Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 June 2024
106. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent to which Ireland and the United Nations is continuously alert to the various locations worldwide that remain sensitive to hunger, starvation and human rights abuses, with the view to a rapid response; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27795/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThrough our international development programme, the Government continues to focus strongly on the impact of the serious global food and nutrition crisis, and its impact on the most vulnerable countries and communities. The 2024 Global Report on Food Crises notes that over 280 million people faced high levels of acute food insecurity, representing an increase of 24 million since 2022. Ireland is particularly concerned about the ongoing crises in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and Yemen which are severely undermining people’s right to food and putting millions of people at risk of famine.
Ireland is working hard to reverse these trends. We work closely with UN agencies that are specialised in responding to immediate food and nutrition crises and in building sustainable and resilient food systems.
We are currently implementing our €50 million pledge on child wasting initiative, through an international initiative to prevent and address severe malnutrition among children. Ireland's three-year programme of funding supports UNICEF, the World Health Organisation and Concern Worldwide to work in countries across Africa.
We continue to support the World Food Programme (WFP), which is the largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine currently provides €75 million over three years to the WFP. In March this year, Ireland announced a pledge to increase its support to the WFP to €105 million over three years (2025-2027).
We also recently announced that we will double our funding to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to €25 million over three years (2025-2027). IFAD specialises in supporting small-scale farmers and rural communities to improve their agriculture and food security.
Internationally, Ireland is taking a leading role in advocating for a more ambitious and concerted response to food insecurity, malnutrition and for the protection of human rights. Ireland’s active international engagement on human rights discussions enables us to reaffirm our commitment to the universality, indivisibility and interrelatedness of all human rights and to accountability for human rights violations and abuses.
Within the EU, Ireland continues to support the Team Europe response to global food insecurity, including solidarity through emergency relief. We work closely with EU partners including the EU Special Representative on Human Rights, to ensure that all UN Human Rights bodies and processes are continuously strengthened to ensure an effective response to human rights violations and abuses.
We remain fully committed to addressing immediate food and nutrition insecurity and to promoting and protecting human rights.
