2023-09-29 11:42:49
Austria is to have a “humanitarian aid strategy” for the first time: the individual areas of “development cooperation”, “humanitarian aid” and “peacekeeping” are to be better integrated, and goals and responsibilities are to be formulated and evaluated. Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens) and Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) announced this on Friday in Vienna and also highlighted the increase in the foreign disaster fund to 77.5 million euros.
According to the UN, more than 360 million people’s existence is currently threatened, and one in 22 people in the world is dependent on humanitarian aid. According to the Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor, “gloomy figures” like these were the starting point for developing the strategy, which is to be adopted by the Council of Ministers on October 4th.
The project is therefore not selfless and unselfish: “It’s not about altruism. Global crises could also trigger migration movements,” said Schallenberg at the presentation on Friday in Vienna. And Vice Chancellor Kogler explained: “The more people need humanitarian assistance, the more important it is to have a structured approach.” It is “right, important and sensible to combine and regulate common goals and responsibilities,” said Kogler, “especially in times of multiple crises.”
Specifically, it concerns the areas that have already been called “development cooperation”, “humanitarian aid” and “peacekeeping”. The already budgeted, increased foreign disaster fund – located in the Foreign Ministry – falls into the area of ”humanitarian aid”; its funds have increased fivefold since 2019 and now stand at 77.5 million euros.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Caritas welcomed the “strategy” project that had already been laid down in the government agreement: the government was “fulfilling a long-standing concern of Caritas and other aid organizations,” said Caritas President Michael Landau in a press release. The number of people in need is increasing due to the climate crisis and as a result of wars and conflicts. Resources could now be used in a “more targeted, planned and quicker” manner. The managing director of Care Austria, Andrea Barschdorf-Hage, sees “an important step in the global fight against hunger, poverty and need”.
Volkshilfe Austria sees a need for action regarding the level of development aid payments: “There is currently still a lot of room for improvement in the 0.7 percent of gross national income that Austria has actually committed to in the government program. Too much room for improvement in a time of multiple crises “said its president Ewald Sacher.
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