Finland will grant EUR 23.6 million in humanitarian aid
Press release 278/2011
24 October 2011
The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs will allocate EUR 23.6 million of emergency aid by the end of this year. The new decisions made by Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala will raise Finland’s total humanitarian contribution to more than EUR 90 million in 2011. Alongside the alleviation of acute distress situations, Finland lays emphasis on finding long-term solutions.
Finland directs humanitarian assistance to Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.
The biggest single target area is the Horn of Africa, where an extensive international aid operation is beginning to bear fruit. Malnutrition figures in Ethiopia and Kenya are in decline, but in Somalia the number of those suffering from famine still threatens to increase from the present 750,000 people. According to the UN agency World Food Programme (WFP), food aid has been delivered to 2.2 million people within the borders of Somalia in spite of the security threats. According to UN estimate, there are 1.5 million displaced persons in Somalia, and the number of Somali refugees in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya is almost 500,000.
Finland will grant an additional donation of EUR 7.75 million to the Horn of Africa countries, which will raise the total amount of emergency assistance to the region to EUR 21.5 during 2011. The total need of assistance in the Horn of Africa calculated on the basis of UN needs assessments is more than USD 2.4 billion.
In order to address the needs of assistance caused by the Libyan crisis, Finland will allocate EUR 1.6 million of humanitarian aid for the North African region.
More than EUR 10 million of aid is granted for humanitarian crises attracting only a limited amount of international attention. Supply of clean water is of vital importance in Chad, affected by a cholera epidemic, and in Pakistan floods are forcing people to emergency shelters just like last year. In several countries, displaced persons are in need of special protection.
Humanitarian assistance is granted for the most serious crisis situations on the basis of impartial needs assessments. Finland channels its aid through UN agencies and the Red Cross Movement. As regards Finnish organisations, assistance is granted to the Finnish Red Cross, FinnChurchAid, and Fida International. Finnish organisations actively deploy personnel and material to relief missions.
Further information: Ulla-Maija Finskas, Head of Unit for Humanitarian Assistance, tel. +358 400 431 921, Inspector Johannes Tarvainen, tel. +358 400 327 829, and Laura Nordström, Special Adviser to Minister Hautala, tel. +358 40 505 9289