Red Cross and Flemish government set up humanitarian emergency fund
The Flemish government has launched an emergency fund that will allow Red Cross Flanders to send humanitarian aid faster to disaster areas around the world.
The government has allocated half a million euros to the fund for 2026. It will help the organisation carry out between two and four emergency interventions a year.
“We are not the largest, but in our areas of expertise, such as knowledge about blood and blood banks, we are among the best in the world,” said Red Cross Flanders managing director Philippe Vandekerckhove. “So we can have an impact.”
The Flemish government would previously give Red Cross Flanders a separate budget when a major humanitarian disaster occurred somewhere in the world. At the end of September, it provided 100,000 euros after the earthquake in Afghanistan in which more than 2,000 people died.
"We are not the largest, but in our areas of expertise, such as knowledge about blood and blood banks, we are among the best in the world"
The new cooperation agreement allows the partners to mobilise emergency aid and expertise with money from the fund within eight to 48 hours.
“Thanks to this agreement, the speed with which we can release funds to support life-saving aid increases,” minister president Mathias Diependaele said at Wednesday’s signing ceremony.
While the Flemish government has made cuts to several sectors, Diependaele believes it is important to safeguard a budget for international emergency aid.
“It is a relatively modest amount, but Red Cross Flanders can make a difference in its areas of expertise,” he said. “We have a responsibility towards vulnerable people around the world.”
#FlandersNewsService | An Afghan woman cooks bread outside her damaged house in the aftermath of an earthquake, September 2025 © PHOTO WAKIL KOHSAR / AFP
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