The European Commission announced on Monday (12) that it will make 1.84 billion euros available for humanitarian aid in 2024. The money is earmarked for various countries around the world, including Mozambique, which have been affected by climate change, famine and armed conflict.
“With almost 300 million people estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2024, the EU is once again reinforcing its commitment to supporting the world’s most vulnerable. It has therefore set its annual humanitarian budget at 1.8 billion euros,” the institution said in a statement.
In terms of the distribution of the funds, the organisation clarified that around 346 million euros are intended to support the populations of Eastern and Southern Africa affected by long-term conflicts in the Great Lakes region (Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, DR Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania) and people displaced by extreme weather events and armed conflicts in Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, Madagascar, Mozambique and the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia).
Another 200 million euros will go towards dealing with the consequences of forced displacement, food insecurity, acute and chronic malnutrition, natural hazards and recurrent epidemics in the Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger), the Central African Republic and the Lake Chad basin (Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria), which are marked by conflicts, insecurity and climate change.
The document also explains that 470 million euros will be allocated to the Middle East and North Africa to address the extreme humanitarian needs in Gaza and the Palestinian civilian population, as well as the ongoing regional crisis in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and neighbouring countries.
According to the authority, another 115 million euros will be channelled to South Eastern Europe and Europe’s neighbouring countries to deal with the consequences of the war in Ukraine caused by the Russian invasion, as well as funding for projects to deal with current needs in the Western Balkans, the Caucasus and the effects of the Syrian crisis in Turkey and the lasting consequences of last year’s earthquakes.
There is also 186 million euros in humanitarian aid for the most vulnerable populations in South Asia and the Pacific, mainly aimed at the humanitarian response in Myanmar, Bangladesh and the Philippines, as well as 111.6 million euros for Central and South America and the Caribbean, particularly in response to the crisis in Venezuela.
Some 315 million euros have also been earmarked to respond to sudden emergencies and unforeseen humanitarian crises that may arise during the year, and more than 98 million euros for other measures.
The European Commission is a politically independent institution that represents and defends the interests of the European Union as a whole and has been providing humanitarian aid since 1992 in more than 110 countries around the world.
