Finland has today sent 268 tents, camping mats, blankets, tarpaulins and soap to the UN organisations in Mosul, Iraq, to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the area. Furthermore, Finland donated 1,000 Finnish maternity packages containing baby clothes and care products to Iraq. The assistance sent by Finland is based on the request for humanitarian assistance in Mosul presented by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to the European Union. According to UNICEF, this battle-torn area is in desperate need of small children's winter clothing, among other things.

The assistance will be sent to Iraq as part of the joint humanitarian operation of the European Union through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The UN will coordinate the reception of the delivery in Iraq and ensure that the assistance will find its way to the correct organisation. In Finland, the organisations responsible for the assistance are the Ministry of the Interior together with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. The Ministry of the Interior has cooperated with the National Emergency Supply Agency in the acquisition of the supplies and with the Finnish Red Cross in the logistic arrangements. The majority of transport costs will be reimbursed to the Ministry of the Interior by the European Commission.

Inquiries

Veera Parko, Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 295 488 442