The European Union has allocated 54.5 million euros ($64.8 million), toward humanitarian aid in the Great Lakes Region of Africa to help vulnerable populations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of Congo, and Burundi
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th April, 2021) The European Union has allocated 54.5 million Euros ($64.8 million), toward humanitarian aid in the Great Lakes Region of Africa to help vulnerable populations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of Congo, and Burundi.
"The EU has announced today new funding of 54.5 million in humanitarian aid. This life-saving assistance will be devoted to the most vulnerable people affected by human-made or natural disasters, epidemics, and displacement in the Great Lakes region of Africa. The aid will address the needs of the most vulnerable in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of Congo and Burundi, and will support Burundian refugees in the DRC, Rwanda and Tanzania," the bloc said in a statement.
The aid will be used to respond to both natural and man-made disasters, including epidemics.
"The magnitude of the humanitarian crisis, especially in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is very worrying. The EU's assistance will be used to provide food, health and protection assistance, enhance emergency and disaster preparedness, and increase access to education for those displaced," Janez Lenarcic, the EU commissioner for crisis management, said in the press release.
In a region of Africa already prone to epidemics, the coronavirus has only further complicated a dire situation. The problem is even worse in areas in which there is violent conflict and mass movement of people.
According to the press release, the EU plans on using a "humanitarian-development approach" in which "donors work together to further increase the coherence between humanitarian and development aid and stabilisation actors."
Considering that the situation is most worrying in the DRC, 80 percent of the funds will go towards humanitarian response there. The funding will go towards education and disaster preparedness programs.
The Great Lakes region includes several of the world's largest lakes by area and depth that collectively contain about one quarter of all the liquid water on Earth's surface. However, Lenarcic noted that, many people in the Great Lakes region "face conflict and violence, natural disasters, as well as recurrent outbreaks of epidemics such as cholera, measles and Ebola."
