Finland will grant EUR 15 million to humanitarian assistance
Press release 202/2016
26.10.2016
This autumn Finland will grant a total of EUR 15 million in humanitarian aid to the most severe crisis areas in the world as well as to the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
Emergency relief will be allocated to Iraq, Afghanistan, drought-affected areas in southern Africa as well as to needs arising from protracted crises in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as in the West Africa and Sahel regions. Finland’s support will be channelled via UN agencies and the Red Cross. In August, Finland also decided to grant EUR 7 million in aid to CERF to support the humanitarian operation in Haiti after hurricane Matthew, among other objectives.
“Finland targets assistance to where the need is the greatest. The majority of the support will now be channelled to Iraq, which will receive a total of EUR 3 million. The UN estimates that the liberation of Mosul could represent the single largest and most complex humanitarian operation in the world in 2016,” says Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen.
The need in Iraq has already exceeded one billion dollars, and there could be 1.2 to 1.5 million civilians who need protection and emergency relief.
The situation in Afghanistan is in a rapid decline. It is estimated that at the end of the year more than one million Afghan refugees will be on the move both internally and across borders back to Afghanistan. The combination of the high level of mobility and the approaching winter can cause a significant humanitarian crisis since communities in the region have poor capacity to receive refugees and aid agencies have insufficient resources to address the situation. Finland will grant a total of EUR 1.3 million for this purpose.
Southern Africa is facing a major food security crisis following severe drought and crop loss as a result of the El Niño weather event. According to the plead for aid by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), 41.4 million people are facing deteriorated food security and 23 million of them will need emergency relief. Finland will support southern Africa with EUR 1.5 million.
UN agencies have launched a humanitarian appeal for the Sahel region in West Africa amounting to USD 2.01 billion in 2016. The greatest needs are in food security and nutrition. According to the appeal, a total of 7.7 million people will require emergency food assistance and 3.1 million children under five years of age will be threatened by acute malnutrition. Finland will grant EUR 1.2 million to the region.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has 1.7 million internally displaced people, and the number of Congolese refugees in neighbouring countries, Uganda in particular, continues to rise. Moreover, there are about 230,000 refugees in Congo who mainly come from the Central African Republic, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. According to the UN agencies’ appeal a total of USD 690 million will be needed in the Democratic Republic of Congo this year. It is one of the many international relief operations with a dramatic humanitarian financial gap. Finland will grant a total of EUR 1.3 million to Congo.
Inquiries: Claus Jerker Lindroos, Director, Unit for Humanitarian Assistance and Policy, tel. +358 295 351 234.
The Foreign Ministry's email addresses are in the format [email protected].