EU gives extra €165m to combat East Africa drought

Juba - The European Union said it’s giving an extra €165m to battle humanitarian crises in East Africa, including a famine in South Sudan and drought in Somalia.

From the total, €100m will be allocated to help responses to the crisis in South Sudan and an influx of its refugees to neighboring countries, the EU said on Monday in an emailed statement. Humanitarian assistance for droughts in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya will be targeted with €65m.

The new funds will “scale up and strengthen” the more than €400m that the EU allocated last year to address the crises and the impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon on the region, the EU said.

The world’s first declaration of famine since 2011 was made last month in parts of South Sudan, where a civil war has raged for three years. Somalia, itself roiled by decades of conflict, is facing mass hunger due to drought that was declared a national disaster on February 28.

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