Norway increases support for victims of the war in the Middle East

'The war in the Middle East has exacerbated an already grave humanitarian situation in the region. Several hundred thousand people have also been displaced. We are therefore increasing our support by NOK 25 million. This comes in addition to our contributions through established crisis-response funds,' said Minister of International Development Åsmund Aukrust.

The Minister of International Development announced the NOK 25 million increase at a meeting he and State Secretary Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik held with Care, Caritas, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Norwegian Church Aid, Médecins Sans Frontières, Norwegian People's Aid, NORWAC, Save the Children Norway and the Red Cross.

'I would like to commend and thank the organisations for the lifesaving work they carry out, often under dangerous conditions. The Norwegian funding model ensures that the UN, the Red Cross and Norwegian humanitarian organisations already have resources available to assist people in need, enabling them to start the relief efforts immediately. Given the scale of the crisis, we are adding supplementary funds to ensure that our partners can step up their efforts,' said the Minister of International Development.

At the start of the year, the major humanitarian organisations receive funding from the government that they can rapidly mobilise when new or worsening crises arise. Since the war began on 28 February, the Norwegian humanitarian organisations have released NOK 26 million (approximately USD 2.6 million). The UN and Red Cross crisis-response funds have also allocated resources to those affected by the war in the Middle East. The Norwegian share amounts to NOK 18.5 million (approximately USD 1,9 million). In total, Norway has so far contributed nearly NOK 70 million (approximately USD 7 million) to alleviate the crisis in the Middle East. In addition, the World Food Programme, UNICEF and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees have provided support financed by Norway.

'Our embassies in the Middle East and humanitarian organizations report enormous humanitarian needs. They also report repeated violations of international humanitarian law and civilians being caught in the crossfire. We view the Israeli attack that destroyed the Norwegian Refugee Council's premises in Tyre in Lebanon as extremely serious,' said State Secretary Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik.