The European Commission has announced \u20ac235 million in humanitarian assistance to support the most vulnerable people in West and Central Africa.<\/p>\n
This funding will support those affected by current conflicts and food crises, forcibly displaced people, host communities, and hard-to-reach populations. Out of the \u20ac235 million, \u20ac75 million will be directed to the Central Sahel, over \u20ac16.6 million to Cameroon, \u20ac22 million to the Central African Republic, over \u20ac72 million to Chad, \u20ac4.8 million to Mauritania, \u20ac33 million to Nigeria, and over \u20ac6 million to coastal countries. An additional \u20ac6.4 million will support projects with a regional scope.<\/p>\n
\u201dWest and Central Africa is facing a storm of humanitarian crises, driven by conflict, poverty, hunger, instability, and climate shocks.\u201d\u00a0said Hadja Lahbib, Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management.\u00a0\u201dLast year in Chad, I saw the human cost with my own eyes: families who had fled with nothing but the clothes on their backs, their homes lost, their livelihoods destroyed. For millions of people, humanitarian aid is not a choice. It is food on the table, clean water, medicine, shelter, and a chance for their children to learn again. The European Union will always stand with people in crisis, as a reliable and principled humanitarian partner, to save lives, ease suffering, and bring hope where it is needed most.\u201d<\/p>\n
The West and Central Africa region is plagued by various humanitarian crises, with significant needs for humanitarian assistance. The primary driver of these crises is conflict, further intensified by the adverse effects of climate change and a multitude of local factors related to governance, demography and access to land and resources. The epicentre of these crises is in the Central Sahel and Lake Chad regions, with the Central Sahel conflict spilling over in the coastal countries, fuelling large-scale displacement both internally and across borders. The ongoing Sudan crisis is also severely impacting the resilience of Eastern Chad. In addition to these intertwined dynamics, standalone crises persist in North-West Nigeria, North-West and South-West (NWSW) Cameroon, and the Central African Republic (CAR).<\/p>\n