Finnish Red Cross supports helping civilians in Iran

The 300,000 euros granted by the Finnish Red Cross will be used to respond to basic human needs. The strikes, which started in late February, have claimed lives and destroyed hospitals and schools important to the civilian population in different parts of Iran. The damaged infrastructure and cuts in data connections make it difficult to map the need for help and organise aid.

According to estimates, up to 60 million people are suffering from the strikes and their repercussions.

“We are also starting to see signs that more people are fleeing their homes to find safety. The strikes have caused plenty of destruction in densely populated areas. If the aggression continues, an increasing number of people will be forced to leave their homes. This will increase the need for humanitarian aid significantly,” says Marko Korhonen, Head of International Emergency Operations Unit at the Finnish Red Cross.

Iranian Red Crescent teams on the ground are looking for and rescuing injured people, administering first aid and transporting the most gravely injured to the hospital. The Red Crescent also maintains a psychosocial support helpline, which has received more than 27,000 phone calls thus far. More than 5,500 volunteers and more than 1,000 employees of the Iranian Red Crescent participate in the aid work.

Volunteers rescue lives in dangerous conditions, as increasing strikes make aid work dangerous in different areas in the Middle East. In Lebanon, a local Red Cross paramedic died and four others were injured trying to save civilians in early March. In Iran, seven Red Crescent rescue team members have been injured on duty.

“It is the responsibility of the parties engaged in the fighting to ensure that humanitarian aid gets safely through to its target. No one should have to risk their life to help others,” Korhonen stresses.

Aid operation to support work of local Red Crescent

The funding from the Finnish Red Cross disaster relief fund will be distributed further to the aid operation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. It will be used to support the work of the Iranian Red Crescent on the ground. The objective of the society’s aid operation is to help five million people across 30 counties. The aid will come in the form of shelter, basic supplies, crisis health care services, psychosocial support and the promotion of hygiene. Special attention will be paid to helping the most vulnerable people.

The Finnish Red Cross has also supported aid work in Iran through the separate Disaster Relief Emergency Fund, DREF, of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. With the help of the money already collected in the fund, a local Red Cross or Red Crescent society will be supported quickly and flexibly in their work when funds are needed rapidly to organise emergency aid or when no other funds are available.

Thanks to the funds provided by the society through DREF, the Iranian Red Crescent was able to expand its rescue operations quickly as soon as the need for help increased. The fund is also used to strengthen the operational preparedness of the Iranian Red Crescent as regards future crises.

The disaster relief fund of the Finnish Red Cross and the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund, DREF, of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, are separate funds.