Press release
Ireland to provide €27 million in humanitarian support for Syria in 2023
From Department of Foreign Affairs
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Foreign Affairs
Published on
Last updated on
Ireland will provide €27 million in humanitarian support for the people of Syria in 2023, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has announced.
This funding brings to €245 million Ireland’s humanitarian support for Syria, and countries hosting Syrian refugees in the region, since the outbreak of conflict in 2012. The funding was confirmed at a major EU Syria pledging event held in Brussels this week.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said:
"Millions of Syrian people remain in dire need of humanitarian support and it is vital that we continue to respond to their needs. Ireland has stood with people in Syria since the conflict began over 10 years ago. Ireland’s response to the suffering in Syria has been our largest ever response to a humanitarian crisis. Today’s announcement is a further sign of our commitment to the people of Syria."
Minister for International Development Sean Fleming said:
"The funding announced today will provide food, medicine and shelter for people who continue to suffer the consequences of war. I welcome pledges of support made from our EU partners this week. It is important that the European response to the crisis in Syria continues to be strong and unified."
The €27 million announced today includes over €20 million in new funding, in addition to the over €6 million allocated to the earthquake response in February. The new funding comprises of approximately €12 million in humanitarian funding from Irish Aid at the Department of Foreign Affairs and €8 million from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to support the UN World Food Programme’s humanitarian response throughout the region.
Ireland’s funding includes support to a range of longstanding partners including UN agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Irish NGO partners active in the region, as well as emergency relief supplies delivered from Ireland’s humanitarian stocks in the region.
The European Union’s Seventh Brussels Conference on ‘Supporting the future of Syria and the region’ took place on 14 and 15 June 2023 in Brussels.
The overarching objective of the Brussels Conferences was to ensure continued support to the Syrian people, both in Syria and in the wider region, by mobilising the international community in support of a comprehensive and credible political solution to the Syria conflict, in line with UN Security Council resolution 2254.
Brussels VII addressed critical humanitarian and resilience issues affecting Syrians in Syria and neighbouring countries, and those which impact communities hosting Syrian refugees in the region. The Conference thus renewed the international community’s political and financial support for Syria’s neighbours, particularly Jordan, Lebanon and Türkiye, as well as Egypt and Iraq.
A special Donor Conference was held earlier this year to support the people in Türkiye and Syria in the wake of February’s devastating earthquake. Ireland contributed €10 million to the earthquake response, over €6 million of which was targeted at Syria.