Most challenging year for Red Cross
Red Cross spent record £580 million on aid projects in 2008
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Wednesday, 27, May 2009 08:43
War, natural disasters and high food prices contributed to record Red Cross spending on humanitarian aid projects in 2008, it has been revealed.
The aid organisation said it spent one billion Swiss francs (£580 million) last year, with 47 per cent spent in Africa and 20 per cent in the Middle East.
In its annual report the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the deteriorating situation in Sri Lanka, DR Congo and Pakistan among others had contributed to the record outlay.
Its president Jakob Kellenberger explained that many countries had been triply hit by war, natural disasters and continued high food prices.
"Afghanistan, Somalia and Pakistan are three examples of countries where natural disasters and high food prices have made life even harder for poor people already struggling to cope with the effects of war," he said.
In 2008 the Red Cross distributed 121,000 tonnes of food, with 2.79 million people receiving food aid, two thirds of which were internally-displaced persons.
The Red Cross, which said its neutral status allowed it to reach vulnerable people in Iraq, Africa's Sahel region, Somalia and Georgia, said it was difficult to predict the impact of the global financial crisis on the millions of people around the world in need of aid.
But its report expressed concern that "the increase in the number of people living in extreme poverty, rising unemployment worldwide and a significant drop in remittances from migrant workers to their families in conflict areas could have a particularly severe effect on the poorest victims of armed conflicts".