Port Moresby, 02 June 2016 - The European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development,
Neven Mimica, announced the European Union's support of EUR 5 million to Papua New Guinea's (PNG) commitments to address El Niño impact during his visit to Port Moresby to attend the 8th Summit of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Heads of State and Governments. The EU Commissioner said: "I am aware that due to the El Niño phenomenon Papua New Guinea has experienced a prolonged dry spell since May 2015, severely affecting subsistence agriculture and putting at risk food security for many families, in particular for those in high altitude regions who have seen their food gardens and vegetation destroyed by frost”. "I am pleased to announce that the European Union will support the Governments efforts with a total of EUR 5 million, aimed at providing both emergency relief and long-term solutions that will promote resilience and ensure that rural populations are better prepared to face a reoccurrence of adverse climate conditions." The EU support package includes € 2 million in humanitarian aid funding to provide emergency support to drought-affected families in in the hardest-hit districts of Western, Hela, Enga and Chimbu provinces. The aid, which will be channelled through the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO), will focus on the provision of food assistance to the most-affected communities, benefitting a total of 180 000 people. “The irregular precipitation patterns in Papua New Guinea have continued to affect household food production and day-to-day livelihoods for months, causing alarming levels of food insecurity”, said Christos Stylianides, EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management. “This contribution from the European Commission will help provide the most vulnerable with much-needed support, ensuring that they no longer have to fall back on negative coping mechanisms such as skipping meals or eating famine foods in order to survive.” The remaining EUR 3 million allocation is part of a €14.5 million support announced by Commissioner Mimica for the Pacific to strengthen food security and build resilience in the most exposed countries, namely Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Fiji, Marshal Islands, Micronesia and Palau. The additional financial support primarily aims to improve the food and nutrition security situation of vulnerable population as well as to: Enhance the strategies/systems for soil and water management as well as soil health improvement. Enhance crop diversification through the establishment of local seed multiplication and distribution mechanisms including piloting of new or improved crop diversification options in response to target communities’ needs. Enhance access to protein through livestock and fish diversification. This will include the establishment of local distribution centres for breeding stock, piloting of new improved livestock and fish diversification options in response to target communities’ needs. This support comes in addition to prior EU-funding support of EUR 1.3 million (PGK4.6 million) by the European Commission through its Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) to address the impact of El Nino. The EU has reconfirmed at the World Humanitarian Summit on 23 May 2016 that it is mobilising a global contribution of more than EUR 500 million to support countries most affected by the current food securitycrisis caused by El Niño. Today's announcement is in keeping with this commitment by the EU to strengthen prevention andpreparedness, and improve international response to climate change worldwide, including Papua New Guinea.
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