Finland to provide humanitarian aid to crisis areas

Finland will provide EUR 17.3 million in humanitarian aid to Sudan, Ukraine, Burkina Faso and Lebanon through the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Global humanitarian needs have grown this year. Most of the ongoing humanitarian crises are caused by conflicts.

The power struggle in Sudan, which began in spring 2023, has led to a rapid increase in humanitarian needs both in Sudan and in its neighbouring areas. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the conflict in Sudan has forced 6.6 million people, 2.6 million of them children, to leave their homes. The UNHCR provides support such as emergency accommodation and emergency relief items to the refugees. Finland supports the work of the UNHCR in Sudan by EUR 10.4 million.

In Ukraine, nearly 15 million people, about 40 per cent of the population, need humanitarian aid. The Ukraine Humanitarian Fund, a UN pooled fund managed by OCHA, is a fast, flexible and strategic humanitarian fund that supports the humanitarian work of national and local humanitarian organisations in particular. The recent decision of additional funding of three million euros for the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund will increase Finland’s funding for the fund in 2023 to a total of eight million euros.

The Sahel not only has one of the world’s fastest growing refugee crises, but also one of the most forgotten humanitarian crises, which extends to a wide geographical area. In Burkina Faso, 4.65 million people are in need of humanitarian aid, 2.5 million of them children. Insecurity has forced over two million people to become internally displaced. Finland supports the operation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) by EUR 2.5 million. The ICRC, together with the Burkina Faso Red Cross (BRCS), supports the protection, health, business, water, sanitation and hygiene sectors. The Finnish Red Cross will support the operation in Burkina Faso by supplying financial and material assistance and by participating in monitoring and coordination.

As a result of the war in Syria, Lebanon has approximately 1.5 million Syrian refugees, for whom the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR provides shelter and emergency relief items. The UNHCR also provides Lebanese municipalities with technical assistance as the number of refugees increases. Finland supports the UNHCR’s work in Lebanon by EUR 1.4 million.

This year, Finland has also supported the humanitarian work of Finnish civil society organisations by approximately EUR 13 million in eight countries. Funding was granted this year to Fida International, Plan International Finland, Save the Children Finland, the Finnish Refugee Council, the Finnish Red Cross, World Vision Finland and Finn Church Aid. They have signed a framework partnership agreement with the European Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), which is a condition to be eligible for funding. The activities of civil society organisations were funded in crises in Ukraine, Ethiopia, Somalia, Mozambique, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar and Syria.