Help for people in need
Humanitarian aid is designed to help people in dire need as a result of natural disasters, epidemics, armed conflict or internal unrest. The German Government funds appropriate relief projects run by UN humanitarian organizations, German NGOs and Red Cross organizations. The Federal Foreign Office is the lead ministry for this task.
Providing emergency aid for people in dire need as a result of natural disasters, epidemics, armed conflict or internal unrest is one of the Federal Foreign Office's top priorities.
Read more: How do we help?
The number of natural disasters in which people lose their lives or their livelihoods is on the rise. Poorer countries in particular suffer long-term economic damage and often see their development prospects set back by years. The Federal Foreign Office has long endeavoured to promote the mainstreaming of disaster reduction in science, practice and politics and to bring the various actors together.
Read more: Federal Foreign Office - funding for disaster reduction projects
In most of the countries involved landmines were planted indiscriminately and without reliable maps of the minefields. This means that detecting and removing landmines is not only expensive and time-consuming, but also leads to many social problems which place a heavy burden on the countries' mostly fragile societies: The landmines, often buried for decades, not only kill people but in many cases stretch health systems and family structures to breaking point in the areas concerned. Landmine contamination also makes it difficult to reconstruct destroyed infrastructure and to use agricultural land.
Read more: Humanitarian mine action
