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European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations
  • News article
  • 17 February 2022
  • Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO)
  • 2 min read

Humanitarian aid: €294.2 million for people in need in East and Southern Africa

Woman carrying bag of food on her head
© European Union, 2020.

The European Commission has allocated €294.2 million in humanitarian funding to assist vulnerable populations in East and Southern Africa in 2022.

The funding will be allocated to projects in the following countries and regions:

An additional €9 million will be allocated to addressing the Burundi refugee situation in the DRC, Rwanda and Tanzania and the continued voluntary repatriation to and reintegration in Burundi.

Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, said “The serious challenges faced by vulnerable populations in East and Southern Africa have been exacerbated due to severe weather events, political instability and conflict, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Food insecurity is growing due to droughts and floods, while limited access to humanitarian workers makes the situation worse. Numerous violations of international humanitarian law continue to affect the region. EU assistance will be used not only to help the affected populations meet basic needs but also strengthen disaster prevention and preparedness, and support school children across the region through education in emergencies projects.”

This funding is in addition to the €21.5 million allocated to the Horn of Africa in December 2021 to help the region fight off what is rapidly becoming its worst drought in decades, already affecting millions of people.

Background

East and Southern Africa faces a multitude of protracted and new humanitarian crises, with serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

The Great Lakes region continues to be confronted with complex crises, persistent armed conflict and violence in eastern DRC, recurrent epidemics and natural hazards, compounded by poor governance, structural poverty and insufficient development.

Across the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya), conflict remains the key driver of humanitarian crises, leading to massive displacements, food and nutrition insecurity. The situation is often exacerbated by extreme weather events, pests and the breakout of epidemics.

The Southern Africa and Indian Ocean region is highly vulnerable to various hazards ranging from floods, cyclones, droughts and epidemics.

The Upper Nile Basin (South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda) is affected by several humanitarian crises, both protracted and new, triggered by unresolved conflicts at national and sub-national level, recurrent natural hazards compounded by climate change and the results of decades of economic mismanagement and corruption.

In addition, the European Commission allocated in 2021 €100 million in humanitarian assistance to support the rollout of vaccination campaigns in countries in Africa with critical humanitarian needs and fragile health systems. At least €30 million of this funding will be supporting vaccination campaigns for the most vulnerable in East and Southern Africa.

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