The European Union is planning to give away €1.9 billion of taxpayer money in so-called “humanitarian aid” this year, the European Commission has announced.
According to a breakdown published on January 16, a plurality of the cash is destined for Africa, with large tranches of funds also to be sent to the Middle East and Ukraine.
€295 million is meanwhile being put aside for so-called “worldwide actions”, while a further €110 million is being allocated to what the commission describes as “horizontal activities”.
Justifying the giveaway, Equality Commissioner Hadja Lahbib said that the handouts were necessary in a world with so many people suffering outside of the European Union.
“With more than 300 million people needing humanitarian assistance in 2025, the EU is upholding its commitment to help those most in need as a leading humanitarian aid donor,” she said.
The commissioner, a Belgian politician, is known for her embarrassing gaff at the United Nations last year where she confused the entire chamber by reading the wrong speech.
“Our humanitarian aid funding will support our partners on the ground – the UN family, the Red Cross/Red Crescent family, international and local government and non-governmental organisations – to provide life-saving, emergency assistance where needed.”
“At the same time, I reiterate my call for safe and unimpeded access to people in need: funding is not enough – we need to be able to reach the most vulnerable. And for this, there is an urgent need for all parties to respect International Humanitarian Law,” she added.
According to the Commission, €470 million of the funding is destined for the Middle East and North Africa, with a particular emphasis being on delivering aid to Gaza and Yemen.
The rest of the African continent is to receive a further €510 million in aid, with these funds set to be channelled across “West and Central Africa, the Sahel, the Lake Chad basin, North-West Nigeria, Central Africa, the Great Lakes region and the Greater Horn of Africa”.
Central and South America is to receive €113 million, with key beneficiaries to be Communist Venezuela, Colombia, Haiti, Mexico and Ecuador.
€182 million is earmarked for Asia, with the core targets for the aid to be Myanmar, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Ukraine is meanwhile set to receive €140 million worth of aid from this particular tranch of fund, with an additional €8 million in aid to be handed to another EU candidate country, Moldova.
The US is expected to announce $500 million in military aid for Ukraine at a final gathering of outgoing President Joe Biden’s weapons-pledging conferences. https://t.co/ZtzUV0HF8N
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) January 9, 2025
