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Finland allocates over EUR 61 million to support humanitarian work in the most difficult crisis areas in the world

Finland grants EUR 61.9 million in humanitarian aid to the most severe crisis areas in the world. On 17 March, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Lenita Toivakka decided that aid will be granted to, for example, Syria and its neighbouring areas, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Ethiopia and Yemen.

The majority of the support will be channelled to Syria and its neighbouring countries, which will receive EUR 15 million through different organisations. In Syria, 13.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and nearly 5 million Syrians have fled to neighbouring countries.

Countries suffering from protracted and even decades-long crises, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Afghanistan and Somalia, will also be supported.

“Finland targets assistance to where the need is the greatest. Humanitarian aid is meant to save lives and to alleviate human suffering. Emergency relief also reminds us of respect for human dignity," says Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Lenita Toivakka.

"We respond to food, health, education and protection needs especially in the Syria crisis, and in Yemen and South Sudan. We also provide assistance to Ethiopia, which suffers from the most severe draught for decades," Minister Toivakka says.

EUR 35.9 million of the support will be granted to organisations' operations in different countries and regions. Aid is channelled through UN agencies, such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR, the World Food Programme WFP, and the United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF, as well as through the International Red Cross and Finnish Red Cross, Finn Church Aid, Fida International (FIDA), World Vision Finland, Plan International Finland, and Save the Children, which are Finnish civil society organisations. Moreover, the Finnish Red Cross channels support to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies (IFRC).

The support will be granted from Finland's development cooperation appropriations earmarked for humanitarian aid purposes. The decision is largely based on the UN's Consolidated Appeal to Support People Affected by Disaster and Conflict, which currently amounts to about EUR 18.3 billion.

EUR 18 million of the support will be granted in the form of core funding to the UNHCR, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance OCHA, the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction ISDR, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East UNRWA, and ICRC. In addition, Finland will allocate EUR 8 million to WFP from the multilateral development cooperation funds.

Country- and region-specific allocation of funds to humanitarian aid in the spring of 2016

The Middle East: EUR 17.78 million

  • EUR 15 million to the Syria crisis (EUR 3.5 million to UNHCR for regional support; EUR 1 million to UNHCR for Syria; EUR 1.21 million to WFP for regional support; EUR 2.5 million to WFP for Syria; EUR 2 million to UNICEF for Syria; EUR 2.5 million to Finnish Red Cross/ICRC for Syria; EUR 1.2 million to Finnish Red Cross/IFRC for Syria; EUR 0.5 million to Finn Church Aid for Jordan; EUR 0.59 million to Plan Finland for Jordan)
  • EUR 2 million to Yemen (WFP)
  • EUR 0.78 million to Iraq (EUR 0.4 million to Save the Children; EUR 0.38 million to World Vision Finland)

Africa: EUR 15.68 million

  • EUR 1 million to Niger (Finnish Red Cross/ICRC)
  • EUR 0.38 million to Uganda (World Vision Finland)
  • EUR 2.7 million to Central African Republic (EUR 2 million to UNHCR for regional support, EUR 0.7 million to Finn Church Aid)
  • EUR 0.7 million to DRC (FIDA)
  • EUR 4.9 million to South Sudan (EUR 2.2. million to UNHCR for regional support, EUR 2 million to Finnish Red Cross/ICRC, EUR 700,000 to Finn Church Aid)
  • EUR 2.5 million to Ethiopia (EUR 2 million to WFP, EUR 0.5 million to Finnish Red Cross/ICRC)
  • EUR 3.5 million to Somalia (EUR 2.4 million to Finnish Red Cross/ICRC, EUR 0.7 million to Finn Church Aid, EUR 0.4 million to Save the Children)

Asia: EUR 1.9 million

  • EUR 1.2 million to Afghanistan (Finnish Red Cross/ICRC)
  • EUR 0.7 million to Myanmar (Finn Church Aid)

Europe: EUR 0.5 million

  • EUR 0.5 million to Ukraine (Finnish Red Cross)

Inquiries: Claus Jerker Lindroos, Director, Unit for Humanitarian Assistance and Policy, tel. +358 40 132 1416 and Juha Kirstilä, Special Adviser to the Minister, tel. +358 40 552 8200.

Background note: What are the targets of Finlands humanitarian aid? (pdf, 2 pages, 122 kb)