Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) The European Commission noted that humanitarian needs are rising and announced plans to spend 1.7 billion euros on humanitarian aid this year.
In a statement released on Thursday, the EC pointed out that human-caused crises including outbreaks of violence and conflicts are the main cause of human suffering in the world.
“The EU’s humanitarian assistance helps millions of vulnerable people, including forcibly displaced people or trapped populations, as well as host communities,” the body noted and stressed, “the needs resulting from such crises are often further exacerbated by disasters triggered by natural hazards.”
The Commission pointed out that 207.8 million euros will go to Southeast Europe and the EU’s neighbors, largely to cushion the blow of the war in Ukraine and find ongoing projects.
Additional 181.5 million euros will be directed to countries in the Sahel and the Chad Basin, stating that “climate shocks” are driving displacement, lack of access to basic services, and disruption of livelihoods.
Protracted wars as the main driver
The EC earmarked 330.7 million euros for Southern and East Africa to cushion the blow of long-term conflicts there and help “those displaced by climate change.”
Additional 382.2 million euros will go to North Africa and the Middle East to help people affected by long-term conflicts, and 237 million to Latin America and Asia to support vulnerable populations there.
Janez Lenarčič, European Commissioner for Crisis Management, noted that “humanitarian needs are rising steeply… Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has made a bad situation dramatically worse.”
He observed that conflicts are still the main driver and added “increasingly joined also by severe implications of climate change.”
Lenarčič reiterated that crises “are overwhelmingly the result of human action – or indeed inaction when the conflict parties and international community as a whole fail to resolve the steadily growing number of protracted conflicts or work towards preventing new ones.”
He noted that the “10 largest donors provide for more than 80% of all humanitarian funding” and added, “clearly, a fairer sharing of this global responsibility is needed.”
Lenarčič concluded that a growing number of private companies and countries have the potential to provide humanitarian aid to those in need.
