Finland grants €79m in humanitarian aid

Finland allocated a total of EUR 78.8 million in humanitarian assistance in 2019, said an official press release.

EUR 12.4 million of this allocation targeting the management of the Syrian crisis and support for Yemen was increased considerably, to EUR 5.7 million in all. EUR 21.3 million was directed to those in need of humanitarian assistance in Africa.

The release said, “Funding decisions for the rest of the year will be directed at Syria (UN Population Programme UNFPA), Yemen (World Food Programme WFP) and Central and Eastern Africa (Red Cross and the United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR).”

According to a new UN assessment, 168 million people in 53 countries are currently in need of emergency relief. The guidelines for persons with disabilities in humanitarian crises, supported by Finland, have recently been adopted at both EU and UN levels.

Based on the Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) 2020, published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Wednesday, the world’s worst humanitarian crisis is currently in Yemen, but the situation is also very difficult in Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and South Sudan. The majority of the needs are caused by conflicts, but climate change, for example, has also led to an increase in the occurrence of natural disasters.

The total amount of humanitarian assistance needed for 2020 is estimated at around USD 28.8 billion. Altogether, 168 million people in 53 countries are in need of urgent assistance.

“In accordance with the Government Programme, Finland has raised the level of its humanitarian assistance. We have also updated our guidelines applying to the provision of assistance. At EU development ministers’ meeting on 25 November, conclusions were adopted on Finland's initiative that strengthens the EU’s role both as a donor for humanitarian assistance and as a guardian and promoter of humanitarian law,” said Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.