Germany pledges US$360,000 for food for St Vincent

THE GERMAN Government has pledged to allocate some €300,000 (US$360,000) toward the World Food Programme’s disaster response efforts in St Vincent and the Grenadines for life-saving food assistance.

German Ambassador Ute König issued a media release on Friday, saying her government was "glad to help" in light of their diplomatic ties and SVG's geographic vulnerability.

She said, "Germany and St Vincent and the Grenadines are partners in the Alliance for Multilateralism and have co-operated 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."

König referred to Germany's position in 2020 at the world's second largest bilateral donor of humanitarian assistance, "providing (US$2.5 billion) 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."

She also referenced CERF's donation of US$1 million in disaster aid to SVG.

König said, "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 SVG."