If the number of people in need of humanitarian aid today formed a country, it would be the third largest globally at 360 million people, while this “non-country” is growing at an alarming rate – “up 30 per cent since early 2022”, according to Dóchas.
The Irish network of international development and humanitarian NGOs said “with a staggering 240 million people in 69 countries requiring urgent humanitarian assistance, it is time for the Irish Government to make good on its promise to spend 0.7 per cent of Ireland’s gross national income on overseas development assistance in countries and communities who need it the most”.
Scaled-up funding needed to be focused on addressing the climate emergency which is deepening hunger, food insecurity and driving conflict, said Dóchas chief executive Jane-Ann McKenna.
“Over 70 per cent of the world’s refugees and internally displaced people come from the most climate-vulnerable countries. Additionally, 93 per cent of the countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis are in debt distress. [It] presents the single most existential threat to human life on this planet. We have to act now,” she added.
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For Irish NGOs working with local communities and organisations, the magnitude of the multiple crises and the chronic level of underfunding was having serious consequences. “The gap between rapidly increasing humanitarian need and global funding is widening, forcing impossible choices as to who gets left behind,” Ms McKenna said.
Ireland played a critical leadership role in galvanising energy, optimism and action on the global sustainable development goals (SDGs) during the recent UN General Assembly, Ms McKenna noted. “We must now demonstrate that same level of determination and ambition in New York back in Ireland in Budget 2024 and beyond’'.
The Government must commit to taking “ambitious, accelerated and transformative action to implement the SDGs nationally and in our ODA [overseas development assistance] programme”, she said.
Transformative change was needed to tackle the global food systems, climate emergency and end structural inequality.
“We must ensure our funding is targeted at the real changemakers – local organisations, women’s organisations and civil society organisations – who work on the front lines of response.”
