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Minister of State for Trade and Development, Joe Costello, today announced €7.25 million to provide emergency food, water and healthcare to communities affected by a severe drought in the Sahel region of Africa and by conflict in Sudan and South Sudan.

This is in addition to €8.2 million which the Minister allocated at the start of the year to support the emergency relief effort in both regions.

The new funding is being allocated as follows:

• €4.25 million to UN and aid agencies working in the Sahel region of Africa, which has been devastated by drought and food insecurity
• €1.5 million to UN agencies in Sudan, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have been severely affected by fighting and three million people in Darfur need food assistance.
• €1.5 million to UN agencies working in South Sudan to meet the needs of three million people in need of emergency food assistance as a result of poor harvests and conflict.

The €4.25 million of Irish Aid funding for the Sahel will be channelled through the United Nations and aid agencies responding to the crisis.

The Minister said:

I have been monitoring the humanitarian crisis in the Sahel closely and in February approved €5 million to provide emergency food and healthcare to those in crisis. While that funding provided vital assistance to thousands of people, the needs are growing and it is now estimated that 15 million people do not have enough to eat.

Mindful of the race against time, I have authorised an additional €4.25 million in assistance. The majority of this funding will support large-scale UN agencies, such as the World Food Programme and UNICEF, as well as key NGO partners who are working in the region, to deliver specialised food, nutrition and emergency healthcare.