UN Humanitarian Affairs Chief Amos to Helsinki
Press release 52/2012
9 March 2012
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos will participate in the Nordic meeting of humanitarian aid donors in Helsinki on 14-15 March. During her visit, she will meet Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala, the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee and NGOs engaged in humanitarian aid.
Valerie Amos has just recently returned from a survey visit to Syria. Other topics of discussion in addition to the visit will include the situations in Sahel and South Sudan, and enhancement of the operation of the UN humanitarian aid system. In the meeting with Minister for International Development Hautala the main topics will be the new development policy programme and Finland’s role as humanitarian aid donor.
This year Finland’s humanitarian aid budget totals 83.5 million euros. By decision of Minister for International Development Hautala, 67.6 million euros of the total has already been allocated in humanitarian aid appropriations for the first part of the year to people suffering from the world’s crises. Assistance is directed to Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Caribbean. Three million of this sum is targeted as general assistance to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), headed by Under-Secretary-General Amos, and 6.5 million euros to Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), also managed by her.
The purpose of humanitarian aid is to save human lives and alleviate human suffering in crisis situations. The humanitarian aid donated by Finland is based on the joint appeal published each year by the UN agencies; this year, the geographical focal point is once again Africa. Alongside the alleviation of acute distress situations, Finland lays emphasis on finding long-term solutions.
Further information: Ulla-Maija Finskas, Head of Unit for Humanitarian Assistance; tel. +359 9 400 431 921, or Anna Gebremedhin, Counsellor, tel. +358 40 583 0149; for potential requests for interviews, please contact: Pirjo-Liisa Heikkilä, Information Officer, tel. +358 40 705 5623