EU Announces €235 Million Humanitarian Aid for West and Central Africa

© European Union, 2026 (photographer: Joris Bolomey)

The European Commission has announced €235 million in humanitarian assistance to support the most vulnerable people in West and Central Africa.

This funding will support those affected by current conflicts and food crises, forcibly displaced people, host communities, and hard-to-reach populations.

In the Central Sahel, €75 million in EU humanitarian funding will deliver life-saving emergency response to conflict-affected and hard-to-reach areas. With over 12.4 million people requiring assistance, the response will prioritise protection alongside food assistance, health and nutrition services, education in emergencies, shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene. Funding will also cover disaster preparedness, assistance for humanitarian air transport operations, and actions contributing to the security of interventions and partners.

In Cameroon, over €16.6 million will support food, health and nutrition, protection, education in emergencies and water, sanitation and hygiene, as well as shelter and disaster preparedness actions, meeting the needs of the most vulnerable displaced populations. Almost 3 million people require humanitarian assistance and among them, 2.2 million people are forcibly displaced.

In the Central African Republic, €22 million will fund multi-sectoral aid, including food and livelihood assistance, disaster preparedness, education in emergencies, health and nutrition, shelter, and protection. 2.3 million people are in need of assistance. The country hosts over 35,000 Sudanese refugees and about 7,000 Central African Republic returnees. Out of the total funding, €4.5 million pledged by the EU at the 3rd International Sudan Conference in Berlin will sustain the response to the consequences of the Sudan crisis in the country.

In Chad, over €72 million will provide essential services such as water, sanitation and hygiene, shelter, protection and food to address forced displacement in the Est, Lac, and Hadjer Lamis provinces, supporting both newly displaced and host communities. Since April 2023, Chad has received 919,000 Sudanese refugees and 389,700 Chadian returnees. Out of the total allocation, €60.8 million, announced at the Third International Sudan Conference in Berlin, will specifically address the needs of refugees and returnees from Sudan.

In Mauritania, €4.8 million will sustain the emergency response for Malian refugees, Mauritanian returnees and vulnerable host communities, supporting food assistance, water, sanitation and hygiene, shelter and protection services as well as disaster preparedness actions. The number of refugees and asylum seekers in Mauritania has now surpassed 400,000 individuals, most of which are currently hosted in the Hodh Chargui region in southeastern Mauritania.

In Nigeria, €33 million will support life-saving health and nutrition actions targeting areas of North-East and North-West Nigeria. The funding will focus on areas where services are insufficient and acute malnutrition exceeds emergency thresholds, while also providing protection, food assistance, education in emergencies and water, sanitation and hygiene. Nigeria is facing its worst food and nutrition crisis in recent years, with almost 35 million requiring emergency food assistance and 6.4 million children acutely malnourished, of which 2 million are in life-threatening condition.

In the coastal countries, over €6 million will deliver emergency response, food assistance, health, protection and coordination services to the areas most affected by insecurity and population displacement. In Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and Togo, over 270,000 people are forcibly displaced.

An **** additional €6.4 million will support projects with a regional scope.

Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib said:

‘ West and Central Africa is facing a storm of humanitarian crises, driven by conflict, poverty, hunger, instability, and climate shocks. Last year in Chad, I saw the human cost with my own eyes: families who had fled with nothing but the clothes on their backs, their homes lost, their livelihoods destroyed. For millions of people, humanitarian aid is not a choice. It is food on the table, clean water, medicine, shelter, and a chance for their children to learn again. The European Union will always stand with people in crisis, as a reliable and principled humanitarian partner, to save lives, ease suffering, and bring hope where it is needed most.’

Background

The West and Central Africa region is plagued by various humanitarian crises, with significant needs for humanitarian assistance. The primary driver of these crises is conflict, further intensified by the adverse effects of climate change and a multitude of local factors related to governance, demography and access to land and resources. The epicentre of these crises is in the Central Sahel and Lake Chad regions, with the Central Sahel conflict spilling over in the coastal countries, fuelling large-scale displacement both internally and across borders. The ongoing Sudan crisis is also severely impacting the resilience of Eastern Chad. In addition to these intertwined dynamics, standalone crises persist in North-West Nigeria, North-West and South-West (NWSW) Cameroon, and the Central African Republic (CAR).

Details

Publication date 22 April 2026 Author Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO)

Related links

Burkina Faso

Cameroon

Central African Republic

Mali

Niger

Nigeria

Sahel

Chad

Mauritania
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