Rural areas damaged by conflicts, with estimated inhabitants of eight million people, foresee humanitarian assistance from the European Union (EU). The EU will donate 35 million euros to support the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), now beginning its fifth phase to provide food, job, health, and social caregiving sectors and services. The overall budget for the five-year program will be 2.38 billion dollars. Solomon Kebede, press and information officer, said the EU has been working with the program since its launch in 2005. It was introduced after the most hotly contested national elections that year when donors felt their trust was breached following widespread clampdown. A series of protests in Addis Abeba and other towns against what the opposition claimed were rigged elections outcomes led to the death of hundreds of people. Donors, mainly from the EU, discontinued providing direct budget support, replacing it with PNSP. Roland Kobia, EU's ambassador, and the World Bank Country Directors, agriculture and finance ministries' representatives are expected to attend the ceremony on Monday, December 12, 2022, at the EU office on Cape Verde St. In 2011, a severe drought in 60 years affected the Eastern Africa region, causing famine in Somalia and acute hunger and malnutrition in northern Kenya. Ethiopia managed the crisis without experiencing famine. During the 2015-16 El Nino droughts, which resulted in millions of Ethiopians requiring emergency food assistance, PSNP was hailed for demonstrating how contingency arrangements could be used during emergencies.
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