Ms Heydi Foster-Breslin:

There is the matter of multilateral funding. UN or pooled funds can be slow to be dispersed. Agencies in countries are uniquely equipped to respond to crises as they have strong ties. I can speak for Misean Cara members and we are in over 50 countries. The wide geographical spread of effort should not be confused with debt; we like to say the people are there before, during and after a crisis. There can be extraordinary achievements as a result of missionaries working in communities over many years, coming to understand challenges faced by a community and being part of it on a daily basis.

We want to focus on least developed countries and not just countries in the news, surrounded by Europe or seen to have refugee or migration crises. In this part of the world one often hears about economic development work in Africa but we need to do this in every continent. I can speak for my own part of the world. Femicide is at its higher there than in other continents and a woman is being killed every single day. We can see what is happening in Honduras, El Salvador and Venezuela, as well as Guatemala, my own country. It is absolutely horrific so let us not forget other continents.

I can give many examples of our members working to support communities struggling with the effects of climate change. There has been talk about big agencies. Usually with missionaries, and particularly Irish missionaries, one wonders if the process is working. I am the product of Irish missionary work. I will not say my age but 40 years later, I can say it does work. If one wonders how a girl from Guatemala makes it to Harvard, it is because of Irish missionaries. This works but development takes time. It is not just about the countries around Europe.