Finland to give 38.6 million euros in humanitarian aid
Press release 87/2006
3 April, 2006
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is responding to the world’s most severe humanitarian crises by granting 38.6 million euros in emergency aid, mostly to ease the situation of African countries; the assistance will be allocated out of development cooperation funds. Finland supports humanitarian aid work, among other places, in Somalia and Kenya, where the drought has worsened in the last months and millions of people experience extreme hunger and insecurity. Among the largest targets of aid are Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where chaos and violence have continued for a long time and are widespread.
The greatest target of aid in Asia is Pakistan, where victims of the earthquake that occurred in October will be supported by an additional 1.4 million euros.
With the decision now made, Finland gives assistance to save human lives or alleviate acute suffering in 18 different countries. The aid will be channelled through 13 organisations, most of which belong to the UN system or the Red Cross movement. Two Finnish organisations giving assistance in catastrophes, Finnchurch Aid and Fida International, will also receive support.
In Sudan, the number of internal refugees, at 6.5 million people, is the highest in the world. The prolonged chaotic situation and violence in the eastern and southern parts of the county and especially in the Darfur region have driven people to flee. Finland pledges 4.4. million euros in aid for Sudan, the sum to be channelled, among others, through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Finnchurch Aid.
The situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo is still unstable even though it is several years since the civil war and there are UN peacekeeping forces in the country. The presidential elections to be held in June 2006 increase the threat facing civilians. In eastern Congo, in particular, the population is largely dependent on the support of foreign aid organisations. Finland supports the work of emergency aid organisations in Congo to a total of 2.9 million euros.
Aside from aid targeted by country and region, Finland pledges a total of 17.2 million euros in general assistance to support the work of the key humanitarian aid organisations. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is to receive 7 million euros in general aid. Also to receive aid are the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the ICRC. Finland has earlier announced its pledge of 4 million euros to the revised UN Central Response Emergency Fund (CERF), the UN’s stand-by fund with the purpose of providing more timely and reliable humanitarian assistance in the initial stages of humanitarian crises.
Finland’s total humanitarian aid budget for the year 2006 amounts to 52.5 million euros.
Additional information: Ulla-Maija Finskas, Head of Unit, Unit for Humanitarian Assistance, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 6225.