Press Release: Commission provides more humanitarian aid to fight acute malnutrition in the Sahel

The European Commission allocated an additional €5 million to reduce acute malnutrition and mortality in West Africa's Sahel region. The aid targeted the most vulnerable – in particular an estimated 1.3 million acutely malnourished under-five as well as five million pregnant and breast-feeding women. The countries covered were Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger as well as the Sahel regions in the north of Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Nigeria and Togo. The €5 million is in addition to the €25 million already made available in June last year and the extra €5 million allocated for further food aid in the Sahel this year. The recent massive global increase in food prices further intensified the pressure on the most vulnerable groups in a region chronically prone to crisis.

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