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Minister Brophy announces an additional €3.2m in funding for the Horn of Africa

Minister for Overseas Development Aid and Diaspora, Mr. Colm Brophy, T.D., today announced an additional €3.2 million in funding to respond to growing needs in the Horn of Africa.

Across the Horn of Africa over 20 million people are facing rising malnutrition as a result of prolonged drought.

This announcement comes as Minister Brophy concludes a week-long visit to northern Kenya and South Sudan, where he saw the devastation caused by the drought first-hand. The Minister’s visit to South Sudan was the first visit of an Irish Government Minister to that country since it gained independence in 2011.

The €3.2m in additional funding will primarily be directed towards humanitarian projects responding to the drought. It comes on top of €74m already allocated to the humanitarian response in the Horn of Africa over the last 18 months.

Announcing the funding, Minister Brophy said:

“This drought is unprecedented and has left millions of people without any means to provide for themselves. I visited health clinics and saw severely malnourished children. Listening to their mothers was heart-breaking. Malnutrition rates in these clinics have doubled since February and are going to worsen as the drought continues."

“Without urgent international help, the people of the Horn of Africa are facing a humanitarian catastrophe the scale of which has not been seen for decades. Ireland has already allocated €74m in direct humanitarian funding to the region over the last 18 months. This additional funding is a further sign of Ireland’s commitment to tackling urgent need in the region."

“I have seen first-hand how Ireland’s funding, through NGOs and the UN system, is keeping people alive but the crisis is outpacing the current international response. We urgently need our international partners to step-up to save lives.”

Of this €3.2 million funding package, €1.5 million will be provided to seven Irish NGO partners – Trócaire, Concern, GOAL, Oxfam Ireland, Christian Aid Ireland, Plan International Ireland and World Vision - to meet the needs of those worst affected by food insecurity in Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and South Sudan. A further €500,000 will be provided to UNICEF to provide therapeutic food to severely malnourished children under the age of five in Kenya.

The funding will deliver €1m to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to improve agricultural food production in Somalia. A further €200,000 will support agricultural projects in Kenya through the Africa Agri Development Programme.

Notes to editors

  • The Horn of Africa is in the midst of a rapidly deteriorating food security crisis due to an historic four-season drought compounded by conflict and the impact of the war in Ukraine on food supply.
  • At least 36.1 million people have been affected by a severe drought centred on southern Ethiopia, northern Kenya and Somalia. As a result of the drought, at least 20.5 million people are facing high levels of acute food insecurity and rising malnutrition, a figure which could increase to between 23 and 26 million by February 2023.
  • The humanitarian situation in South Sudan continues to deteriorate, with 8.3 million people – 75% of the population – experiencing severe food insecurity and growing numbers at risk of famine. Sub-national violence and widespread human rights abuses continue to cause immense harm to civilians and growing displacement, with 2 million people estimated to be internally displaced (UNHCR).
  • Minister Brophy last week undertook a week-long visit to the region which saw him travel to Kenya and South Sudan, meeting a range of stakeholders, including government officials, Irish Aid partners and vulnerable communities affected by the crisis. The Minister visited the Turkana region of northern Kenya, one of the areas worst affected by the drought.
  • The additional €2m in funding to NGO partners and UNICEF will be provided through Irish Aid’s Emergency Response Fund Scheme (ERFS), a highly effective rapid-response mechanism which is designed to allow NGO partners to quickly launch interventions in response to increased humanitarian need.

ENDS

Press Office

6 September 2022

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