The EU's strategy for Africa

EU aid means the difference between life and death for many Africans, argues Louis Michel.

Africa is a continent with great potential but has formidable challenges to overcome. The EU is determined to play a crucial role in supporting Africa to rise to these challenges through, among other things, increasing its development assistance and improving coordination and effectiveness.

This is a firm and long term commitment. But sadly, there are parts of the continent where developing tomorrow depends on surviving today.

For countries or regions that are grappling with a humanitarian crisis, a different kind of support is needed – rapid, focused on basic needs and provided impartially to
those who are most vulnerable.

Only a number of humanitarian hotspots in Africa have obtained international publicity while others unfold beyond the glare of the Western media. For me, what counts is to help those who are most in need, no matter what the cause, or where they live.

For instance, this year, we have a €40m programme for Sudan, where the terrible events in Darfur have often featured in the headlines.

But also in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where humanitarian problems are much less visible, we have allocated €38m.

And we have major programmes to help drought victims in the Horn of Africa, the Great Lakes refugees living in camps in Tanzania, the frightened communities of Northern Uganda and the many highly vulnerable people still struggling to survive in Burundi and Liberia in the aftermath of long-running conflicts.

For all of them, “Europe cares”, Europeans care. It is important to remember that when people in our countries express doubts about European integration and the added value of the EU – this is added value.

For millions of people, our aid makes the difference between life and death.

The European commission’s humanitarian aid department (ECHO), for which I am responsible, has long experience of relief activities in Africa’s crisis zones. Whether the suffering is generated by conflict, drought or disease, commission financed operations save millions of lives.

In Africa much of the humanitarian aid we give is earmarked in advance – a sad indication of the chronic nature of the crises in many areas. This earmarking, in what we call ‘global plans’, is done after careful needs assessments, working closely with other humanitarian actors.

But the commission also has money available and the capacity to respond to new needs that arise rapidly when sudden disaster strikes, or for those that emerge over a longer period, as is often the case when the rains fail.

Last year, the commission responded with funds almost immediately following the announcement of a serious Ebola outbreak in Angola.

In recent months in the Horn of Africa, where we were already providing significant support for drought relief under existing humanitarian and food aid operations, we have boosted relief funding twice in response to the deteriorating situation.

Support is channelled through our operational partners working throughout Africa including humanitarian NGOs and UN agencies. A lot of the assistance is basic and practical – things such as clean water, food for the malnourished, sanitation facilities, shelter, kitchen utensils and essential medical aid.

More specialised support includes de-mining operations, psycho-social care for traumatised people (often children) and special protection projects for vulnerable women in conflict areas.

Although the humanitarian situation in parts of the African continent is very serious, the picture is not as gloomy as some would paint it. We should recognize the successful emergence from chronic crisis of countries such as Mozambique, Angola and Sierra Leone.

These are places where development is now the watch word. The EU played an important part in alleviating suffering during their long-running crises and is now fully engaged in the effort to build prosperity in these countries.

Even in places where humanitarian needs still have to be met, good things are happening. In the DRC, which is a huge country, democratic elections are due to be held soon and large areas are not in crisis.

In Sudan, the horrors of Darfur have overshadowed the remarkable progress towards peace in the south after decades of brutal struggle.

The commission has a duty to help the neediest in Africa through humanitarian aid. But we also recognise that relief interventions only keep the patient alive on life support. To extend the analogy, the ultimate aim is to ensure a good quality of life.

This means tackling the root causes of the suffering, through political action where this is needed and then moving on as soon a possible to reconstruction and development. With the right will, and a willingness to devote the means, this is possible in Africa.

This article was originally published in the April 3 edition of the Parliament Magazine.

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