EC gives 4.5 million euros in humanitarian aid

The European Commission (EC)is providing humanitarian aid worth 4.5 million euros for victims of fighting in areas along Guinea’s border with Sierra Leone and Liberia, the Commission announced on Tuesday. The aid is being channelled by the EC Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) through partner organisations working in the area, which has been destabilised since September 2000 by incursions and rebel attacks from Sierra Leone and Liberia, the EC said. A significant proportion of the new funding has been earmarked for health care, targeting both refugees and resident populations, the EC said. It added that health facilities in the affected area had been damaged or destroyed in the fighting and that the incidence of serious diseases including malaria, respiratory infections and diarrhoea was increasing. The aid package will also include integrated relief operations focusing on the provision of water/sanitation, shelter and other non-food items, as well as support for food distribution to refugees and internally displaced people. ECHO gave over four million euros in 2000 to tackle the regional crisis. This included funding a major vaccination campaign against yellow fever.