The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland has decided to allocate humanitarian aid to Ukraine in the amount of 16 million euros.
According to the Finnish Foreign Ministry, the aid will be provided through UN humanitarian agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
“Finland has been supporting Ukraine’s humanitarian needs since the first day of Russia’s invasive war and will continue to do so. The need for humanitarian aid in Ukraine is enormous and our assistance is important,” said Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio.
Finland also provides assistance to address the serious refugee crises in Africa and the humanitarian situation in the Middle East. Finland is providing €2 million in support of the World Food Program (WFP) operation in Sudan, €2.5 million to the WFP operation in Gaza, and €2 million to the UNHCR regional refugee operation in Syria, among other operations. Support is also provided to Ethiopia, the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes and Sahel regions. In Asia, Finland supports Afghanistan and Myanmar through the International Red Cross Movement.
Finland is also providing €2 million to fund the work of the World Food Program and UNHCR on the inclusion of people with disabilities. The assistance is targeted at people with disabilities, who are often in the most vulnerable situation. In addition, 2 million euros are being provided to develop WFP’s school feeding activities and support school feeding, especially in Africa.
In addition to these decisions, Finland provides core funding to multilateral humanitarian organizations. In addition, preparations are underway for humanitarian assistance to be channelled through Finnish civil society organizations. The rest of the humanitarian funding from the budget will be provided later this year.
