EU allocates more than €26 million in additional humanitarian aid to East Africa

The Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes regions continue to face multiple and overlapping humanitarian crises, aggravated by conflict and climate-related disasters.

To help mitigate the consequences, the Commission has allocated additional humanitarian funding of €26.7 million to South Sudan, Uganda, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, primarily to support newly displaced people fleeing conflicts and climatic events.

In South Sudan, where around 2,000 people arrive daily from neighbouring Sudan, the additional funding of €6.4 million will support humanitarian response in the border areas. Out of the new arrivals – refugees and South Sudanese returnees – 70% are women and children, and 1 in 5 are malnourished.

Food security in Horn of Africa: EU steps up support to drought-affected countries

In Somalia, around 2 million people will require emergency humanitarian assistance as a result of conflict, floods and cholera outbreak before the end of 2023. The additional €5.5 million will support the overall humanitarian response in the country.

€1.5 million will strengthen food security in Uganda, for a refugee population of more than 1.5 million – with over 220,000 new arrivals since January 2022.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, €13.3 million will support the scale-up of the humanitarian response amidst escalating violence and a deteriorating humanitarian situation.

The humanitarian consequences of the conflict in Sudan are enormous, not only for the country itself, but for its neighbours and the region. Hundreds of thousands are seeking safety across borders – including in South Sudan, which was already grappling with a severe humanitarian crisis prior to April 2023. In the East Africa and Great Lakes region, food insecurity – due to conflict or climate-induced disasters – is rising. The emergency humanitarian aid allocated by the EU aims at alleviating the suffering of the most vulnerable, in close cooperation with our humanitarian partners on the ground. – Janez Lenarčič, Commissioner for Crisis Management – 06/11/2023

Source: Press release – European Commission