The Netherlands has pledged nearly one million euros in extra emergency aid to curb the famine threat in the Sahel region. Ben Knapen, Minister for European Affairs and International Cooperation, said today the money will go to the Red Cross to provide food aid in drought-plagued Burkina Faso and Chad.
Addis Ababa, 27th April 2012: Our programme in Ethiopia is delighted to have been awarded €13 million by the Dutch government for a project to improve the sexual and reproductive health of Ethiopian women. The project will focus on making a sustainable difference by strengthening the ability of the private sector to deliver services to under-served women across the country.
Providing new shelter to over 1,300 Palestinians living in Gaza’s Khan Younis refugee camp, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) held an inauguration ceremony today to officially hand over the 223 housing units constructed with a USD 7.2 million donation from the Government of the Netherlands.
Strengthening the agriculture sector and food security is crucial to developing countries becoming self-sufficient. This is why the Netherlands is donating €100 million to the private food sector in these countries over the next five years. International cooperation minister Ben Knapen signed an agreement to this effect with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Washington last Saturday.
Geneva, 19 April 2012: A conference on the global ban on cluster bombs has concluded with news that 650,000 cluster munitions stockpiled by States Parties, containing 68.2million explosive submunitions, have been destroyed.
13 April 2012, New York - With the risk of disasters increasing globally, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has underlined the central role of healthy and well-managed ecosystems in supporting the resilience of populations before, during and after disasters.
Natural disasters caused a record US$378 billion damage in 2011. While mortality rates from disasters are falling globally, thanks to improved early warning and preparedness measures, some 29,700 people still lost their lives in 302 disasters last year.
Hundreds of thousands of poor people will go without life-saving medicines and many more children will miss out on school because of the first cuts in global aid since 1997, Oxfam warned today as the OECD published its annual report showing how much donors give to poor countries.
Oxfam said the figures showed the importance of the UK sticking to its commitment to meet the target of giving 0.7 per cent of national income in aid next year. The OECD’s figures show a surprise fall in UK aid of $100m in real terms or 0.8 per cent between 2010-11.
A precious resource to boost work for human rights throughout Europe
A few years ago, the Norwegian government launched a project to give support to Council of Europe member countries in carrying out the work needed to implement the judgments of the Court of Human Rights. The initiative came from a realisation that many member states faced difficulties in changing their law or national practices simply because of financial or structural obstacles, and that what was needed was a structure to help with capacity building and expert support.
The Netherlands will donate an additional €4 million to the Humanitarian Action Plan for South Sudan. In taking this step the Minister for European Affairs and International Cooperation, Ben Knapen, is responding to an appeal by the United Nations and various NGOs.
The money is intended for food programmes run by two UN bodies, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The funds will be managed by the UN’s donor fund and NGOs in South Sudan.
A project worth more than 365,000 euros has been launched in Long An province to help build a strategy for climate change adaptation in the Vam Co River basin.
The Netherlands committed 312,786 euros to the project and the rest of the capital came from local budget.
The project aims to assess current climate change impact and make future forecasts. It will also review the effects of different measures against inundation due to floods and tides, as well as losses caused by salt intrusion.
Ben Knapen, Minister for International Cooperation, is following the situation in Mali closely, partly with an eye to Dutch development ties with that country.
‘Aid to the government has now effectively been suspended. I want to sound out the situation before taking a formal decision on our development efforts,' the minister said. Mr Knapen emphasised that the Dutch contribution to victims of the famine in the Sahel would continue as before.
Minister for European Affairs and International Cooperation Ben Knapen wants companies, knowledge institutions and civil society organisations to join the government in tackling water problems in developing countries. Today, on World Water Day, he launched the Sustainable Water Fund.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Uri Rosenthal had talks on Thursday with members of the Syrian opposition in the Netherlands. The Dutch ambassador to Syria was also present. Mr Rosenthal talked about scope for helping the opposition, with technical support enabling internet access, documentation of atrocities in Syria, and expertise in the field of political transition. The Netherlands has already given €1 million to the World Food Programme for humanitarian assistance within Syria.
Norway is to donate NOK 11 million to a new fund for Somalia. The international Stability Fund will improve the lives of Somalis by supporting local efforts to promote reconciliation.
“We would like to help bring about greater stability in Somalia by supporting development and the establishment of functioning authorities at the local level. People need to have access to health services and education,” said Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim.
The plight of thousands of people continues in Europe where forecasters say that icy conditions are unlikely to improve before the end of this week. In the last 11 days, several Red Cross societies have been in a race against time to reduce the impact of the extreme cold. Estimates so far suggest 389 have died, and official sources say the winter has been the most brutal in decades.
Le gouvernement de la République démocratique du Congo et la Mission d’observation des Nations unies en RDC (Monusco) viennent de convenir de nouvelles stratégies pour mettre fin à l’insécurité récurrente dans l’Est du pays.
The House of Representatives has agreed to the contribution of an Autonomous Vessel Protection Detachment (AVPD) to Operation Atalanta, the EU mission concerned with protecting food transports to Somalia. The advantage of AVPDs is that the military personnel can be stationed directly on the ship in need of protection, so that no naval escort is necessary.
The Netherlands is already contributing to the operation with naval vessels, and it also stations Vessel Protection Detachments (VPD) on vulnerable Dutch merchant ships.
Funding to improve access to equitable quality basic education in 16 priority district
LUSAKA, Zambia, 16 January 2012 (UNICEF) – The Government of the Netherlands is supporting the UNICEF education programme in Zambia with US$10 million (50 trillion Zambian kwacha) with a focus on the most vulnerable children in the country.
BANGKOK, 16 January 2012 (IRIN) - More countries should follow international disaster law to ensure efficient delivery of international aid, say experts.
