Urgently needed emergency aid to Central African Republic flies today from Europe
ssistance to the Central African Republic (CAR). A plane carrying 37 tonnes of relief supplies will leave Brussels for the CAR capital Bangui today.
"A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding before our eyes in the Central African Republic. The entire population is affected – and the number of people displaced in Bangui alone has increased by 130 000 in the space of only a few days. We must get assistance to them now," said Kristalina Georgieva, the EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.
This new airlift operation comes on top of a humanitarian air bridge called ECHO Flight operating between Bangui and Douala (Cameroon). A CRJ 2000 jet aircraft with a capacity of 50 passengers or five tons of cargo is performing daily rotations between CAR and Cameroon, ferrying humanitarian goods and personnel.
Background
The situation in the Central African Republic is rapidly deteriorating. Over 530 000 people are internally displaced (IDPs) and 2.3 million are in need of immediate assistance.
The European Commission has been supporting life-saving activities in CAR since 2001 with €20.5 million in aid since the beginning of 2013. For the last five years, the European Commission has been one of the country’s main donors.