European Commission allocates 10 million euro for victims of conflict in Chechnya

We call your attention to the press release issued by the European Commission on 25 October 2004:

The European Commission has approved a 10 million euro humanitarian aid package to support victims of the ongoing conflict in Chechnya. The recipients will include internally displaced persons (IDPs) and vulnerable groups in central and southern Chechnya as well as IDPs in Ingushetia and Daghestan. Assistance includes: food and non-food items, medical support, shelter and water/sanitation, education, psychological assistance and vocational training. Funds are being allocated via the Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid, ECHO, under the responsibility of Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian aid Poul Nielson.

Five years after the beginning of the second conflict in Chechnya, humanitarian needs remain acute. Widespread physical and psychological trauma has resulted from the war in Chechnya, and the instability has recently spilled over in other republics of the Northern Caucasus. Some 40,000 people are still displaced in the neighbouring republic of Ingushetia as well as some 10,000 in Daghestan. In addition, the conflict has caused the internal displacement of approximately 150,000 people within Chechnya proper.

This new financial support will allow providing basic and supplementary food for the 400,000 most vulnerable people in the three republics, mostly in Chechnya.

The decision will also fund primary and mother and child health care and support surgery, traumatology and rehabilitation services for the war-wounded and disabled. It will help provide primary education and vocational training, as well as psychological assistance for the people, especially children, affected by war-related trauma.

The funding will ensure that the population in Grozny (estimated around 100,000 people) has access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation facilities. It will also allow IDPs in Ingushetia and Daghestan to have access to decent shelter conditions and water/sanitation facilities.

Since the beginning of the current crisis in autumn 1999, ECHO has allocated approximately 137 million euro to the victims, making the EU the largest donor in the region.