European Union Provides €22 m Additional Humanitarian Aid to Ethiopia
The European Union ( EU) announced today new funding of €22 million in humanitarian aid for the most vulnerable people in Ethiopia after the EU Council announced on April 25 that it looks forward to “a normalization of relations with Ethiopia.”
The fund is said to support and assist those suffering from the impact of conflict and displacement including refugees, drought and other climate-related hazards, and epidemics, according to a press release sent to Addis Standard.
This amount adds to the 60.5 million EUR announced earlier this year for Ethiopia to support actions for conflict- and drought-affected populations, bringing the total of EU humanitarian funding support in Ethiopia to 82.5 million EUR in 2023. The figure shows the total amount of funding of 4.8. Billion in Birr.
“Against the backdrop of the widespread humanitarian needs in Ethiopia, the EU has mobilised this additional funding to continue supporting humanitarian organisations in the country to scale up their emergency, life-saving assistance to the people in need,” said Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic.
Humanitarian needs in Ethiopia are massive, resulting from the two-year conflict in the north of the country, Tigray and where the conflict escalated to Amhara and Afar regions, a devastating and prolonged drought in Oromia and Somali regions of Southwestern and Southeastern parts of Ethiopia, large population displacements, as well as additional conflict hotspots and localized conflicts, according to the statement.
Additionally, more than 90,000 refugees have recently crossed into Ethiopia from Somalia, with Ethiopia now hosting now over 890,000 refugees.
On April 27, Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Ministry welcomed the EU Council’s conclusions to soothe relations with Ethiopia, which were severed following the war in the Northern part of the country.
The Ministry noted in a statement on Wednesday Ethiopia’s endeavor to revitalize relations with the EU and said the recent move would help strengthen the partnership.
European Union Similarly Provided €32 million as Humaniterian Aid to Ethiopia
Beginning of this month, it was also recalled that the European Union (EU) French Development Agency announced a €32 million support to Ethiopia in a financial agreement signed with the government of the east African nation.
The financing agreement is intended to support food security and Agriculture Rehabilitation projects in conflict-affected regions of northern Ethiopia.
The French Development Agency has funded €18 million of the total financial aid while the balance has been funded by the EU.
The projects will be implemented by the Ethiopian Institute of AgriculturalTransformation (ATI) in northern Ethiopia especially in the areas affected by the conflict in Tigray, Amhara, and Afar regions, providing farmers with the necessary resources to restart production and rehabilitate the service infrastructure in order to avoid an unprecedented crisis.
The financing is also aimed at addressing the most urgent needs by reviving agricultural production in these areas, and strengthening food self-sufficiency programs in Ethiopia.
In the first phase, improved seeds will be provided (cereals, legumes and vegetables), as well as an improved breed of poultry, selected small ruminants, horticultural seeds and irrigation pumps that will benefit at least 533,000 households.
The financing agreement was signed by Semereta Sewasew, Ethiopia’s state minister of Finance, Valérie Tehio, AFD director in Ethiopia and Dr. Stefan Lock, Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation to Ethiopia.