The EU has announced today at the 'Solidarity event for forcibly displaced persons and host communities in Central America and Mexico', that it will allocate €18.5 million in aid. Of this sum, €6.5 million constitute development assistance, which will support refugees as part of the response package to the coronavirus pandemic. The remaining €12 million represent humanitarian funding to Central America, divided in the following way:

-€4 million will support addressing the humanitarian consequences of violence, including displacement

-€1 million will help tackle food insecurity

-€3 million will focus on  Education in Emergencies

-€4 million will go to disaster preparedness activities.

Since 1994, the EU has allocated €257.4 million in humanitarian aid to Central America and Mexico. 66% (€171.9 million) of this sum has helped to respond to emergencies such as floods, droughts, epidemics, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, internal displacements and the humanitarian consequences of violence while the remaining 34% (€85.5 million) has been invested in preparing vulnerable communities and their institutions to face future disasters.

Today's event is hosted by the Government of Spain as Chair of the MIRPS Support Platform (Comprehensive Regional Protection and Solutions Framework), in collaboration with Guatemala and Costa Rica, with the support of UNHCR and the Organisation of American States. The aim of the event included the mobilisation of support for responses to forced displacement in Central America and Mexico. Participants identified future joint actions to promote a stronger and more coordinated commitment between all concerned actors; taking into account priority areas, gaps, challenges and opportunities related to forced displacement in Central America and Mexico.

Central America and Mexico are regularly exposed to natural hazards requiring emergency aid for around 1.7 million people per year. Climate change and the coronavirus pandemic threaten the food security of vulnerable populations in the Dry Corridor of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. At least 7.7 million people are in need of food assistance. The pandemic has also increased the levels of violence, forcing people to flee their countries. More than 1 million people are internally displaced and more than half a million are refugees and asylum seekers.

For 2019-2020, the EU allocated €26.3 million, to respond to different needs across the region: from the coronavirus pandemic to storm Amanda in Guatemala and El Salvador, passing by the Dengue epidemic in Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala and the recurrent droughts in the Dry Corridor of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua. In December 2020 emergency funding was allocated to respond to the impacts of hurricanes Eta and Iota in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Image © European Commission, 2021