ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will receive 42 million euros in humanitarian aid from the European Commission this year. The aid announced in Brussels on Thursday is part of 661m euros assistance the EC has allocated for 2013.

As in previous years, part of the budget is dedicated to forgotten crises — communities that receive little media attention and for whom the Commission is often the only major donor. For 2013, the Commission has identified several population groups in nine countries — Algeria, Bangladesh, Central African Republic, Colombia, India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Yemen — who meet the criteria.

The only new crisis on this year’s list is the one caused by conflict and internal displacement in Pakistan, the EC said.

Kristalina Georgieva, the European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, said: “The scope and size of the Commission’s worldwide humanitarian aid decision is a sober reminder of the extent of humanitarian needs around the world. For hundreds of millions of people crises are not rare events but recurrent, seemingly unavoidable hardships.”

The commissioner said that as in the past, EU would provide its humanitarian assistance solely based on where people’s needs were most pressing, and independently of any political agenda.