Commission allocates additional humanitarian assistance to the Horn of Africa

Background:

The Horn of Africa region was affected by prolonged drought, particularly severely in south-eastern Ethiopia, northern Kenya and in Somalia where a pre-famine alert has been issued. Some 17 million people became in urgent need of food to survive, while the countries' coping capacities are exhausted. In addition, all three countries were hit by a cholera outbreak, which has a severe impact on the most vulnerable.

The newly announced EU assistance aims to support humanitarian partners already responding to the needs of the affected populations to step up emergency food assistance and treatment of malnutrition. Projects addressing water supply, livestock protection and response to outbreaks will also be supported.

The bulk of the funding (€40 million) is to help the most vulnerable in Somalia, while €15 million go to Ethiopia and €5 million to Kenya.

The European Commission announced on 7 July 2017 to allocate additional humanitarian assistance of €60 million to help scale up the response in the three countries worst affected by drought in the Horn of Africa.

The extra funds aim to help people in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, who faced critical levels of food insecurity due to severe drought. This additional assistance brings EU humanitarian aid to the Horn of Africa region to nearly €260 million since the beginning of the year.

• Primary Source