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The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue T.D, today announced a funding commitment of €105m to the World Food Programme (WFP) from Ireland for the period 2025 to 2027. The funding pledge is a 40% increase on the funding made under the previous three-year period and will directly fund the WFP’s humanitarian work globally. The funding will be provided by the Minister’s Department who are the lead Department in Ireland for engagement with the WFP. The Minister made the announcement from Kenya where he is currently leading an international development mission to the Horn of Africa in collaboration with our Department of Foreign Affairs and WFP.
Speaking from Kenya, Minister McConalogue said:
“I am very pleased to announce an increase of 40% in the funding that Ireland will contribute under a new Strategic Partnership Agreement with the World Food Programme for the next three years. This represents our highest-ever contribution and confirms Ireland's commitment to fighting world hunger, in conjunction with WFP.
“Yesterday, I had the humbling privilege of speaking with some of the 200,000 refugees in the UN refugee camp in Kakuma and Kalobeyei, northwestern Kenya. Due to WFP funding shortages, these camps are receiving a reduced ration, amounting to less than the minimum recommended food basket.”
“Ireland recognises the impact that conflict and climate change are having on food security and nutrition. Our increased funding will enable WFP globally to continue to respond to crisis-affected refugees while also working to build resilience and community integration.”
World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain said:
"I am grateful to the people and Government of Ireland for significantly increasing their funding to WFP for the next three years. Their steadfast support and recognition of the critical role WFP plays in alleviating global hunger demonstrates Ireland’s firm commitment to assisting the world’s most vulnerable people."
Minister McConalogue concluded,
"WFP delivers food assistance to the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world. I want to use the announcement of this increased funding to highlight the importance of continued support to the WFP and to encourage Governments around the world to take steps towards giving them the reliable funding they require."
ENDS
Notes to Editors
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is the lead on Ireland’s engagement with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and currently has a seat on the Executive Board for 2023-2024. The Department, through a rolling series of three-year Strategic Partnership Agreements (SPAs), provides core funding to the WFP.
Ireland rejoined the Executive Board of the WFP last year for a two-year rotation. Ireland’s opening address of its new term committed to addressing global hunger, improving nutrition and promoting transformation of food systems in line with Ireland’s national agri-food strategy Food Vision 2030.
The Department, through a rolling series of three-year Strategic Partnership Agreements (SPAs), provides core funding to the WFP.
The Department of Foreign Affairs is also a significant donor to World Food Programme - In 2023 funding from DFA to WFP totalled €12.8 million. Irish Aid and our Embassies in Ethiopia and Kenya continue to provide significant funding to countries in the Horn of Africa, to meet myriad development and humanitarian challenges. Total ODA funding to countries in the Horn (Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Kenya) amounted to €102.8 million in 2022.
The WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organisation saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change. WFP reached 160 million people in 2022, with a presence in over 120 countries and territories. WFP was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020 for its efforts to fight hunger and for its contribution to enabling conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas. It relies entirely on voluntary funding, with Governments being its principal donors.
Minister McConalogue visiting a WFP supported primary school serving resettled refugees in Kalobeyi, Turkana, northwest Kenya.
Minister McConalogue and delegation being received into her home in Kakuma Refugee Camp by Ms.Farhiya, a WFP food aid beneficiary
Minister McConalogue helping to distribute a WFP funded meal of Githeri, a stable dish of maize and beans, to primary school children in Kalobeyie, a settled refugee community in Turkana, north west Kenya