The European Union (EU) is contributing to the effort to address humanitarian needs in Uganda, providing this year €28.5m (Shs120 billion in aid. This support to Uganda is part of a €110.5 million aid package the EU is providing the Horn of Africa region this year as the region continues to be affected by severe and prolonged humanitarian crises. Since 2018, the EU has assisted humanitarian action in the Horn of Africa with €316.5 million.
“The EU remains steadfast in its commitment to assist the people in need in the Horn of Africa. Our aid is helping to bring life-saving assistance to people who had to flee their homes, fragile host communities, and those driven to an extremely vulnerable situation by natural calamities, especially drought. It is essential that aid is allowed to reach the people who need it, in line with humanitarian principles,” said Christos Stylianides, Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis management.
The EU funding is allocated across the following countries: Somalia (€36.5 million), Ethiopia (€31 million), Uganda (€28.5 million), Kenya (€13.5 million) and Djibouti (€1 million).
EU-funded humanitarian efforts in the Horn of Africa support the most vulnerable people, including refugees, internally displaced people and host communities. Providing them with food assistance, shelter, safe water, health and nutrition care, protection, and education for children caught up in humanitarian crises.
The EU is helping with life-saving food assistance and treatment for undernutrition in children under five years of age, while also protecting people’s livelihoods. Where possible, multi-purpose cash transfers are used to allow households to feed and sustain their family.
The EU supports basic health care and the strengthening of disease outbreak prevention and response measures. For example, the EU has contributed €2.5 million in humanitarian aid this year to the Ebola rapid detection and reaction efforts in Uganda.
Taken together, Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and Djibouti host more than 2.7 million refugees, mainly from South Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. Moreover, conflicts and weather-related disasters have forced over 6 million people into internal displacement in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya.
The Horn of Africa region is prone to epidemic outbreaks due to low vaccination coverage, high undernutrition rates and mass population movements.
Repeated spells of drought and floods continue to exacerbate the vulnerability of people in the region. An estimated 11 million people in the region are in need of food assistance as a direct consequence of extreme weather events or displacement, and as many as 4 million children under five years of age suffer from undernutrition.
