Finland grants additional humanitarian aid for the Haitian earthquake victims
Press release 54/2010
24 February, 2010
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen has decided today, 24 February, for the third time to grant assistance from humanitarian aid funds to the earthquake victims in Haiti. The 400,000 euros now granted in assistance is directed at the agricultural sector through FAO, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. The aim is to promote Haiti’s own food security, support rural employment and revitalise agriculture in Haiti.
Support for the agricultural sector is pivotal because Haiti has an immediate need for seeds, fertilisers and tools for the harvest season that will begin in March 2010. The harvest accounts for about 60 per cent of the country’s food production. Harvest season failure would weaken the country’s already fragile food security and deepen dependence on foreign food aid.
The UN renewed its appeal for aid to Haiti on 18 February. It now covers the entire year of 2010. The final sum of the appeal for aid amounts to 1.4 billion dollars, of which donors have already pledged 686 million dollars in monetary assistance. Of the appeal for aid to the agricultural sector, however, less than 10 per cent has been met so far. The Haiti Reconstruction Conference will probably be held in New York in March.
Finland has previously granted 5 million euros to meet humanitarian needs in Haiti. The funds were channelled through Finn Church Aid, the Finnish Red Cross, the World Food Programme, Unicef, the International Organization for Migration and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Of this sum, 2.95 million euros was directed through UN agencies and 2.05 million euros through the Finnish Red Cross and Finn Church Aid.
Additional information: Ulla-Maija Finskas, Head of the Unit for Humanitarian Assistance, tel. +358 9 1605 6225 or mobile tel. +358 400 431 921, and Päivi Nevala, Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, tel. +358 9 1605 6171 or mobile tel. +358 40 753 4375