Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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639. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the steps being taken to help alleviate the worsening famine situation in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63598/21]

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I am gravely concerned by the situation in Afghanistan, which is now one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. Nearly 23 million Afghans now face acute food insecurity. In response, the Government through its Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme, Irish Aid, has provided over €4 million in humanitarian support for the people of Afghanistan since mid-August. This funding has been allocated to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund (AHF) and UNICEF respectively. This includes a donation of €1 million made to UNICEF in December. These emergency response programmes are addressing the urgent needs of the population, including providing food aid, treatment for severe acute malnutrition in children, and other essential services. Ireland’s humanitarian funding to Afghanistan increased fivefold in 2021 to over €5 million – with the remainder provided at the beginning of the year to Concern Worldwide, HALO Trust and the AHF.

In addition, Ireland contributes to support global funds and provide core funding to key agencies that allocate funding to Afghanistan, including the EU, WHO, UNHCR, IFRC, ICRC and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). Ireland was the 9th largest donor to the CERF in 2021, providing €11 million. Since August, the CERF has allocated more than €68.6 million to Afghanistan. This year we will renew our multiyear partnership with CERF and increase our annual contribution from €10m to €11.5m, as announced by Minister Brophy at the CERF pledging conference in December.

Ireland will continue to engage, including at the UN Security Council, to promote human rights for all Afghans, especially for Afghan women and girls whose rights are being eroded, and in support of initiatives to alleviate the suffering of the Afghan people. In my statement to the Security Council in September, I also urged the Taliban to facilitate full, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to allow life-saving support to reach all Afghans.