Head of European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Amb. Ketil Karlsen, has said the N21bn (€50m) donated to Nigeria by the EU is largely meant for the poor, The Punch reports.
He made this known while speaking with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, shortly after the EU delegation were hosted by President Buhari and they announced a €50m donation to the country to fight against Coronavirus.
Read Also: Nigeria Gets €50m From European Union To Fight Coronavirus
Karlsen expressed that part of the €50m the EU provided will be for the relief and safety net for the most vulnerable people, internally displaced persons, adding that;
The poor people that depend on the informal markets, they do day-to-day work to put food on their table; the elderly, IDPs, and these, particularly, vulnerable people are the centre-stage of our intervention.
The Ambassador also said the donation was also meant for the provision of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and kits to double the testing capacity for COVID-19 in the country.
He explained that the fund, which would be administered by the United Nations would increase the capacity of COVID-19 treatment in the country.
Karslen noted that;
The pandemic requires global responses and if we try to fix it country by country, we may not get it right and that is why we are adopting a multilateral approach.
So, Team Europe came up with a significant package for Nigeria; we are mobilising €50m and another €1.2m that we already gave as part of humanitarian assistance through UNICEF.
The Ambassador stressed that the EU was concerned about the health and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, noting that Europe did not want Nigeria to experience what it was going through presently.
Earlier, the President Muhammadu Buhari commended the European Union (EU) for its donation.
Receiving the EU delegation, Buhari said the donation would go a long way in supporting Nigeria’s efforts at controlling and containing the virus.
He stated that;
Although the EU is facing significant challenges due to this pandemic, I am indeed touched and grateful that the EU still had the vision and foresight to remember its friends, partners and allies across the world.
In his remarks, Karlsen described the donation, channelled through the United Nations COVID-19 basket fund, as the largest single contribution to the response in Nigeria so far and the largest support that EU is providing anywhere outside Europe.
He said;
We heard your call for assistance and the EU has reacted swiftly as a demonstration of our true partnership.
