The Danish government has revealed that it intends to increase its aid to help the many ongoing global humanitarian crises by shifting aid funds from its development arena to its humanitarian funds.
The funds will be funnelled into the humanitarian aid pool from the long-term development fund earmarked for West Africa.
“Today, there are more than 51 million refugees and internally-displaced people globally,” the trade and development minister, Mogens Jensen, said in a press release. “That’s the highest number since World War II.”
”But the humanitarian coffers are empty, so I hope that parliament will support us now by dedicating a further 250 million kroner to help the urgent needs.”
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Aid coming from Ghana and Benin
Last week, the UN upgraded the conflict in Iraq to the highest possible humanitarian crisis category, which means that the conflict is immediately prioritised in terms of the aid funds allocated. Crises in South Sudan, Syria and the Central African Republic have also been categorised as being of the highest priority.
“Aside from the four mega crises, the situation in Gaza has also deteriorated considerably,” Jensen said.
“The UN also warns of a serious starvation risk in Somalia, and emergency aid must be secured for the so-called forgotten crises in Yemen, Darfur in Sudan and DRC Congo.”
Some 220 million kroner of the funds will be taken from the development aid program in Ghana, while the remaining 30 million will come from a similar program in Benin.
