Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 November 2019
113. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the degree to which financial commitments made by the international community in respect of aid to various disaster areas has improved over the past ten years, particularly in the areas of co-ordination and delivery of such commitments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46613/19]
View answerThe past decade has seen a sharp increase in the level of humanitarian need globally, mainly due to conflict. The UN estimate that over 148 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.
Given the scale of need, donors have increased their level of humanitarian assistance in recent years. Total global humanitarian funding grew from an estimated $22.2 billion in 2014 to an estimated $28.9 billion in 2018. Ireland has also increased its humanitarian funding - in 2018 alone Ireland contributed over $185 million in humanitarian response.
As well as the scale of funding, the efficiency and effectiveness of international humanitarian response is also vital. Ireland is a strong champion of the multilateral system, and has worked closely with the UN Office of the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in improving the coordination of the international humanitarian response. From 2018-2019, Ireland was Chair of the OCHA's Donor Support Group. In this role, Ireland led discussions with the UN and key donors on improving the effectiveness of the international response to major crises. Ireland also worked closely with OCHA during its own process of reform and reorganisation, helping to improve its ability to effectively coordinate humanitarian responses.
