Humanitarian aid, aimed at saving lives and alleviating suffering during crises, is distinct from development aid and is funded by diverse sources. The European Commission has allocated significant funds to aid projects in regions like West Africa, Uganda, and Tanzania to support vulnerable populations. While operations are organized internationally for effectiveness, challenges remain due to inherent dangers in delivering aid.

1. Humanitarian Aid Produced by : Anna Marie Fava, Maria Pace and Lara Rapa

2. Humanitarian aid (also called succour) is material or logistical assistance provided for humanitarian purposes, typically in response to humanitarian crises. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity. It may therefore be distinguished from development aid, which seeks to address the underlying socioeconomic factors which may have led to a crisis or emergency.

3. The humanitarian aid organisations are funded by donations from individuals, corporations, governments and other organizations. The funding and delivery of humanitarian aid is increasingly being organized at an international level to facilitate faster and more effective responses to major emergencies affecting large numbers of people.

4. The European Commission has adopted a series of humanitarian packages for the victims of protracted crises in Africa. These include Coastal West Africa (Euro 31.3 million), Uganda (Euro 20.62 million), Burundi (Euro 20.99 million) and Tanzania (Euro 13.5 million). Projects will be implemented by humanitarian agencies operating in the target regions. The funds are managed by the European Commission’s humanitarian department (ECHO) under the responsibility of commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel.

5. Coastal West Africa This package includes a 25 million Euro humanitarian plan for Liberia , Guinea , and Cote d’Ivoire in 2005 , a 4.3 million Euro ad hoc decision for Liberia and a 2 million Euro emergency decision for Cote d’Ivoire. More than 3 million people are expected to benefit from the operations funded.

6. Northern Uganda These decisions will relieve vulnerable population groups affected by insecurity and climatic hazards in Uganda. The European Commission, through the humanitarian aid department ECHO, has therefore decided to increase its funding to the highest level so far: a total of 32,62 million euros since the beginning of 2004. This makes the Commission the largest cash donor to the humanitarian crisis in Northern Uganda. ECHO will fund operations that focus on improving health, water availability, food security, essential items such as cooking pots, and protection.

7. Tanzania Despite peace talks and hopes of return, there are still over 400 thousand Burundian and Congolese refugees in North West Tanzania, almost entirely dependent on international aid for survival. These people rely on the protection of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), mandated by the Government of Tanzania to run the camps.

8. In addition to our humanitarian response, the United States is committed to resolving the ongoing political and humanitarian crises in Africa by working with regional partners to : Encourage inclusive political dialogue amongst all key stakeholders and resume the transitional political process outlined by the Transitional Federal Charter;

9. Build the governance capacity of the Transitional Federal Institutions; Support the full and timely deployment of the African Union Mission in Somalia.

10. Every organisation participating of humanitarian aid operations, has its own particular rules, regulations and preventive plans of action for keeping their aid workers as safe as possible. Nevertheless, dangers and threats inherent to these kind of operations have always existed and are not easy to minimize as each field of operation is unique. Even in areas with relative calm and tranquility, violence can suddenly appear.

11. Produced by : Anna-Marie Fava Maria Pace Lara Rapa