merrion street

Speaking to the Ministerial Summit at the United Nations in New York, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has called on the international community to find a long-term solution to the famine in the Horn of Africa.

The Tánaiste said:

Unless we tackle the problem with sustainable long-term solutions these same people will be pushed over the edge again next year and again the following year.

The global approach to the Horn of Africa must look beyond the trauma of the present and towards the long-term. We need to break this cycle of food shortages, once and for all.

The Tánaiste also pledged a further €10 million in humanitarian assistance to the poorest and most vulnerable in the region before the end of 2012 – doubling the €10 million which the Government has committed to date in 2011. These funds will be provided from the Irish Aid overseas development budget.