The European Commission has announced €235 million in humanitarian assistance for people affected by conflict, displacement and food crises in West and Central Africa.
The funding is set to support forcibly displaced people, host communities and hard-to-reach populations, the Commission announced on Wednesday.
In the Central Sahel, €75 million will be used for emergency help in conflict-affected areas where more than 12.4 million people need assistance, including protection, food aid, health and nutrition services, education in emergencies, shelter and water and sanitation support.
Cameroon will receive more than €16.6 million for food, health and nutrition, protection, education in emergencies, water and sanitation, shelter and disaster preparedness, with almost 3 million people needing humanitarian assistance and 2.2 million forcibly displaced.
The Central African Republic will receive €22 million for multi-sector aid including food and livelihood support, health and nutrition, shelter, protection, education in emergencies and disaster preparedness, with 2.3 million people in need of assistance
Funding breakdown includes support linked to the Sudan crisis
Chad will receive more than €72 million to provide services such as water and sanitation, shelter, protection and food in the Est, Lac and Hadjer Lamis provinces, after the country received 919,000 Sudanese refugees and 389,700 Chadian returnees since April 2023.
Of Chad’s allocation, €60.8 million announced at the Third International Sudan Conference in Berlin will address the needs of refugees and returnees from Sudan, the Commission said, while €4.5 million within the Central African Republic package — also pledged in Berlin — will support the response to the consequences of the Sudan crisis there.
Mauritania will receive €4.8 million for assistance for Malian refugees, Mauritanian returnees and vulnerable host communities, with the number of refugees and asylum seekers in the country now above 400,000.
Nigeria will receive €33 million for health and nutrition support in the north-east and north-west, where nearly 35 million people require emergency food assistance and 6.4 million children are acutely malnourished, including 2 million in life-threatening condition.
More than €6 million will be allocated to coastal countries including Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo, where more than 270,000 people are forcibly displaced, while an additional €6.4 million will support projects with a regional scope.
Humanitarian aid provides essentials including food, clean water, medicine, shelter and support for children’s learning, Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib said in the same statement.
