The European Union on Tuesday announced an additional €12 million in humanitarian support to Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi as the three southern African countries battled to recover from the aftermath of a deadly tropical cyclone that claimed close to 1000 lives in March.
EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides said the funding would assist people affected by Cyclone Idai in the three countries.
“There are still urgent humanitarian needs to be met and we are scaling up our efforts so that relief continues to be brought to the people in need,” Stylianides said in a statement.
He said €7 million would benefit people in Mozambique where up to 1.85 million people are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, while Zimbabwe and Malawi would get €4 million and €1 million, respectively.
The assistance to Mozambique is expected to provide shelter, water and sanitation, humanitarian food assistance, health and psychosocial support to families affected by the cyclone.
The assistance for Zimbabwe would provide an estimated three million people affected by the flood with shelter, water and sanitation as well as food assistance.
According to Stylianides, the floods worsened an already existing food security crisis in Zimbabwe, which was brought by drought and a volatile economic situation.
In Malawi, more than 860,000 people would benefit from assistance in the form of food aid and support to recover their livelihoods.
Tuesday’s announcement brings total EU humanitarian assistance in response to Cyclone Idai to over €15 million following the donation of another €3.75 million in financial humanitarian assistance given in the immediate aftermath of the cyclone.
JN/APA