Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 14 November 2023
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence
Global Humanitarian Response: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Mr. Ramesh Rajasingham:
I have mentioned the humanitarian response plan of $1.2 billion. That is relief assistance, which, by its nature, is a very short-term first aid response to help lives and sustain lives as well.
On the broader issue of recovery and repair of everything that has been destroyed or damaged in Gaza, the assessment would generally happen after the conflict has come to an end, so that one can have a proper assessment of the extent of the damage, the cost, etc. That is within the domain of the development actors who do this, and not the humanitarian actors. Our partners in the development field would conduct a damaged needs assessment. Based on that, they would also provide a response plan and an appeal for what needs to be repaired and how much it would cost. I suspect that the cost will be enormous.