Ministry for Foreign Affairs granted additional funding for the fight against Ebola
Press Release 233/2014
21 October 2014
Development Minister Sirpa Paatero has today signed a pledge of EUR 7.1 million in support for the UN Ebola Trust Fund through which UN agencies, led by WHO, are fighting against the spread of the disease in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
“The Ebola epidemic paralyzes the functioning of entire societies in West Africa. Finland has now significantly increased its input to measures against Ebola. The Finnish Government has a serious attitude concerning the epidemic. The Government monitors the situation closely and is prepared to react quickly if the need for additional funding arises,” Development Minister Paatero stressed when signing the funding decision.
With this additional funding, Finland’s total contribution to the fight against Ebola increased to about EUR 10 million, which includes humanitarian assistance that has already been given or is planned.
The Government has today decided on the third supplementary budget for 2014. The supplementary budget decision also recorded an increase in development appropriations of EUR 21 million, stating that some of this amount may, if necessary, be allocated to the fight against Ebola.
More information about the Ebola virus on the website of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health(Link to another website.)
Additional information: Foreign Minister’s Special Representative in the work against Ebola, Counsellor of Foreign Affairs Tiina Jortikka-Laitinen, tel. +358 295 351 829, Counsellor Pirjo Virtanen, Department for Africa and the Middle East, tel. +358 295 350 541
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