Portugal announced this Friday a humanitarian aid to Cape Verde worth 580 thousand euros to help the archipelago mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the food crisis and the prolonged drought.
“Portugal granted Cape Verde extraordinary support worth more than 580 thousand euros (583,462 euros) which is intended to alleviate the accumulated effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the world food crisis and the effects of prolonged drought in that country”, reads a note sent to Lusa, which explains that the support is divided between budget aid and the shipment of 6.7 tons of powdered milk.
Aid from Portugal is thus divided into 560,000 direct supports to the Budget, to reinforce food security, which add up to “regular support of 500 thousand eurosthus raising the total amount made available by Portugal for this purpose to more than one million euros” and, on the other hand, “the shipment of 6.7 tons of powdered milk (more than 23 thousand euros), whose transport to Cape Verde was insured by the Ministry of National Defense, through the Portuguese Navy,” the statement explained.
“Portugal and Cape Verde are partners par excellence, and to be a sister country, we have to be present at all times. The Portuguese Government could not remain indifferent to the Cape Verdean call to face the triple crisis and, therefore, mobilized resources in various levels of government, including the experience of the Portuguese Cooperation, to obtain this support that will have a very positive impact on Cape Verde“said Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho, quoted in the statement.
“No one can be left behind and it is with this spirit of global solidarity that Portugal assumes this association agreement; food security and access to quality food have become even greater challenges and call us even more to join efforts“, commented, for her part, the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Maria do Céu Antunes.
In June, the Cape Verdean Prime Minister declared a social and economic emergency in the country due to the impacts of the war in Ukraine, announcing mitigation measures with a total cost of more than 80 million euros in 2022.
This week, the Government of Cape Verde extended for another six monthsat the end of June 2023, the program to mitigate the escalation of prices due to the war in Ukraine, according to the resolution approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
“Cape Verde is still facing the effects of a triple crisis, namely the prolonged drought since 2017, the covid-19 pandemic, and since March 2022, the war that started with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is still going on. He doesn’t know its end,” he recalls. the resolution, of December 29 and which enters into force on January 1, 2023, which extends for six months the previous resolution, of June 14, which approved complementary measures to alleviate the impact of the war of Ukraine in electricity tariffs and food products.
Source: Observadora
