Commission provides humanitarian aid to Ethiopia

Summary: November 29, 2002: Ethiopia: Commission provides a further Euro 4 million in humanitarian aid (Brussels)

The European Commission has approved a further €4 million in humanitarian aid for victims of drought in Ethiopia. This latest aid package comes on top of €2.5 million in ongoing ECHO humanitarian assistance for Ethiopia, bringing the total for 2002 to €6.5 million. The aid is channelled through the Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) which comes under the responsibility of Commissioner Poul Nielson.

The extent of the drought affecting Ethiopia in the most vulnerable areas requires rapid humanitarian assistance to complement and reinforce food aid deliveries and longer-term food security policies. This particular decision addresses life-threatening malnutrition and other drought related acute illness. The aid package includes:

Support to health services facing an increasing caseload due to drought-related illness.
Provision of supplementary and therapeutic feeding, as well as livestock support to help those affected by malnutrition.
Provision of safe drinking water and sanitation to prevent the spread of water borne disease.

The aid will be targeted at the nomadic pastoralist population of the Afar and Somali regions and the resident population of the Oromiya Region. ECHO's NGO and Red Cross partners working in Ethiopia will implement the operations.

Ref: EC02-246EN
EU source: European Commission
UN forum:
Date: 29/11/2002

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