In response to the humanitarian emergency, the EU has decided to grant more than €34 million in favour of the Great Lakes region in Africa. This action is part of the ECHO programme, which aims to provide assistance to the most vulnerable populations in third countries.

The bulk of the funding announced supports humanitarian measure in the Democratic Republic of Congo (€29.375 million) and refugees from Burundi in Tanzania and Rwanda (€4.3 million). The remaining €600,000 are allocated to UN agencies in Burundi and to help refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Africa’s Great Lakes region continues to face armed conflicts and insecurity, leading to forced displacements, food shortages and undernutrition, and recurrent outbreaks of epidemics and natural disasters. The funding announced today brings the overall amount of EU humanitarian aid in the Great Lakes region in 2019 to €69.74 million.