Ireland's contribution to a UN fund which tackles sudden emergencies throughout the world is to be doubled to €20 million next year, it was announced yesterday.
The announcement was made in Dublin after the UN under-secretary general Jan Egeland, who has overall responsibility for emergency relief and humanitarian affairs, met Minister of State for Irish Aid Conor Lenihan.
Mr Egeland welcomed the increase to the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and praised Ireland for leading the way in humanitarian aid.
The UN under-secretary updated the Minister on the critical humanitarian emergencies in Africa; in Darfur, Somalia, Zimbabwe and Congo.
After the meeting, Mr Egeland said: "I am here in Dublin today in recognition of Ireland being among the leading donors internationally. Ireland's contribution to the CERF has been particularly significant, and we are grateful for Ireland's leadership as one of the highest per capita donors to the fund.
"Ireland's reputation for compassion and generosity has set the standard for other donors."
He said Ireland had pushed reform in the UN, not only talking about it but investing in reform.
"The increase to €20 million is very good news, and we hope there will be many other donors as we still have too little money."
He said this year they had acted early and effectively in Lebanon, East Timor and Congo. CERF was used to jump-start operations and saved a lot of lives.
"We are the first generation who can stop world hunger and stop mass loss of life. Ireland is leading the way."
Mr Lenihan said he and Mr Egeland had had a very good discussion. Ireland had supported CERF strongly from the beginning. The fund had helped disaster relief such as the tsunami and the Pakistan earthquake.
Ireland gave €10 million in 2006, and during this time CERF contributed to Ethiopia, East Timor, Somalia and Lebanon. "We are doubling our support from €10 million to €20 million in 2007."
He said the first 72 hours of a disaster was the make-or-break point. If money was not available during that time then the result was that lives would be lost.
"Already in its first year of operation the CERF has proved its value in filling critical gaps in sudden-onset emergencies."
CERF was officially launched on March 9th, 2006. In its first five months of operation it provided over $181 million for more than 270 projects in 26 countries.