Survey shows continued support for development cooperation in Finland – humanitarian aid is considered the most important form

A clear majority of people in Finland considers humanitarian aid an important and effective form of development cooperation. In a recent survey, more than 90 per cent of the respondents agreed that humanitarian aid for Ukraine is important. The public opinion poll, commissioned from Taloustutkimus by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, shows that views on development cooperation continue to be split by gender and along party lines.

Positive views on the role of businesses

In Finland, the majority of people welcome the role of businesses in development cooperation, with 70 per cent saying their role is important. Over half are in favour of using development cooperation resources to steer private capital to developing countries

The respondents considered Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, humanitarian crises and the deterioration of nature to be the key factors driving the need for humanitarian aid and development cooperation. According to 85 per cent of the respondents, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine increases the need for development cooperation and humanitarian aid.

The effectiveness of development cooperation divides people. Forty per cent of the respondents were of the opinion that Finland's development cooperation produces results fairly or very well, while 45 per cent felt that it did not deliver the expected results.

Eighty per cent of the respondents believed it is important to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality globally.

Women on average more favourable towards development cooperation funding

Similar to recent years, attitudes to development cooperation vary depending on the respondents’ gender, age and party preference. Attitudes have become slightly more critical across different respondent groups compared to a year ago, but they still remain more positive than in the years before that. All groups show more support for increasing development cooperation appropriations than for cutting them. Forty-seven per cent of the respondents would increase appropriations, compared to 31 per cent who would cut appropriations or end development cooperation altogether.

Among women respondents, 53 per cent support increasing Finland’s development financing, compared to 41 per cent among men.

Authorities are still considered the most reliable sources of information in development matters. Nearly 78 per cent of the respondents found information provided by the authorities about development cooperation carried out with Finland’s support to be at least fairly reliable. Some 60 per cent of the respondents consider civil society organisations and the media to also be fairly reliable sources.

The survey commissioned from Taloustutkimus by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs examined the views and opinions on development cooperation of people in Finland. The survey is based on data from 1,165 respondents, and the results have been weighted to represent the Finnish population and the most recent party support. The margin of error is ± 3.1 percentage points.