Ireland contributes €10 million to UN Global Humanitarian Response Plan for COVID 19

As part of the ongoing Irish contribution to global efforts to address the COVID 19 pandemic, today Ireland provided €10 million in funding to the UN’s Global Humanitarian Response Plan. This Plan will help particularly vulnerable countries in their responses to the virus.

Announcing the contribution, the Tánaiste, Simon Coveney T.D., said:

"Humanity has a common enemy, which we can only defeat if we work together – as the WHO’s Mike Ryan says, ‘none of us are safe until everyone is safe.’

"We are doing everything possible to ease the impact of the crisis here in Ireland and are making a difference. But as we stay at home to protect our most vulnerable, there are millions of vulnerable people around the world who lack access to such basics as clean water and soap and who need our help if they are to stay safe and well.

"Helping them is not only the right thing, an expression of our values of solidarity, generosity and compassion, it is also the sensible thing for Ireland to do. That is why today I have allocated €10 million from the Irish Aid programme to the UN’s global humanitarian appeal, which help meet the most basic and urgent needs of the world’s most vulnerable communities as they resist Covid 19."

The Minister of State for International Development, Ciarán Cannon T.D., added:

"The bravery and humanity of all of those working on the front line in the fight against the virus is remarkable. I have always been amazed by the Irish people and NGOs I have seen working to address humanitarian crises, but never more than now. Today’s allocation to the UN appeal is part of Ireland's support for the work of all those across the world who are saving lives in these most challenging of circumstances."

ENDS

Notes for Editors

The UN has launched a Global Humanitarian Response Plan for COVID 19. This appeal, for US$2 billion, seeks to channel resources to the most vulnerable countries – those which were already experiencing humanitarian crises, refugee flows, or have weak health systems.

Ireland was the first country to contribute to the WHO’s COVID 19 response plan, with a contribution of €1 million. The WHO response plan aims to control the spread of the virus, mitigate its impact, and support countries in coping with the virus, particularly those with weaker health systems.

The additional €10 million will be allocated to the WHO’s COVID appeal (€3.5 million); UNHCR’s COVID appeal (€3.0 million); the World Food Programme in Uganda (€1 million); WHO in Uganda (€830,000); WHO in Tanzania (€0.5 million); UNICEF in Tanzania (€500,000); and UNICEF in Malawi (€0.5 million) and €315,000 funding under Ireland’s Emergency Response Fund mechanism to NGOs for projects aimed at mitigating the impact of COVID 19 in Zimbabwe, Gaza and Malawi.

Ireland is also contributing €10 million to the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund – a global fund used to respond to humanitarian crises, including COVID 19. The CERF has allocated €75 million to date in response to the COVID pandemic.