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Monday, April 7, 2008

Northern Caucasus: Commission allocates €11 million for victims of the conflict in Chechnya

The European Commission has approved a new €11 million humanitarian aid package to support victims of the conflict in ChechnyaThe recipients will include internally displaced persons in Chechnya as well as refugees in neighbouring countries. Assistance to vulnerable groups will focus mainly on protection operations, shelter, income-generation activities and mother-and-child health. Funds will be channelled through the European Commission humanitarian aid department under the responsibility of Commissioner Louis Michel.

Although the conflict is now virtually over in Chechnya, humanitarian needs remain high because of the extent of past destruction. Most people displaced in the region have now returned to Chechnya but many of them remain displaced within their Republic because their houses were destroyed The living, conditions of the population in Chechnya still remain extremely difficult. Outside Chechnya, around 14,000 people are still displaced in Ingushetia and some 4,900 in Dagestan. In addition, some 2,100 refugees are currently hosted by Azerbaijan as well as 1,100 by Georgia, and almost all are living under dire conditions.

Activities funded under this new humanitarian decision will concentrate on sectors where need persists. In Chechnya itself, funds will cover income-generation activities, food security as well as the basic rehabilitation of private houses and primary and mother-and-child health services . In Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan, protection activities will be also funded. The decision also includes a component to support the most vulnerable Chechen refugees in Azerbaijan. Programmes will be implemented by international agencies already operating in the region.

Although insecurity has considerably diminished, limited military and guerrilla-type operations still occur in Chechnya on a regular basis, and the civilian population continues to suffer from human rights violations. This has a direct impact on the delivery of aid, always dependent on access and security conditions, particularly in North Caucasus.

Since the beginning of the second conflict in autumn 1999, ECHO has allocated over €220 million to the crisis, making the EU the largest donor in the region. However, due to the recent improvement in the socio economic in Chechnya, the European Commission will continue to downsize its humanitarian programme in the region.

Source  EC Humanitarian Aid

More information  Press room - European Commission

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