Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 08/2013

Russia as a Humanitarian Aid Donor

Anna Brezhneva, Daria Ukhova

July 2013

Oxfam Publishing

Abstract

This paper addresses the role of Russia as a humanitarian aid donor in the context of the increasing participation in international aid of so-called ‘new’, ‘emerging’ (or ‘re-emerging’), or ‘non-traditional’ donors. In recent years Russia has made a number of international aid commitments, for example within the G8, marking its re-emergence as an international donor since the disintegration of the Soviet Union. In line with Russia’s increasing international aid commitments, the level of Russian humanitarian aid has also been increasing over recent years. Nonetheless, the country still faces several obstacles in developing its donor capacity.