European Commission Pledges 15 million Euros Additional Relief Assistance to Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, July 21(ENA)--The European Commission (EC) announced on Monday its decision to provide a further relief assistance valued at 15 million Euros in response to the food crisis Ethiopia is facing.

According to a press release issued by the EU Mission in Ethiopia, the new assistance came as an addition to the 109 million Euros already allocated by the European Commission for this year.

The latest financial allocation converts to more than 450,000 MT of food aid to Ethiopia, the release said.

"The overall contribution of the European Union, including the support offered by the Member States, and the enlargement countries, on food aid only, is more than 183 million Euros, equivalent to 1.8 billion birr," according to the release.

If financing of other related activities supporting destitute people were included, the EU assistance would reach 195 million Euro, or 2 billion birr, it said.

Special attention was given so that the food aid deliveries, neither comes too early or too late, the release said.

"If the assistance was coming too late, then the relief effort would have been interrupted with obvious disastrous effects. That was avoided with the food aid pipeline never interrupted."

Until the end of June 2003 the EC provided to the country 175,000 MT of food aid, the release said, adding, an intensified delivery program in July and August would bring the deliveries to 300,000 MT.

"Over the coming years, the challenge will be to address long-term food security as the crisis can only be adequately addressed if, in parallel to the emergency response, substantial efforts are devoted to tackle the underlying structural problems," the release said.

"To this end the EC provides a food security budget support of 25 million Euro," it added.