The Finnish Red Cross sending more aid workers to Ukraine and neighbouring areas

The Finnish Red Cross will send a disaster preparedness unit to support the international aid mission of the Red Cross. The task of the unit is to ensure that aid supplies are delivered to those most in need in Ukraine.

The unit consists of seven logistics and disaster relief professionals. The unit organises the transport, storage and distribution of material aid from the International Red Cross to Ukraine.

“Delivering aid from Ukraine's borders inside the country is currently very challenging due to acts of violence and the constantly changing security situation. The logistics unit's task is to plan and implement a transport link onwards from Lublin in Poland, so that aid supplies can be safely delivered to Ukraine and distributed to the most vulnerable,” says Marko Korhonen, Head of International Disaster Management at the Finnish Red Cross.

The disaster preparedness unit works in cooperation with local authorities and on-site Red Cross workers. Two of the members of the unit come from the Swiss Red Cross.

The International Red Cross will send disaster preparedness units to support the local Red Cross or Red Crescent when aid is needed quickly due to war or natural disaster, for example, and the local people do not have sufficient resources.

Disaster preparedness units are entities that are assembled globally in accordance with common standards. The units include trained personnel, equipment and other material.

The activities of the logistics unit are funded through donations to the Finnish Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

Finland to also send aid workers to assess the need for help

Two aid workers from the Finnish Red Cross will also travel to Ukraine as part of the International Red Cross assessment team. The task of the team is to assess the rapidly changing need for help and the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. The Finnish aid workers in the assessment team will be sent to Ukraine with support from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.

Both units will be deployed to Poland and Ukraine in the coming days.

The Finnish Red Cross has previously allocated a total of 1.1 million euros from its Disaster Relief Fund to aid work by the International Red Cross in Ukraine and the neighbouring countries. Some of the aid is material aid, which was sent from the Finnish Red Cross Logistics Centre in Tampere on Friday.