Barry Cowen
Question:150. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the action being taken to assist Moldova cope with the Ukrainian crisis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15335/22]
View answerThursday, 24 March 2022
Questions (150)
Written answers
Moldova’s response to this crisis, in particular its hosting of large numbers of refugees, has been very impressive. It is important that Ireland maintains the spirit of solidarity that has characterised our response to the Ukraine crisis, including supporting Moldova in its response.
One quarter of the initial €20 million Irish Aid humanitarian response package has been allocated to the UNHCR Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP), which is directly supporting countries neighbouring Ukraine and which are hosting refugees. 20% of the overall RRP budget of €500 million is earmarked for Moldova. In addition, a dedicated €1 million in Irish Aid support is going to the UNHCR work specifically in Moldova.
Irish Aid also providing €1.5 million to UNFPA, whose work in Moldova focuses on the protection of women and girls: given that so many of the refugees from Ukraine are female, UNFPA has a particular role to play in responding to this crisis.
Many of Ireland’s humanitarian partners are expanding their activities to help the Moldovan government cope with the influx of refugees. A dedicated call for proposals for Irish NGOs ready to respond and support host countries is being launched.
Ireland’s €20 million humanitarian package also includes a €1 million grant to the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), which is supporting the local response via the Moldovan Red Cross.
The Irish Aid Rapid Response Register has been activated and a number of Irish rapid responders have been nominated to our UN stand-by partners.
Ireland has also contributed to the Regional Response Plan through Irish Aid core funding to key participating organisations, including UNICEF, IOM, UNDP, UNHCR, UNFPA, WFP, WHO and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). We encourage all our humanitarian partners to use their core funding to respond to the Ukraine humanitarian crisis including by supporting neighbouring countries like Moldova.
Finally, the EU has also announced a rapid assistance package of €500 million to help civilians affected by the conflict. This will include support to the RRP and additional funding of €8 million to Moldova in the European Commission’s revised Humanitarian Implementation Plan (HIP).