8 Million Euros from the Relief Fund for Disasters Abroad Go to East Africa and Yemen

AUSTRIA, October 18 - Help for a region that is “caught in a never-ending downward spiral”

Climate change, the effects of natural disasters, armed conflicts, and the COVID-19 pandemic are all threatening food security in large parts of the world. This condition has been seriously exacerbated by the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, since Putin is cynically also leveraging food as a weapon.

This has particularly affected Yemen and the East African nations of Ethiopia, Uganda, and Mozambique. The Austrian government is providing 8 million euros from the Foreign Ministry’s Relief Fund for Disasters Abroad (AKF) to ease the suffering in these four countries.

The long-lasting droughts, the armed conflicts, and not least the food shortages in parts of East Africa and Yemen resulting from the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine are a humanitarian disaster. Austria has always consistently followed the principle of aid on the ground. We are continuing in this tradition by providing aid organisations in Yemen and parts of East Africa with 8 million euros from the Relief Fund for Disasters Abroad, to provide humanitarian support on location,

said Chancellor Karl Nehammer.

Ethiopia is currently experiencing one of the worst famines; at the same time, it is providing a home for hundreds of thousands of refugees from neighbouring countries. The country in the Horn of Africa also has more than four million internally displaced persons who have fled a bloody conflict in the Tigray region, among other circumstances.

The situation in Uganda is similarly dramatic; it is the country with the most refugees on the African continent, and around 16 million people there depend on humanitarian aid. In Mozambique, one of the countries most affected by natural disasters worldwide, floods and cyclones are having severe consequences such as crop failures, weather-related displacements, and drinking water shortages.

Yemen is facing the largest humanitarian crisis worldwide – more than 80 percent of its population depends on humanitarian aid. Austria cooperates with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to secure Yemen’s access to drinking water, food, and sanitation, as well as to provide healthcare to internally displaced persons. Despite the significant security risk and the difficulty of performing this work, the organisation is continuing to provide humanitarian support and offering vital emergency relief.

In East Africa and Yemen, the effects of the climate crisis are already creating humanitarian disasters. Dry weather and years of ongoing drought, rural migration, and wars caused by resource scarcity are resulting in thousands of fatalities; malnourished and starving children; millions of refugees; powerless governments; and states of emergency for the international aid organisations, which are running out of resources. The 8 million euros of humanitarian aid for Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Uganda will allow us to ease the most dramatic suffering for some of those affected. Austria can also use the funds to solidify the existing aid programmes from the UNHCR, the Red Cross, and Care,

explained Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler.

The ICRC will receive 4 million euros for Yemen, while the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and Austrian non-governmental organisations in Ethiopia will each receive 1 million euros. 500,000 euros each will also go to UNHCR and Austrian non-governmental organisations in Uganda and Mozambique, providing emergency aid to cover the essential needs of internally displaced persons and refugees near their homeland.

For years, this region has been caught in a never-ending downward spiral, and the humanitarian situation is just as dramatic. Putin’s cynical war, in which he is leveraging food as a weapon, is only worsening this drastic situation. We provide help where it is most urgently needed: on the ground, 

concluded Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.