Belgium will double total investment in humanitarian innovation next year, bringing the amount to €20 million. This was announced on Monday evening by the Minister for Development Cooperation, Alexander De Croo, during a speech at the University of New York.
Mr De Croo commented, “Every year, humanitarian needs increase, and humanitarian crises and conflicts take increasingly more victims. However, only one percent of actual humanitarian financial resources are allocated to humanitarian innovation and research. That has to change.”
The minister’s intervention was part of Global Citizen Live, an event organised on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Key political figures, activists and artists gathered to announce concrete initiatives concerning Sustainable Development Objectives (SDOs) by 2030.
During the evening, the singer Annie Lennox was awarded the George Harrison Prize - named after the Beatles guitarist. This was for her longstanding commitment to UNICEF, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and Amnesty International.
The Brussels Times