EU to Provide 13 Million Euro Aid for IraqThe European Commission said Friday it has approved a 13 million euro (US$11.4 million) humanitarian aid package for vulnerable populations in central and southern Iraq.The funds, to be disbursed over the next 12 months, will be mobilized through the European Union (EU) executive's humanitarian aid office to finance nine projects in the fields of health, water/ sanitation and social rehabilitation. The projects meet some of the priority needs of the people and will be implemented by EU's partners in Iraq, namely the specialized U.N. agencies and NGOs. The focus will be on providing clean drinking water and health facilities, with a special emphasis on institutions for the disabled, orphans and homeless children. This year's humanitarian assistance package is one of the largest ever for Iraq, with funding up more than 50 percent on the 2000 program, said the commission, the executive body of the 15- nation bloc. In the health sector, work will continue on rehabilitating eight reference hospitals and seven primary health centers. Other health actions include a vaccination campaign against polio covering 3.5 million children and the rehabilitation of centers for the treatment of tuberculosis. |
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