Ireland has already spent over €150 million for “humanitarian crises” across the world in 2024, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
This represents 0.2% of the Irish annual budget of €110.1 billion for 2024.
Marking World Humanitarian Day this week, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said that the funding had gone towards aiding in regions such as Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Yemen and Afghanistan.
Notably, World Humanitarian Day is marked on August 19th every year to coincide with the anniversary of the 2003 Islamist jihadist suicide bomb attack on the UN headquarters in the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, which killed 22 UN staff and injured 150 more people.
“Ireland’s funding is focused on the most severe humanitarian crises and emergencies,” the Tánaiste said.
“Last year, Ireland responded to devastating earthquakes in Syria and Türkiye, the earthquake in Morocco and floods in Libya. We also continue to support vulnerable populations experiencing acute hunger – including in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sudan, Ukraine and Yemen.
“In 2024, Ireland has continued to respond to the most urgent crises including floods in Kenya and the destruction caused by Hurricane Beryl in the Caribbean.”
In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said that Irish Aid – the government’s programme for international development – is an “integral part” of its work.
“Ireland invested €297.8 million in humanitarian aid in 2022,” the Department said.
“This compares with €228 million in 2021, €192 million in 2020 and €181 million in 2019. The 2023 total spend is expected to be similar to 2022 once calculations are finalised.”
The Department added that this included payments to UN organisations.
“Ireland’s humanitarian spend also includes core contributions to organisations such as UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency), UNOCHA (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) and ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross),” they said.
They added that Ireland also funds “local and national NGOs”, describing these as “actors who are front and centre of the humanitarian response.”
“Ireland is recognised for its quality humanitarian funding,” they said.
“In line with international best practice we provide funding that is flexible, predictable and multi-year…Ireland’s humanitarian assistance is provided by way of bilateral and multilateral aid and is channelled through a range of trusted partners: UN agencies, the Red Cross family and Non-Governmental Organisations [NGOs].”
As a percentage of Ireland’s total budget, the spend for each year is as follows:
2019:
Total annual budget: €77 billion
Humanitarian aid: €181 million
Humanitarian aid as a percentage of total budget: 0.2%
2020:
Total annual budget: €94.2 billion
Humanitarian aid: €192 million
Humanitarian aid as a percentage of total budget: 0.2%
2021:
Total annual budget: €105.2 billion
Humanitarian aid: €228 million
Humanitarian aid as a percentage of total budget: 0.2%
2022:
Total annual budget: €101.8 billion
Humanitarian aid: €297.8 million
Humanitarian aid as a percentage of total budget: 0.3%
2023 (estimated):
Total annual budget: €102.5
Humanitarian aid: €297.8 million
Humanitarian aid as a percentage of total budget: 0.3%
2024 (up to August):
Total annual budget: €110.1 billion
Humanitarian aid (so far): €150 million
Humanitarian aid as a percentage of total budget: 0.1%