Seán Sherlock
Question:69. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the details of Ireland's involvement in contributing to the humanitarian effort in Syria. [18643/18]
View answerTuesday, 1 May 2018
Questions (69)
Written answers
Since 2012, Ireland has provided over €108 million in response to the Syria crisis. This represents Ireland’s largest ever engagement with a humanitarian crisis.
Our funding provides supports to those in need inside Syria as well as Syrian refugees and vulnerable host communities in the region. We work with UN, Red Cross and NGO partners to ensure that our funding reaches the most vulnerable. These partners provide humanitarian supplies and urgently needed health, education, water and sanitation services, as well as implementing measures to protect women, children and vulnerable families.
Through our membership of the EU, Ireland also supports the EU’s humanitarian response in Syria. The EU and its member states are the single biggest donor to the Syria crisis having mobilised over €10.6 billion in humanitarian, stabilisation and resilience assistance since 2012.
In addition, through the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), to which Ireland is the eighth largest donor, a total of over $100m has been provided to Syria.
At the recent Second Brussels Conference "Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region" on the 24-25 April, Ireland pledged €25 million in humanitarian assistance in response to the Syria crisis for 2018 and made a commitment to multi-annual support beyond 2018. We have begun to fulfil our 2018 pledge, having provided funding of over €15 million to UN and Red Cross partners for response inside Syria and in the broader region. We are currently preparing an additional disbursement to NGO partners, and funding to other humanitarian partners is also under consideration.
The Government remains strongly committed to supporting those affected by the Syria crisis. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide funding where needs are greatest. We will also continue to advocate within the EU and UN for a political solution to the crisis.