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Four-yearly report on humanitarian assistance: Germany is one of the biggest contributors worldwide
Germany has stepped up its humanitarian assistance considerably in recent years. The report sheds light on priorities and focus regions and provides background information, writes the German Foreign Office.
On November 7, the German cabinet adopted the government’s report on German humanitarian assistance abroad for the 2014, 2017 period.
Around the world, increasing numbers of people are affected by humanitarian emergencies and crises and therefore require humanitarian assistance. Germany has been working for many years to alleviate the suffering of these people with its humanitarian assistance.
Bärbel Kofler, the German government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid, emphasised the importance of Germany’s efforts:
Germany is living up to its responsibility to help people in need around the world. This is reflected by the report on our humanitarian assistance over the past few years, which was adopted today. Germany has quadrupled its humanitarian assistance since 2014 and was the world’s second largest donor in 2017, having contributed around 1.7 billion Euro in that year.
How is German humanitarian assistance helping those affected?
In recent years, the German government has supported humanitarian assistance programmes for people in Syria and its neighbouring countries as well as in Iraq and Yemen. Complex and protracted humanitarian crises in Africa were a further focus of its efforts. These include emergencies in the Horn of Africa, South Sudan, the Sahel region and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Germany set aside a total of around 3.97 billion Euro for humanitarian assistance measures from 2014 to 2017.
In the affected regions, German humanitarian assistance supports, in particular, people who have been displaced and helps to safeguard health care as well as access to sufficient food. Humanitarian mine action is a further focus.
Making the global humanitarian system more efficient and effective
Germany’s efforts go beyond providing financial help. The German government is doing its part in continuing to develop the international humanitarian system by, for example, concluding agreements at summits such as the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit, liaising with other countries in steering committees of international organisations, and developing financing mechanisms such as the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
© FFO