Written answers

Wednesday, 27 May 2020

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Covid-19 Pandemic

Photo of Neasa HouriganNeasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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22. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the efforts being made to prevent the outbreak of Covid-19 in Syria; the accountability mechanisms through which his Department ensures funding to the World Health Organization results in resources being allocated to those in Syria most in need and is not politically influenced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7362/20]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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COVID-19 is a global pandemic. However, the impact of the virus is likely to fall hardest on communities already experiencing humanitarian crises, displacement, or weak health systems.

The situation in Syria is particularly worrying. Nine years of civil war have decimated the country’s health care system and left Syria poorly equipped to face COVID-19. Testing capacities are limited and there are significant shortages of personal protective equipment.

COVID-19 requires a collective, coordinated, global response. Ireland's priority is to provide vital support to the multilateral system's efforts to mitigate the impact of the pandemic in the most vulnerable countries, on the basis that “nobody is safe until everybody is safe.”

The World Health Organisation, part of the UN system, is at the centre of that global response, working to control the spread of COVID-19 and mitigate its impact. Recognising the WHO's important role, Ireland was the first country to contribute to the WHO COVID-19 appeal. This appeal has since been rolled into the UN Global Humanitarian Response Plan, which aims at a coherent response across the UN system to COVID-19. Ireland is also part of Team Europe, the EU's response to the pandemic. That collective response, focusing on global leadership and unity, remains at the heart of Ireland's approach.

The majority of Ireland’s funding to the WHO’s COVID-19 appeal has been allocated at the global level, allowing the WHO to prioritise additional resources wherever needs are greatest. As with all humanitarian funding, Ireland and other donors insist that these resources are allocated on the basis of need alone, and in line with the humanitarian principles of independence, impartiality, neutrality and humanity. This means that in Syria, those in need should receive assistance, whether they are in Government or opposition controlled areas.

As well as the additional needs arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is vital for donors to continue to support the millions of people who remain in need of humanitarian assistance, and those needs are acute in Syria. Ireland will provide over €24 million in humanitarian assistance in response to the Syria crisis in 2020. This will bring our overall contribution to more than €168 million since 2012, our largest response to any single crisis.

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