EU Provides Additional €4.1mln to Flood Affected East African Nations

ADDIS ABABA – As heavy flooding continues to displace thousands of families and wreak havoc in East Africa, the European Union has announced €4.1 million in humanitarian funding to the affected countries.

The funding will be provided through humanitarian organizations in Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Uganda, according to a statement issued by EU’s delegation in Addis Ababa.

This is the second wave of serious floods in the region this year, in a context of exacerbated humanitarian needs related to conflict, desert locust upsurge and the COVID-19 pandemic.

In May, the EU allocated €3 million to respond to the humanitarian needs resulting from floods in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. Sudan is the most affected by the current wave of flooding.

“The EU stands in solidarity with the affected people in Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Uganda,” said Janez Lenarčič, EU’s Commissioner for Crisis Management.

“It is evident that the frequency and severity of natural disasters, including flooding, in this region has worsened due to climate change,” he said. “This only exacerbates an already dire situation for the hundreds of thousands of already vulnerable and food insecure people; our emergency assistance will bring basic and life-saving supplies to them”.

The latest support will provide emergency shelter for displaced people as well as cash assistance to meet their immediate needs including food and medicine.

It will also be used for water, hygiene and sanitation assistance aimed at preventing the outbreak of waterborne diseases such as cholera, according to the EU.

The €4.1 will be shared among the five countries, with €1m for Sudan, €1.4m for South Sudan, € 900,000 for Ethiopia, € 700,000 for Somalia and € 100,000 for Uganda.

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Featured Image: Villagers go about their business in a flooded market center in Kisumu, about 400 kilometers west of the capital Nairobi in Kenya. [Photo QZ]