ADDIS ABABA (HAN) November 23, 2015 – Public Diplomacy and Regional Stability Initiatives News. Ireland’s Minister for Development, Trade Promotion and North South Co-operation, Seán Sherlock, has announced that the Irish Government will contribute an additional €2 million to the international response to the drought in Ethiopia.
This brings Ireland’s total contribution to meeting the urgent needs of those affected by drought to €5.5 million this year. In addition, Ireland is also providing over €26 million through bilateral aid programs in Ethiopia to address poverty, vulnerability and hunger. These include long term development programs aimed at helping vulnerable rural communities to adapt to the challenges posed by climate change.
They include innovations in watershed management, crop rotation and the introduction of new technologies to boost crop yields as well as other long term programs to assist vulnerable farmers and rural families to cope with the short term consequences of sudden climate shocks.
Through its development cooperation program, Irish Aid also supports the Ethiopian government in building its humanitarian capacity and social protection system capabilities, enabling the Government to identify and respond to crises early.
One key Ethiopian project that Ireland supports is the Productive Safety Nets Program which provides food and cash to millions of people each year to assist them during the lean months ahead of harvest.
In 2016, 8 million people are expected to benefit from this program, which Irish Aid describes as an excellent example of collaboration between of Irish Aid, the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture, the World Bank and many other international partners.
Irish Aid says there is a lot to be learnt in tackling climate change from Ethiopia which has shown leadership in re-allocating domestic resources to meet the immediate needs of those whose crops have failed. MFA
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