Finland to support Covid-19 response in India, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Niger

According to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland will contribute 3 million euros to the Covid-19 Emergency Appeal of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to help India, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Niger.

Finland will help India with 1 million euros and the other three countries with nearly 500,000 euros each. The Finnish Red Cross will also provide material assistance.

The Covid-19 pandemic remains serious across the world and is particularly hard on already fragile states.

The IFRC appeal will allocate support to healthcare sectors, to addressing the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and to vaccine rollout, including vaccine transports, organisation of vaccinations and sharing of information about vaccines. 

Finland’s contribution will be channeled via the Finnish Red Cross.

“It is important to show solidarity with the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Overcoming the coronavirus across the world will benefit Finland, too. By supporting the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, we are efficiently responding to the coronavirus pandemic even in the most difficult conditions,” says Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.

The overall funding requirement for the IFRC appeal is around 2.3 billion euros, and it is severely underfunded. At the moment, the appeal has received contributions amounting to 1.59 billion euros.