Brussels, 01/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has adopted a €135 million funding decision for food aid, targeting an estimated 12.5 million people living throughout the world, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, the Caucasus, the Middle East and Northern Africa. The decision, announced on 26 February, aims to meet the needs of the most vulnerable populations facing food shortages due to natural disasters, economic and political crises or armed conflicts. Refugees or internally displaced persons and populations living in food supply insecurity will benefit from the aid, especially young children and their mothers.
The funding, which comes from the budget of ECHO, the Commission's Humanitarian Aid Office, will finance a large range of projects: - distribution of food aid to distressed populations in the aftermath of natural disasters, epidemics, sudden economic crises or armed conflicts; as well as assistance for the nutritional recovery of vulnerable groups such as children under five and their mothers; - “food-for-work” activities, aimed at re-establishing rural community assets; - restoring the basic livelihood of vulnerable people returning home or resettling after a crisis; planned activities including short-term support for family food production (e.g. through distribution of seeds, tools and fertilisers), and diversification of the supply of food sources (e.g. fishing as food production and domestic husbandry).
A detailed assessment of the world's food needs has allowed 19 priority intervention zones to be identified: Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Uganda, Central African Republic, Zimbabwe, Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Caucasus, Timor Leste, Myanmar/Burma and Nepal.
The United Nations World Food Programme will be ECHO's main partner for implementation of projects on the ground. NGOs and the International Committee of the Red Cross will also take part in aid deployment. (an)