Questioned by Internet users about a 2 billion CFA francs envelope that the European Union will release to fight against famine in the English-speaking regions a crisis is raging, Ambassador Philippe Van Damme has defended himself from any bias.

An alleged separatist leader  was concerned that this funding could be diverted by the government to finance the war, the ambassador replied that “This is completely absurd. To ensure neutrality, our humanitarian aid has never been channelled through government channels.

Further on, Philippe Van Damme replied that “our humanitarian aid is always in the form of donations, through humanitarian agencies, the United Nations, the Red Cross/Red Crescent, NGOs…“. And in the case of this aid, it is the World Food Programme, the European Union in Cameroon and the local Office for Civil Protection and European Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).

On 30 December last, the European Union released a communiqué announcing that it was going to release a little more than 2 billion CFA francs to fight against food insecurity in the crisis regions of the North West and South West. According to the organisation’s estimates, nearly 600,000 people are in need of emergency food aid in these two regions.