The federal government has decided to make four million euros available to deal with the corona pandemic abroad. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Sunday that the funds from the Foreign Disaster Fund (AKF) will benefit health projects of Austrian NGOs in partner countries that are committed to accessing local health facilities and running vaccination programs. The decision was already taken on Wednesday in the Council of Ministers.
The aid funds are intended to support health projects in the priority countries of the Austrian development cooperation – Kosovo, Albania, Georgia, Armenia, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Mozambique, Bhutan and Palestine. There are also countries in which the Ministry of Health is represented by experts – Moldova, North Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine. The aid is intended to benefit in particular vulnerable groups, in particular girls and women, who are particularly affected by the health and socio-economic impact of the pandemic.
“Even against the background of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, we must not forget the international health crisis, which still haunts us,” said Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP). “No one is safe until everyone is safe.” Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) added: “Vaccination is and remains the best way to fight the pandemic. With this in mind, we must take every opportunity to make vaccines available to those countries that have not had enough of them until now.”
Austria continues to donate vaccines
According to the government, Austria has so far supported its neighbors and other international partners in more than 20 countries with more than 8.5 million vaccine doses of Covid-19 – be it bilaterally, as a coordinator of EU deliveries to the Western Balkans or through the international Covax initiative. Austria will continue this commitment in the future.
Source: Krone
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