for around 150,000 people (distribution of foodstuffs to the most vulnerable families, agricultural input to farmers and seed for the families, water supply); b) EUR 600,000 to Armenia to cover the needs in emergency food aid for around 30,000 people in the south and north of the country: distribution of wheat, flour and vegetable oil, and the distribution of winter seed and forage for the cattle in the framework of the project implemented by the United Nations Development Programme, the French Secours populaire and Mission East (Denmark); c) EUR 400,000 to Georgia for emergency food aid to around 2,000 families of small farmers in the east of the country (distribution of winter seed by Save the Children Netherlands).