31 Oct 2017   

€106 Million in Aid for Sudan

Last week Monday the European Commission announced they would be providing Sudan with a €106 million aid package, €46 million in humanitarian assistance and €60 million for development. The support comes after this year’s declaration of famine throughout parts of Sudan.

The aid was announced as the EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides was on a two day visit to Sudan. The new aid has come at a good time as United Nations agencies are currently experiencing a shortage of global funds to meet the relief needed in Sudan. The UN agencies appealed for 804 million in aid earlier this year however as of September only 38 percent of that had been raised. The lack of funds has led to many health facilities being closed being closed in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan which are the most affected areas.

The commissioner is concerned with the current status of Sudan and states that “the humanitarian situation continues to be critical. Millions have been displaced for many years in Darfur. New EU funding is crucial to respond to the needs of the increasing numbers of refugees, notably from South Sudan, and internally displaced people, as well as of the hosting communities.” He hopes the humanitarian aid “will help bring life-saving relief to the most vulnerable populations.”

The Aid & Development Africa Summit will be helping to bring awareness to humanitarian challenges that East African countries are facing. The event will unite unifying key representatives and decision makers from regional governments, UN agencies, NGOs, research institutes, development banks, donors, solutions providers and technology developers, to raise awareness about actions taken to reduce mortality, decrease disaster losses and improve management of disaster risk around the world. For more information on the event, head to the Aid and Development Africa Summit website.

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