NordenBladet — In the first round of allocation of funding this year, Finland granted EUR 67 million to humanitarian aid organisations by decision of Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen. The funding will be channelled via principal UN specialised agencies, the Red Cross Movement, and six Finnish civil society organisations.

The regional focus of Finland’s humanitarian assistance remains in Africa (EUR 12.5 million) and the Middle East (EUR 17.3 million). The biggest amount of funding is channelled to fighting the acute difficult humanitarian crisis in Syria (EUR 12.6 million). Finland will attend the pledging conferences to be held in April, which will in addition to Syria deal with the difficult humanitarian crises in Yemen (Finland’s support is EUR 3 million) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (EUR 1.9 million). Additionally, support will be channelled to Iraq (EUR 1.8 million), Somalia (EUR 3.1 million) and South Sudan (EUR 3.5 million).

The biggest recipients are the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) with EUR 15.5 million, the World Food Programme (WFP) with EUR 13 million, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) with EUR 10.7 million. The Finnish CSOs receiving support are the Finnish Red Cross, Finn Church Aid, Save the Children Finland, Plan Finland, World Vision Finland, and Fida International.  A significant part of Finland’s humanitarian assistance – EUR 34.5 million in all – is channelled in the form of completely unearmarked core funding in order to speed up the delivery and enhance the effectiveness of emergency assistance.

“The global humanitarian situation continues to be difficult also this year. For people living in the middle of crises and natural disasters, humanitarian assistance is critical. In cooperation with key partners and as a part of the international humanitarian response, Finland’s assistance can help these people as effectively and reliably as it is possible,” Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen emphasizes.

Find us also on Twitter: @NordenBladet