JOHANNESBURG, 14 August 2009 (IRIN) - The European Commission has announced that it will top up a €120 million (US$171 million) humanitarian donation to Zimbabwe with a further US$13 million after Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's June 2009 visit to the Belgium capital Brussels.

The monies are part of the Short Term Support Strategy, an EU initiative to cover immediate food security concerns and assist those affected by breakdowns in essential services.

"Though the food security situation has started to improve slightly, Zimbabwe continues to face a protracted emergency," Karel De Gucht, Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, through whose department the money will be facilitated, said in a statement.

"Urban populations are particularly vulnerable due to lack of access to land. It is therefore crucial in this period that ongoing food security interventions are reinforced and consolidated in order to reach the populations in need."

In the first quarter of 2009 nearly 7 million Zimbabweans required food assistance, but despite a better harvest this year, by the first quarter of 2010 about 2.4 million Zimbabweans are expected to be in need of food aid.

Since 2002, the European Commission has donated about US$817 million "in both humanitarian and essential development aid to the population", the statement said.
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