Ireland responded immediately to the devastating earthquake in Pakistan last October. Within a few hours of the catastrophe, the Government made an initial pledge of €1 million in support of the relief effort. My Department kept in close contact with the UN, the EU and our partners in civil society throughout. As the full scale of the disaster became evident, I moved quickly to increase Ireland's pledge to €10 million.
Former Taoiseach Mr. Albert Reynolds represented Ireland at a reconstruction conference convened by the Government of Pakistan in November. Mr. Reynolds presented the report of his findings to me following the conference.
I travelled to the affected region myself in December with my Dutch colleague. I met with President Musharraf and Prime Minister Aziz, both of whom briefed me on the challenges facing the country. President Musharraf thanked Ireland for the immediacy of its response, which had prompted other states to respond generously. I also met with the United Nations humanitarian co-ordinator for the relief effort, the Red Cross and Irish NGOs working in the region. I saw at first hand the devastation caused by the earthquake and the logistical difficulties in the relief and recovery effort. I visited GOAL in Bagh district and saw its food distribution network in operation. I visited Concern, which has adapted its long-term programme there to meet the relief needs in the camps and surrounding area.
The Pakistan earthquake was one of the toughest logistical challenges faced by the UN and the international community. Severe cold weather and snow has made delivery of relief supplies difficult. While there is some evidence of recovery, the delivery of emergency relief such as shelter, food and health services and the logistical support to deliver these services, continues to be a priority. Some 15,000 villages were affected and many are in areas which are difficult to reach. We continue to monitor the situation in the region and further assistance will be carefully targeted to assist the recovery process.
Natural disasters such as the tsunami in December 2004 and the Pakistan earthquake have presented the international community with the challenge of providing more rapid and effective assistance to those most in need. Ireland supports the moves by the UN to strengthen the international response to humanitarian crises. The number and scale of natural disasters in recent years reinforce the need for global resources to be mobilised and deployed rapidly to bring humanitarian relief on a large scale to anywhere in the world.
Ireland has been actively focusing on how we can better respond to such emergencies. During disasters most lives are saved quickly by local organisations and communities. The tsunami was a good example of this. Ireland, through the Red Cross, funds capacity building at local level to respond to emergencies of various kinds. The best response is effective local response.
Last November my colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, announced a rapid response initiative with the aim of strengthening Ireland's response to emergencies and disasters in developing countries. My Department is now engaged in carrying forward this initiative which will include the following: the pre-positioning and transportation to disaster areas of humanitarian supplies which would be ready for deployment at short notice; the availability of a roster of highly skilled and experienced individuals, including from the Defences Forces, for deployment at short notice to situations of great need; and stand-by arrangements and support to highly-regarded international humanitarian response agencies and mechanisms, including the UN joint logistics centre.
While the international community responds to natural or sudden onset disasters, there are many humanitarian crises, including chronic slow-onset emergencies and complex political emergencies, in the world at any one time. They generate various levels of support. Regrettably, some become forgotten crises. That is why Ireland is a strong advocate of the principles and good practice of good humanitarian donorship, GHD. This initiative by leading donors, including Ireland, seeks to ensure that the response to humanitarian crises is based purely on needs assessment and allocated according to the principles of independence, neutrality, humanity and impartiality.
Internationally, Ireland has been at the forefront in supporting the development of a revised UN emergency fund mechanism which will be launched in March. The new UN central emergency response fund, CERF, to which I have pledged €10 million, will create a grant-based fund that will allow UN agencies to respond more immediately and effectively in the face of a sudden onset disaster and forgotten emergencies.
Work is also continuing at EU level to improve civil protection and rapid response capability through the tsunami follow-up action plan. The further development of rapid response capacity must, of course, complement and support the UN's primary role as co-ordinator in humanitarian disasters.
Disasters and humanitarian emergencies are, in many respects, a failure of development. Ireland's aid programme, now at the highest level of funding in its history, seeks to address the fundamental causes of poverty and marginalisation, which directly and indirectly lead to humanitarian crises, both natural and man-made. At the same time we must provide immediate relief, in an effective manner to those most affected by such crises. I expect that in 2006 over €60 million will be delivered by Ireland to save lives and rebuild livelihoods.
