(German Embassy, Port of Spain) In view of the dire situation in St. Vincent and the Grenadines after the explosions of the La Soufrière Volcano since April 9, 2021 the German Government is allocating 300.000 € (appr. 360.000 US$) to the World Food Programme’s disaster response efforts in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the provision of live saving food assistance.
German Ambassador Ute König explained: “Germany and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are partners in the Alliance for Multilateralism and have cooperated closely during their joint time in the United Nations Security Council. We are glad to be able to help in this terrible situation. The islands in the Caribbean are among the most vulnerable. The volcano situation is ongoing and therefore much worse than past hurricanes. We feel with the suffering population.”
In 2020 Germany was the 2nd largest bilateral donor of humanitarian assistance worldwide, providing 2.5 B. US$ for live-saving assistance to people in need across the globe. Germany is involved as an EU member state in ECHO, the EU humanitarian mechanism and is among the top three donors to CERF, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund. CERF has allocated 1 Mio. USD$ to the disaster response in St. Vincent.
A German expert will also take part in OCHA’s (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) Joint Environmental Unit planned environmental emergency mission to St. Vincent.
