The European Commission today has
announced it will give €142 million in humanitarian funds to the Sahel
region of Africa in 2014, which is once again suffering because of a
severe food and nutrition crisis this year. In addition, many people in
Mali are in need of humanitarian aid as a result of the situation in the
North.
In 2014, severe acute malnutrition
rates continue to surpass emergency thresholds in many regions of Chad,
Niger, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Nigeria. The lean
season, the difficult months between two harvests when food and
resources become scarce, has started early for many in the Sahel. One
and a half million children are at high risk of severe malnutrition this
year.
"Close to
three million Sahelians require urgent food assistance, including more
than 800,000 people in the North of Mali, while twenty million people in
the region suffer from food insecurity. We need to act quickly if we
are to get vital aid to the most vulnerable people who continue their
struggle to survive as a result of food insecurity, natural disasters
and conflict," said Kristalina Georgieva, the EU's Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.
"We should
also not forget that many of these people are displaced, having been
forced from their homes," said the Commissioner. "As we help people to
survive our focus continues on building the resilience of the local
population. That is the only effective and sustainable way to end the
cycle of emergencies in the Sahel and to put a stop to food insecurity
and malnutrition for millions of people. New funds are essential to make
this possible."
The EU funding will provide €57
million in emergency relief for people affected by the overall Sahel
food and nutrition crisis, €28 million to assist victims of the Mali
crisis, €7.5 million for the food crisis situation in Nigeria, where the
North is experiencing the most challenging situation; €29.5 million for
Chad, which is in a complex crisis with an increasing number of
refugees; and €2 million for North Cameroon. An additional €18 million
is planned in EU development funding to provide relief and
rehabilitation assistance to build resilience in northern Mali.
This funding will prioritise
life-saving nutrition care for children and mothers and provide food
assistance, access to basic health services and clean water for the most
vulnerable people. It will also ensure that hundreds of thousands of
refugees and internally displaced people in West African countries
continue to receive vital aid.
Background
Since the beginning of the Sahel
crisis in 2012, the European Commission has mobilised €383.4 million in
emergency aid for both the Sahel and Mali crises. The EU’s early and
substantial humanitarian response to the food crisis and the conflict
has helped guarantee access to basic health and nutrition services,
clean water, shelter and food for some of the most badly hit and
vulnerable people in the region.
Since the beginning of 2012, the
European Commission has already mobilised a total of €132 million in
humanitarian aid for Mali. In parallel to its emergency aid, the EU is
also promoting a concerted effort with governments of the region and
international partners to build the resilience of the most vulnerable
people in the Sahel through the AGIR alliance. To this end, the European
Commission recently announced its intention of mobilizing €1.5 bn in EU
development funding from 2014 to 2020 to help build resilience in the
Sahel.
