The European Commission has announced additional funding to build resilience in two countries in the Horn of Africa, just days after proposing a new policy promoting resilience in its humanitarian and development programs.
The funding, worth €30 million ($38.7 million), will be for the benefit of vulnerable people in Ethiopia and Somalia, including refugees and internally displaced persons. Ethiopia hosts more than 300,000 refugees from neighboring countries, and Somalia is home to more than a million IDPs, according to a press release.
The money will be channeled through the European Union’s Supporting the Horn of Africa’s Resilience initiative, which aims to address communities’ recovery from drought, strengthen agropastoral communities’ livelihood opportunities and boost people’s response to crises. The commission has planned to initially invest €250 million in the initiative.
It is not clear what projects will be financed, but the funding aims to support lifesaving activities and help build the resilience of communities against disasters, according to the press release.
Among possible projects that could be funded, however, are distribution of seeds and fertilizers, creation of income-generating opportunities for people affected by drought, and a revamp of early warning systems to help avoid similar crises in the future.
The money will go to the European Union’s humanitarian partners, which include nongovernmental organizations and U.N. agencies.
Building resilience in relation to food security will also be among the key topics in the upcoming European Development Days, to be held Oct. 16-17 in Brussels.
Read more development aid news online, and subscribe to The Development Newswire to receive top international development headlines from the world’s leading donors, news sources and opinion leaders — emailed to you FREE every business day.
