EU boosts humanitarian aid for Sudan by €4 million

The European Commission will provide extra humanitarian aid to Sudan following the increase in refugees from neighbouring South Sudan and displaced in Sudan this year.

In a press release on Friday, the Commission announced that it will provide an additional €4 million ($4,330,000) to the €28 million for humanitarian aid already granted this year. The amount will be used “to meet people's most urgent needs, including food assistance, water, sanitation, and health services”.

“The humanitarian situation in Sudan is getting worse each day. In Darfur and in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, 5.4 million people are in need of lifesaving aid,” EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides, said.

“The increasing number of refugees from South Sudan makes the already fragile context even more difficult.”

Safer working conditions

“The EU is committed to help. Despite serious restrictions on humanitarian access, the EU has been relentlessly assisting those in need.

“It is vital that safer working conditions are assured for relief workers, allowing them to keep delivering lifesaving assistance,” Stylianides added.

‘One fifth’

About one fifth of Sudan's population, approximately six-and-a-half million people, is estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance.

In Darfur, where people suffer from high levels of malnutrition, and lack both infrastructure and basic public services, more than three million people are displaced.

Moreover, since the conflict broke out in South Sudan in December 2013, tens of thousands of Southern Sudanese fled to Sudan. Over the last months, the situation has been deteriorating further, with the number of South Sudanese people seeking refuge in the country now estimated at more than 190,000.

Since 2011, the European Commission has provided humanitarian assistance to Sudan amounting to more than €200 million.