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The European Union (EU) has approved funding worth about US $1 million for programmes to assist Angolan refugees in Namibia and Zambia over the next nine months, an EU official in Zambia told IRIN on Thursday.
The official said the funding would cover the provision of shelter, water and other essential services in the Osire refugee camp, situated about 230 km north of the Namibian capital, Windhoek. She added that two other transit centres along the Namibian and Angolan borders would also benefit from the funding.
The Osire camp is host to between 10,000 and 15,000 refugees, 97 percent of whom are from war-torn Angola. The rest are from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi and Rwanda.
In Zambia, the EU official said the funding would be used to provide for refugee registration, transport, sanitation and health care needs of the refugee population. Zambia, said the official, has a total refugee population of about 200,000. The Angolans account for between 22,000 and 25,000 of the refugees and are accommodated in the Nangweshi camp.
The EU said the aid will be channelled through the UNHCR, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Medecins sans Frontieres and the Belgian Red Cross.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions