Brussels, 29/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has allocated 4 million EUR in humanitarian aid to Uganda to improve the humanitarian situation of over one million displaced persons in the North of the country and living in "protected villages" further to insurrections by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The funds, to be channelled via the budget of ECHO, the Commission's humanitarian aid service, will go in part to people wanting to return home since the recent cessation of hostilities, as long as they are able to do so in all safety. The other part will go to pay for the improvement of living conditions in these camps for Ugandans with no prospects for returning home in the near future. This aid will be concentrated on basic humanitarian requirements: health care, the provision of water, sanitation and hygiene structures, and personal protection.
In January 2006, the Commission granted aid of 15 million EUR to go to help vulnerable people in the northern and central parts of Uganda.