The European Commission has allocated a further €3 million to the 2011 humanitarian aid budget for Haiti. The total of humanitarian funding by the Commission in 2011 has been €38.5 million. This additional funding will focus on the response to the earthquake and the cholera epidemic in the country.

Despite significant progress over the last 2 years there remain many challenges to reducing the vulnerability of the population. That's why the European Commission has allocated a further €3 million to the 2011 humanitarian aid budget for the country, bringing the total of humanitarian funding by the European Commission in 2011 to €38.5 million. For 2012, the Commission has set aside €15.25 million in humanitarian aid for Haiti.

The funding will focus on the response to the earthquake and the cholera epidemic in Haiti. More than 550,000 people are still living in tented camps nearly two years after the earthquake. Moreover, epidemiologists warned against new waves of cholera at the start of the next rainy season, in April 2012. Helping to avoiding a cholera epidemic has been a priority to the EU since the earthquake took place.

European Commission humanitarian aid funding of health, water and sanitation operations have helped so far approximately 3 million Haitians. Another Commission priority is, according to Kristalina Georgieva, the European Union's Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, to ensure a successful transition from relief to reconstruction.