Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 May 2013
47. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide further details on the three year Strategic Partnership Agreement that the Government recently signed with the UN World Food Programme. [23222/13]
View answerOn 15 April 2013, I joined my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Mr. Simon Coveney, T.D., in signing a three-year Strategic Partnership Agreement with the World Food Programme (WFP) on the occasion of the WFP Executive Director’s visit to Dublin to participate in the Hunger-Nutrition-Climate Justice Conference.
The WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide and, on average, provides food assistance to more than 90 million people in 70 countries every year. Ireland has consistently been one of the WFP’s most generous donors and key partners, being the twenty-fourth highest contributor of 133 donors from 2009 to date. Ireland’s total support to WFP in 2012 amounted to approximately €14 million. Of this, just under €10 million was provided by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, with the remainder being provided for specific humanitarian emergencies by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, through the Irish Aid programme. In 2012, Irish Aid funding was provided for WFP’s emergency activities in Chad, Syria and the Sahel, as well as for the operation of the UN Humanitarian Air Service, which is managed by the WFP.
The Strategic Partnership Agreement with the WFP is a non-legally binding statement of mutual commitment to shared principles and strategic objectives in addressing the issue of global food insecurity. Through the Agreement, the Government has committed itself to supporting WFP in order to reduce hunger and under-nutrition, save lives and livelihoods in humanitarian emergencies, and strengthen the capacity of countries to invest in disaster preparedness and prevention.
Under the Agreement, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has committed to the provision of an annual contribution of €7 million to the WFP over a three-year period. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, through the Irish Aid programme, also provides the WFP with additional contributions on the basis of humanitarian need. Under this Agreement, we will continue to consider additional contributions on a case-by-case basis, in view of humanitarian needs identified and funding available.
In this context, to date this year, I have already approved €2.25 million in humanitarian funding for the WFP this year. This includes contributions to the WFP’s emergency food assistance programmes in Syria and Mali, as well as the global operations of the UN Humanitarian Air Service.
